1941–42 NHL season

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 playing 48 games each. 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, but the Leafs remain the only team to accomplish it in a championship final series.

Quick Facts

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

Facts from the source article.

League business

The Brooklyn Americans played their final NHL season in 1941–42. The team had renamed itself from the New York Americans to connect with residents of Brooklyn’s Flatbush area, but they still played home games at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden because Brooklyn lacked a proper arena. World War II travel restrictions on adults forced the NHL to seek more junior-aged players, who were exempt from those limits. League president Frank Calder stated that amateur leagues generally agreed that, due to the war, a junior player should be allowed to decide his own financial future.

Regular season

The Americans began the season without Harvey "Busher" Jackson, who refused to sign and was sold to Boston. Two defencemen, Tommy Anderson and Pat Egan, reached All-Star calibre, but the team still finished last. 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; 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, and rookie Paul Bibeault replaced him, showing 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 position they would not hold again for 50 years.

Playoffs

Six teams made the playoffs. The first and second seeds faced off in a best-of-seven semifinal. The third and fourth seeds played a best-of-three series, while the fifth and sixth seeds did the same, with the winners meeting in a best-of-five semifinal. Those two semifinal winners then competed in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals.