1938–39 NHL season

The 1938–39 NHL season was the 22nd season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Seven teams each played 48 games. The Boston Bruins were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to one in the final series.

The NHL created the icing rule on March 13, 1939.

Regular season

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

National Hockey League	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Boston Bruins	48	36	10	2	74	156	76	251
New York Rangers	48	26	16	6	58	149	105	393
Toronto Maple Leafs	48	19	20	9	47	114	107	370
New York Americans	48	17	21	10	44	119	157	276
Detroit Red Wings	48	18	24	6	42	107	128	240
Montreal Canadiens	48	15	24	9	39	115	146	294
Chicago Black Hawks	48	12	28	8	32	91	132	367

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Toe Blake	Montreal Canadiens	48	24	23	47	10
Sweeney Schriner	New York Americans	48	13	31	44	20
Bill Cowley	Boston Bruins	34	8	34	42	2
Clint Smith	New York Rangers	48	21	20	41	2
Marty Barry	Detroit Red Wings	48	13	28	41	4

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals


			1	Boston Bruins	4

			2	New York Rangers	3



						1	Boston Bruins	4
						3	Toronto Maple Leafs	1
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
4	New York Americans	0
			3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2

			5	Detroit Red Wings	1
5	Detroit Red Wings	2

6	Montreal Canadiens	1

NHL awards

Calder Memorial Trophy:	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Clint Smith, New York Rangers
O'Brien Cup:	Toronto Maple Leafs
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy:	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins

All-Star teams

First team	Position	Second team
Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins	G	Earl Robertson, New York Americans
Eddie Shore, Boston Bruins	D	Earl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks
Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins	D	Art Coulter, New York Rangers
Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs	C	Neil Colville, New York Rangers
Gordie Drillon, Toronto Maple Leafs	RW	Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens	LW	Johnny Gottselig, Chicago Black Hawks
Art Ross, Boston Bruins	Coach	Red Dutton, New York Americans