1939–40 NHL season

The 1939–40 NHL season was the 23rd season for the National Hockey League.

Regular season

Final standings

National Hockey League

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
Boston Bruins	48	31	12	5	170	98	330	67
New York Rangers	48	27	11	10	136	77	520	64
Toronto Maple Leafs	48	25	17	6	134	110	485	56
Chicago Black Hawks	48	23	19	6	112	120	351	52
Detroit Red Wings	48	16	26	6	90	126	250	38
New York Americans	48	15	29	4	106	140	236	34
Montreal Canadiens	48	10	33	5	90	167	338	25

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalty Minutes, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Milt Schmidt	Boston Bruins	48	22	30	52
Woody Dumart	Boston Bruins	48	22	21	43
Bobby Bauer	Boston Bruins	48	17	26	43
Gordie Drillon	Toronto Maple Leafs	43	21	19	40
Bill Cowley	Boston Bruins	48	13	27	40
Bryan Hextall	New York Rangers	48	24	15	39
Neil Colville	New York Rangers	48	19	19	38
Syd Howe	Detroit Red Wings	48	14	23	37
Hector Blake	Montreal Canadiens	48	17	19	36
Murray Armstrong	New York Americans	48	16	20	36

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Player	Team	GP	MIN	GA	GAA	W	L	T	SO
Dave Kerr	New York Rangers	48	3000	77	1.54	27	11	10	8
Paul Goodman	Chicago Black Hawks	31	1920	62	1.94	16	10	5	4
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	48	2950	98	1.99	31	12	5	6
Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	47	2900	108	2.23	25	17	5	4
Cecil "Tiny" Thompson	Detroit Red Wings	46	2830	120	2.54	16	24	6	3
Earl Robertson	N.Y. Americans	48	2960	140	2.84	15	29	4	6
Claude Bourque	Montreal Canadiens	36	2210	121	3.29	9	24	3	2
Mike Karakas	Chicago Black Hawks	17	1050	58	3.31	7	9	1	0

Playoffs

Note: All dates in 1940

Playoff bracket

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Stanley Cup Final
						1	Boston Bruins	2
						2	New York Rangers	4
											2	New York Rangers	4
											3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
	3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
	4	Chicago Black Hawks	0
						3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
						5	Detroit Red Wings	0
	5	Detroit Red Wings	2
	6	New York Americans	1

Quarter-finals and Semi-finals

Series A: Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers

Date	Home	Score	Away	Score	Notes
March 19	New York Rangers	4	Boston Bruins	0
March 21	Boston Bruins	4	New York Rangers	3
March 24	Boston Bruins	4	New York Rangers	2
March 26	New York Rangers	1	Boston Bruins	0
March 28	Boston Bruins	0	New York Rangers	1
March 30	New York Rangers	4	Boston Bruins	1

Rangers win best of seven series 4 games to 2

Series B: Chicago Black Hawks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 19	Chicago Black Hawks	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	6:35 of OT
March 21	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Chicago Black Hawks	1

Toronto wins best of three series 2 games to 0

Series C: New York Americans vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 19	New York Americans	1	Detroit Red Wings	2	0:25 of OT
March 22	Detroit Red Wings	4	New York Americans	5
March 24	New York Americans	1	Detroit Red Wings	3

Detroit wins best of three series 2 games to 1

Series D: Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 26	Detroit Red Wings	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
March 28	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Detroit Red Wings	1

Toronto wins best of three series 2 games to 0

Stanley Cup Final

See the main article: 1940 Stanley Cup Finals

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. New York Rangers

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 2	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	New York Rangers	2	15:30 of OT
April 3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	New York Rangers	6
April 6	New York Rangers	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
April 9	New York Rangers	0	Toronto Maple Leafs	3
April 11	New York Rangers	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	11:43 of OT
April 13	New York Rangers	3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	2:07 of OT

New York wins best of seven series 4 games to 2

Playoff scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Phil Watson	New York Rangers	12	3	6	9	16
Neil Colville	New York Rangers	12	2	7	9	18
Syl Apps	Toronto Maple Leafs	10	5	2	7	2
Bryan Hextall	New York Rangers	12	4	3	7	11
Alex Shibicky	New York Rangers	11	2	5	7	4
Hank Goldup	Toronto Maple Leafs	10	5	1	6	4
Wilbert Hiller	New York Rangers	12	2	4	6	2
Mac Colville	New York Rangers	12	3	2	5	6
Mud Bruneteau	Detroit Red Wings	5	3	2	5	0
Alf Pike	New York Rangers	12	3	1	4	6

Playoff leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes Played; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Player	Team	GP	Min	W	L	T	SO	GAA
Dave Kerr	New York Rangers	12	770	8	4	0	3	1.56
Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	10	657	6	4	0	1	1.74
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	6	360	2	4	0	0	2.50
Tiny Thompson	Detroit Red Wings	5	300	2	3	0	0	2.40
Earl Robertson	New York Americans	3	180	1	2	0	0	3.00
Paul Goodman	Chicago Black Hawks	2	127	0	2	0	0	2.36

NHL awards

Calder Trophy:	Kilby MacDonald, New York Rangers
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Ebbie Goodfellow, Detroit Red Wings
Lady Byng Trophy:	Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
O'Brien Cup:	Toronto Maple Leafs
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy:	Dave Kerr, New York Rangers

All-Star teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Dave Kerr, New York Rangers	G	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins
Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins	D	Art Coulter, New York Rangers
Ebbie Goodfellow, Detroit Red Wings	D	Earl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks
Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins	C	Neil Colville, New York Rangers
Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers	RW	Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens	LW	Woody Dumart, Boston Bruins
Paul Thompson, Chicago Black Hawks	Coach	Frank Boucher, New York Rangers

References

• Hockey Database
• 1939-40 NHL Playoff Season Stats - quanthockey.com
• 1939-40 NHL Playoff Season Goaltender Stats
• NHL.com