1941–42 NHL season

Maple Leafs rally from 3-0 down to win Stanley Cup.

The 1941–42 NHL season was the 25th season of the National Hockey League, with seven teams each playing 48 games. The New York Americans rebranded as the Brooklyn Americans. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings after losing the first three games of a best-of-seven series and winning four straight, a feat only repeated three times in NHL history and once in Major League Baseball, and the only time it occurred in a championship final series.

Quick Facts

League: National Hockey League
Sport: Ice hockey
Duration: November 1, 1941 – April 18, 1942
Season: Regular season
Top scorer: Bryan Hextall (Rangers)
Finals: Stanley Cup

Facts from the source article.

League business

The Brooklyn Americans played their final season in 1941–42. They had renamed themselves from the New York Americans to try and connect with fans in the Flatbush neighborhood, but still played home games at Manhattan's Madison Square Garden because Brooklyn lacked a proper rink. World War II travel limits on adults forced the NHL to seek more junior-aged players, who were exempt from those restrictions. League president Frank Calder noted that amateur leagues had broadly agreed that, due to the war, a junior player should be allowed to decide his own financial path.

Regular season

The Americans began the season without Harvey "Busher" Jackson, who refused to sign and was sold to Boston. On December 9, 1941, the Chicago Black Hawks–Boston Bruins game was delayed over half an hour as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared the United States was at war. Frank Patrick suffered a heart attack and sold his interest in the Montreal Canadiens, who nearly moved to Cleveland, but Tommy Gorman kept the team alive. Montreal added Emile "Butch" Bouchard on defence and Buddy O'Connor at centre. Goaltending problems arose as Bert Gardiner slumped; rookie Paul Bibeault replaced him, showing flashes of brilliance but inexperience. Joe Benoit scored 20 goals, the first Canadien to do so since Toe Blake in 1938–39. The New York Rangers, with new goaltender Sugar Jim Henry replacing the retired Dave Kerr, finished first, a feat they would not repeat for 50 years.

Playoffs

Six teams made the playoffs. The first- and second-place clubs squared off in a best-of-seven semifinal. The third and fourth teams played a best-of-three series, while the fifth and sixth did the same, with the winners advancing to a best-of-five semifinal. Those semifinal winners then faced each other in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals.