The 1940 Stanley Cup Finals was a best-of-seven series between the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. New York would win the series 4–2 to win their third Stanley Cup. The Rangers would not win another for 54 years, a circumstance termed the Curse of 1940.
| 1940 Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * – Denotes overtime period(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | New York City: Madison Square Garden (1, 2) Toronto: Maple Leaf Gardens (3–6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | New York: Frank Boucher Toronto: Dick Irvin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | New York: Art Coulter Toronto: Red Horner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | April 2–13, 1940 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Bryan Hextall (2:07, OT) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Rangers: Neil Colville (1967) Art Coulter (1974) Bryan Hextall (1969) Lynn Patrick (1980) Babe Pratt (1966) Clint Smith (1991) Maple Leafs: Syl Apps (1961) Turk Broda (1967) Gordie Drillon (1975) Red Horner (1965) Sweeney Schriner (1962) Coaches: Frank Boucher (1958, player) Dick Irvin (1958, player) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paths to the Finals
editNew York defeated the Boston Bruins in a best-of-seven 4–2 to advance to the Finals. The Maple Leafs had to play two best-of three series; winning 2–0 against the Chicago Black Hawks, and 2–0 against the Detroit Red Wings to advance to the Finals.
Game summaries
editThe Finals series between the Rangers and the Maple Leafs was an exciting one that went back and forth with three overtime games. The Rangers took the first two at home and the Leafs took the next two in Toronto. The circus forced the Rangers to vacate Madison Square Garden after the first two games. The Rangers would score three game-winning goals in overtime including the Cup winner. Lynn and Murray Patrick played for the Rangers to become the third and fourth members of the Patrick family to win the Stanley Cup.[1]
| April 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–2 | OT | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden III | Recap | ||
| Red Heron (2) - 11:01 | First period | 9:09 - pp - Art Coulter (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 15:30 - Alf Pike (2) | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Dave Kerr | ||||||
| April 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2–6 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden III | Recap | |||
| Billy Taylor (1) - 5:01 Hank Goldup (4) - 6:01 |
First period | 15:14 - Bryan Hextall | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 3:57 - Babe Pratt (3) 19:48 - pp - Bryan Hextall (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 6:26 - Bryan Hextall (3) 12:21 - pp - Dutch Hiller (2) 13:09 - pp - Lynn Patrick (2) | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Dave Kerr | ||||||
| April 6 | New York Rangers | 1–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| Phil Watson (3) - 18:19 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:32 - Gordie Drillon (2) 13:40 - Hank Goldup (5) | ||||||
| Dave Kerr | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| April 9 | New York Rangers | 0–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 19:20 - Gus Marker (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 16:03 - Wally Stanowski (1) 19:26 - Gordie Drillon (3) | ||||||
| Dave Kerr | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| April 11 | New York Rangers | 2–1 | 2OT | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | ||
| Neil Colville (1) - 12:21 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 16:55 - Syl Apps (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Muzz Patrick (3) - 11:43 | Second overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dave Kerr | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| April 13 | New York Rangers | 3–2 | OT | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 6:52 - Syl Apps (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 4:51 - Nick Metz (1) | ||||||
| Neil Colville (2) - 8:08 Alf Pike (3) - 10:01 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bryan Hextall (4) - 2:07 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Dave Kerr | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| New York won series 4–2 | |
Stanley Cup engraving
editThe 1940 Stanley Cup was presented to Rangers captain Art Coulter by NHL President Frank Calder following the Rangers 3–2 overtime win over the Maple Leafs in game six.
The following Rangers players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1939–40 New York Rangers
Players
- 6 Neil Colville
- 7 Phil Watson
- 10 Clint Smith
- 16 Alf Pike
- 4 Alex Shibicky
- 5 Mac Colville
- 8 Wilbert Dutch Hiller
- 9 Lynn Patrick
- 12 Bryan Hextall Sr.
- 14 James Kilby MacDonald
- 17 Stanford Smith
a(played 1 game finals)
- 2 Art Coulter (Captain)
- 3 Erhardt Ott Heller
- 8 Walter Babe Pratt
- 15 Murray Muzz Patrick
Coaching and administrative staff
- John Reed Kilpatrick (President/Owner), Lester Patrick (Manager)
- Frank Boucher (Coach), Harry Westerby (Trainer)
- Stanton Griffis (Vice President/Owner)a
Stanley Cup engraving
a Missing from the Stanley Cup, but qualified to be on it.
- Frank Boucher was 6th NHL rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup.
- Lester Patrick and Frank Boucher became the first (and to this date, the only) duo to win the Stanley Cup together as players and then as a coach-managerial team, having won as players on the Rangers in 1928.[2]
- A new ring was added to the Stanley Cup. This large ring had room to hold 7 winning Stanley Cup teams.
See also
editReferences and notes
editNotes
edit- ^ "Stanley Cup Champions 1940-1949". NHL.com. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ Branch, John (June 1, 2006). "New York Is Edmonton's Home Away From Home". The New York Times. p. D7.
If the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, Lowe and MacTavish will be the second twosome in NHL history to win as teammates, and as general manager and coach. Lester Patrick was the Rangers' general manager and Frank Boucher was the coach when they won the championship in 1940. They played together when the Rangers won the Cup in 1928.
References
edit- Diamond, Dan (2000). Total Stanley Cup. Toronto: Total Sports Canada. ISBN 978-1-892129-07-9.
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp. 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7.