1943–44 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1943–44 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 35th season, 27th in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team would win the Stanley Cup for the fifth time. Bill Durnan would join the club as its new goaltender and he won the Vezina Trophy in his rookie season.[1]

1943–44 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup champions
Division1st NHL
1943–44 record38–5–7
Goals for234
Goals against109
Team information
General ManagerTommy Gorman
CoachDick Irvin
CaptainToe Blake
ArenaMontreal Forum
Team leaders
GoalsMaurice Richard (32)
AssistsElmer Lach (48)
PointsElmer Lach (72)
Penalty minutesMike McMahon, Sr. (98)
WinsBill Durnan (38)
Goals against averageBill Durnan (2.18)

Offseason

At the Habs' training camp in 1943, Canadiens manager Tommy Gorman settled on Durnan as his goalie. Durnan stated that he was happy as an amateur and happy with less money if it meant avoiding the stress of the professional game. On opening night, Durnan was not yet signed. Ten minutes before the first faceoff, he spoke with Gorman and reached a deal. Durnan signed the contract and played in the game. The result was a 2–2 draw with the Boston Bruins. The rookie netminder was a few months shy of his 27th birthday.[2]

Regular season

Some of Durnan's teammates included the Punch Line of Elmer Lach, Rocket Richard and Toe Blake. Durnan was a key element that took Montreal back to the Stanley Cup after 13 years of frustration. Durnan led the league in games played, wins and goals-against average in the regular season.[2]

Final standings
National Hockey League[3]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1Montreal Canadiens503857234109+12583
2Detroit Red Wings5026186214177+3758
3Toronto Maple Leafs5023234214174+4050
4Chicago Black Hawks5022235178187−949
5Boston Bruins5019265223268−4543
6New York Rangers506395162310−14817

Record vs. opponents
1943-44 NHL Records
Team BOS CHI DET MON NYR TOR
Boston —5–51–7–23–5–27–2–13–7
Chicago 5–5—5–50–8–27–1–25–4–1
Detroit 7–1–25–5—0–9–18–1–16–2–2
Montreal 5–3–28–0–29–0–1—9–0–17–2–1
New York 2–7–11–7–21–8–10–9–1—2–8
Toronto 7–34–5–12–6–22–7–18–2—

Schedule and results
Regular season results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1TOctober 30, 19432–2Boston Bruins (1943–44)0–0–1
2WNovember 2, 19432–1New York Rangers (1943–44)1–0–1
3WNovember 4, 19435–3@ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)2–0–1
4WNovember 7, 19435–1Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)3–0–1
5WNovember 13, 19434–1Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)4–0–1
6WNovember 14, 19432–0@ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)5–0–1
7TNovember 16, 19432–2@ Boston Bruins (1943–44)5–0–2
8WNovember 18, 19435–2Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)6–0–2
9WNovember 20, 19437–2@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)7–0–2
10WNovember 21, 194313–4Boston Bruins (1943–44)8–0–2
11WNovember 27, 19436–3New York Rangers (1943–44)9–0–2
12TNovember 28, 19432–2@ New York Rangers (1943–44)9–0–3
13WDecember 2, 19436–2Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)10–0–3
14WDecember 4, 19438–2Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)11–0–3
15LDecember 5, 19434–5@ Boston Bruins (1943–44)11–1–3
16LDecember 11, 19432–4@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)11–2–3
17WDecember 12, 19435–1@ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)12–2–3
18WDecember 19, 19433–1Boston Bruins (1943–44)13–2–3
19WDecember 25, 19435–1Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)14–2–3
20WDecember 30, 19438–3Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)15–2–3
21WJanuary 1, 19444–0@ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)16–2–3
22WJanuary 2, 19445–2@ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)17–2–3
23WJanuary 4, 19446–3Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)18–2–3
24WJanuary 8, 19448–2New York Rangers (1943–44)19–2–3
25WJanuary 9, 19446–5@ New York Rangers (1943–44)20–2–3
26LJanuary 11, 19440–5@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)20–3–3
27TJanuary 13, 19442–2Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)20–3–4
28TJanuary 16, 19441–1@ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)20–3–5
29WJanuary 22, 19446–2Boston Bruins (1943–44)21–3–5
30WJanuary 23, 19444–1@ Boston Bruins (1943–44)22–3–5
31TJanuary 27, 19442–2Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)22–3–6
32WJanuary 30, 19445–3@ New York Rangers (1943–44)23–3–6
33WFebruary 5, 19446–1Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)24–3–6
34LFebruary 8, 19440–3@ Boston Bruins (1943–44)24–4–6
35WFebruary 12, 19443–2@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)25–4–6
36TFebruary 13, 19442–2@ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)25–4–7
37WFebruary 17, 19443–2@ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)26–4–7
38WFebruary 19, 19445–2New York Rangers (1943–44)27–4–7
39WFebruary 20, 19447–2@ New York Rangers (1943–44)28–4–7
40WFebruary 24, 19443–1Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)29–4–7
41WFebruary 26, 194410–2Boston Bruins (1943–44)30–4–7
42WFebruary 27, 19445–1@ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)31–4–7
43WMarch 4, 19445–2@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)32–4–7
44WMarch 5, 19448–3Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44)33–4–7
45WMarch 9, 19443–2@ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)34–4–7
46WMarch 11, 19444–3Detroit Red Wings (1943–44)35–4–7
47LMarch 12, 19445–6@ Boston Bruins (1943–44)35–5–7
48WMarch 16, 19443–2Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44)36–5–7
49WMarch 18, 194411–2New York Rangers (1943–44)37–5–7
50WMarch 19, 19446–1@ New York Rangers (1943–44)38–5–7

[4]

Playoffs

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, Durnan allowed only 1.53 goals per game as the Canadiens skated to the title. At season's end, Durnan was awarded the Vezina Trophy, the first rookie to win the award, and was selected to the league's First All-Star Team.[2]

Semi-final: Montreal vs. Toronto

Rocket Richard scored seven goals in the series, including all five for Montreal in game two. After giving up the first game at home to Toronto, Montreal took over, winning the next four, finishing the series with an 11–0 shellacking in game five.

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
March 21Toronto3Montreal 1
March 23Toronto1Montreal5
March 25Montreal 2Toronto1
March 28Montreal4Toronto1
March 30Toronto0Montreal 11

[5]

Stanley Cup Final: Montreal vs. Chicago
Main article: 1944 Stanley Cup Finals

Maurice 'Rocket' Richard made his Stanley Cup debut with a five-goal performance in the series, including a hat-trick in game two. The Punch Line of Richard, Elmer Lach and Toe Blake scored 10 of the Canadiens 16 goals. Blake scored the Cup winner in overtime. In the same overtime, Bill Durnan stopped the first penalty shot awarded in the finals, awarded to Virgil Johnson.

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 4Chicago1Montreal 5
April 6Montreal 3Chicago1
April 9Montreal 3Chicago2
April 13Chicago4Montreal 5OT

[6] Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–0.

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Elmer LachC4824487223
Toe BlakeLW4126335910
Maurice RichardRW4632225445
Buddy O'ConnorC441242546
Ray GetliffeC/LW4428255344
Phil WatsonRW/C4417324961
Gerry HeffernanRW4328204812
Murph ChamberlainLW4715324785
Fern MajeauC/LW4420183839
Leo LamoureuxC/D448233132
Bob FillionLW417233014
Mike McMahonD427172498
Glen HarmonD435162136
Butch BouchardD395141952
Tod CampeauC20000
Bill DurnanG500000
Bob WaltonC/RW40000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Bill Durnan30005038571092.182
Team:30005038571092.182

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Toe BlakeLW9711182
Maurice RichardRW91251710
Elmer LachC9211134
Ray GetliffeC/LW954916
Murph ChamberlainLW953812
Phil WatsonRW/C935816
Butch BouchardD91344
Glen HarmonD91234
Gerry HeffernanRW71238
Mike McMahonD812316
Buddy O'ConnorC81232
Leo LamoureuxC/D90338
Bill DurnanG90000
Bob FillionLW30000
Fern MajeauC/LW10000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Bill Durnan549981141.531
Team:549981141.531

[7]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Montreal Canadiens 1944 Stanley Cup champions

Players

  Wingers

Coaching and administrative staff

  • Donat Raymond (President/Owner), Dalton Coleman (Vice President/Owner)
  • Leonard (Len) Peto (Director), Tommy Gorman (Manager)
  • Dick Irvin Sr, (Coach)
  • Ernie Cook (Trainer)&, Hector Dubois (Ass't Trainer)&.

Stanley Cup engraving
  • Trainer Ernie Cook and Hector Dubois were included on the team picture in 1944, 1946. However, their names were not engraved on the Cup. When the Stanley Cup was redesigned during the 1957–58 season Cook was added to cup in 1944, but not to 1946 team. Dubois would later have his name on the Stanley Cup 6 times 1953–56–57–58–59–60.
  • In 1944 Tommy Gorman became the only Manager to win 4 Stanley Cup with 4 different teams. 1920–21–23 Ottawa Senators, 1934 Chicago Black Hawks, 1935 Montreal Maroons and 1944 Montreal Canadiens. He would retire as a champion, after winning one more cup with the Canadiens in 1946.
Spelling mistakes
  • Bill Durnan's name was misspelled as BILL DURMAN. The first "N" was engraved as a "M". The mistake was corrected in 1992–93 when the Replica Cup was created.
  • Gerald "Gerry" Heffernan won only 1 Stanley Cup in his career in 1944. However, his name is spelled differently on each of the rings that included the 1944 Montreal Canadiens.
  • On the original ring in 1944 as GERALD HEFFERNAN
  • On the Redesigned ring created during 1957–58 season as JERRY HEFFERNAN
  • On the Replica ring created in 1992–93 as GERRY HEFFERNAN

See also

References
  • Canadiens on Hockey Database
  • Diamond, Dan, ed. (2008). 2008 Playoff Media Guide:Total Stanley Cup. NHL.
  1. http://habslegends.blogspot.com/2006/05/bill-durnan.html
  2. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p196402&type=Player&page=bio&list=#photo
  3. "Standings: 1943–1944". National Hockey League. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  4. "1943–44 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  5. Diamond(2008), p. 54
  6. Diamond(2008), pp. 54–55
  7. "1943-44 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
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