1944–45 Toronto Maple Leafs season

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1944–45 Toronto Maple Leafs
Stanley Cup Champions
Division 3rd
1944–45 record 24–22–4
Home record 13–9–3
Road record 11–13–1
Goals for 183
Goals against 161
Team information
General Manager Conn Smythe
Coach Hap Day
Captain Bob Davidson
Arena Maple Leaf Gardens
Team leaders
Goals Ted Kennedy (29)
Assists Gus Bodnar (36)
Points Ted Kennedy (54)
Penalties in minutes Reg Hamilton (41)
Wins Frank McCool (24)
Goals against average Frank McCool (3.22)
<1943–44 1945–46>

The 1944–45 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the club's 28th season in the NHL. Toronto finished in third place in the regular season, with a 24–22–4 record, earning 52 points. The Leafs eliminated their arch rivals Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, and then defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games in the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals.

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Regular season

Toronto was a very streaky club during the regular season, where they started off very hot, winning their first six games, and 10 of their first 14, before a mid-season slump, when they managed a 5–10–2 record in 17 games. The Leafs would continue to be a streaky club for the remainder of the year, which included a five-game winning streak, and a seven game winless streak. Overall, the Maple Leafs managed to end the season with a 24–22–4 record, earning 52 points, and third place in the NHL standings.

The Leafs offense was led teenage superstar Ted Kennedy, who turned 19 during the season, and had a club high 29 goals and 54 points. Gus Bodnar, who was also 19 years old, led the club with 36 assists, while Lorne Carr put together another solid season, scoring 21 goals and adding 25 assists for 46 points. Sweeney Schriner, who only appeared in 26 games, managed to score 22 goals and 37 points. Babe Pratt led the Leafs defense, scoring 18 goals and 41 points, while fellow blueliner Reg Hamilton had 15 points, and a team high 41 penalty minutes.

In goal, rookie Frank McCool had all the action, winning 24 games and posting a 3.22 GAA, while earning 4 shutouts. McCool would win the Calder Trophy for his efforts.

The Maple Leafs would open the playoffs against the heavily favoured and defending Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens in a best of 7 series. The Canadiens dominated the league, as they had a record of 38–8–4, recording 80 points, which was 28 more than the Leafs. Toronto stunned the Canadiens in the series opener at the Montreal Forum, as Frank McCool shut out the Habs in a 1–0 Leafs victory. The Leafs then went up 2–0 in the series, winning a close game by a 3–2 score. The series shifted to Maple Leaf Gardens, however, the Canadiens roared back, easily defeating Toronto 4–1 to cut the Leafs series lead to 2–1. The fourth game was decided in overtime, and it was the Leafs who were victorious, winning 4–3, and taking a commanding 3–1 series lead. The series moved back to Montreal for the fifth game, and the Canadiens easily dismantled the Leafs, winning 10–3, and sending the series back to Toronto for the sixth game. The Maple Leafs would complete the upset, hanging on for a 4–3 win in the game, and win the series 4–2.

Toronto's opponent in the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals was the Detroit Red Wings, who finished the regular season with a 31–14–5 record, earning 67 points, which was 15 higher than the Leafs. The Red Wings had defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round. Toronto, led by Frank McCool, would shutout the Red Wings in the first two games held at the Detroit Olympia for an early series lead. The Maple Leafs returned home for the third game, and took a 3–0 series lead as McCool would earn another shutout as Toronto won the game 1–0. The Red Wings managed to finally find the back of the net in the fourth game, winning 5–3 to avoid the sweep. Detroit goaltender Harry Lumley then shutout the Leafs in the fifth game by a score of 2–0, and he would once again earn a shutout in the sixth game, as Detroit won the game 1–0 in overtime to set up a seventh and deciding game. Toronto, led by goaltender Frank McCool and Babe Pratt, who scored the series winning goal, managed to hang on for a 2–1 victory in the seventh game to win the Stanley Cup for the fifth time in club history, and their first title in three years.

Final standings

National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Montreal Canadiens 50 38 8 4 228 121 +107 80
2 Detroit Red Wings 50 31 14 5 218 161 +57 67
3 Toronto Maple Leafs 50 24 22 4 183 161 +22 52
4 Boston Bruins 50 16 30 4 179 219 −40 36
5 Chicago Black Hawks 50 13 30 7 141 194 −53 33
6 New York Rangers 50 11 29 10 154 247 −93 32


Schedule and results

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 October 28 New York Rangers 1–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–0–0 2
2 October 29 Toronto Maple Leafs 11–5 Chicago Black Hawks 2–0–0 4
3 November 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 Montreal Canadiens 3–0–0 6
4 November 4 Boston Bruins 2–7 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0–0 8
5 November 9 Toronto Maple Leafs 6–3 New York Rangers 5–0–0 10
6 November 11 Montreal Canadiens 1–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 6–0–0 12
7 November 12 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–4 Detroit Red Wings 6–1–0 12
8 November 15 Detroit Red Wings 8–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 6–2–0 12
9 November 18 Chicago Black Hawks 4–5 Toronto Maple Leafs 7–2–0 14
10 November 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 Chicago Black Hawks 8–2–0 16
11 November 23 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–5 Boston Bruins 8–3–0 16
12 November 25 Montreal Canadiens 0–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 9–3–0 18
13 November 26 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–4 Montreal Canadiens 9–4–0 18
14 December 2 New York Rangers 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 10–4–0 20
15 December 3 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–5 Boston Bruins 10–5–0 20
16 December 9 Boston Bruins 5–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 10–6–0 20
17 December 14 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–2 Montreal Canadiens 10–6–1 21
18 December 16 Detroit Red Wings 1–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 10–6–2 22
19 December 23 Detroit Red Wings 5–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 10–7–2 22
20 December 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–6 Detroit Red Wings 10–8–2 22
21 December 27 Toronto Maple Leafs 8–2 New York Rangers 11–8–2 24
22 December 30 Chicago Black Hawks 0–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 12–8–2 26
23 January 4 Montreal Canadiens 2–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 13–8–2 28
24 January 6 Detroit Red Wings 5–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 13–9–2 28
25 January 9 New York Rangers 5–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 13–10–2 28
26 January 11 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–7 Montreal Canadiens 13–11–2 28
27 January 13 Boston Bruins 1–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 14–11–2 30
28 January 14 Toronto Maple Leafs 0–3 Detroit Red Wings 14–12–2 30
29 January 16 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–5 Boston Bruins 14–13–2 30
30 January 20 Chicago Black Hawks 4–8 Toronto Maple Leafs 15–13–2 32
31 January 21 Toronto Maple Leafs 0–4 Chicago Black Hawks 15–14–2 32
32 January 27 New York Rangers 0–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 16–14–2 34
33 January 28 Toronto Maple Leafs 7–0 New York Rangers 17–14–2 36
34 February 3 Boston Bruins 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 17–15–2 36
35 February 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 Chicago Black Hawks 18–15–2 38
36 February 6 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–1 Boston Bruins 19–15–2 40
37 February 10 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 19–16–2 40
38 February 11 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks 19–17–2 40
39 February 17 Montreal Canadiens 4–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 19–18–2 40
40 February 18 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–6 Detroit Red Wings 19–19–2 40
41 February 24 New York Rangers 4–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 19–19–3 41
42 February 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–5 Montreal Canadiens 19–20–3 41
43 February 27 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 19–20–4 42
44 March 3 Montreal Canadiens 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 20–20–4 44
45 March 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 6–3 New York Rangers 21–20–4 46
46 March 6 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–2 Boston Bruins 22–20–4 48
47 March 10 Boston Bruins 2–9 Toronto Maple Leafs 23–20–4 50
48 March 11 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–2 Detroit Red Wings 24–20–4 52
49 March 17 Detroit Red Wings 4–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 24–21–4 52
50 March 18 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–6 New York Rangers 24–22–4 52

Playoffs

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Montreal Canadiens 2

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 20 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–0 Montreal Canadiens 1–0
2 March 22 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–2 Montreal Canadiens 2–0
3 March 24 Montreal Canadiens 4–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1
4 March 27 Montreal Canadiens 3–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–1
5 March 29 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–10 Montreal Canadiens 3–2
6 March 31 Montreal Canadiens 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–2

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Detroit Red Wings 3

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 6 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–0 Detroit Red Wings 1–0
2 April 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–0 Detroit Red Wings 2–0
3 April 12 Detroit Red Wings 0–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–0
4 April 14 Detroit Red Wings 5–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–1
5 April 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 0–2 Detroit Red Wings 3–2
6 April 21 Detroit Red Wings 1–0 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–3
7 April 22 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1 Detroit Red Wings 4–3

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Ted Kennedy 49 29 25 54 14
Lorne Carr 47 21 25 46 7
Gus Bodnar 49 8 36 44 18
Babe Pratt 50 18 23 41 39
Sweeney Schriner 26 22 15 37 10
Nick Metz 50 22 13 35 26
Mel Hill 45 18 17 35 14
Bob Davidson 50 17 18 35 49
Art Jackson 31 9 13 22 6
Reg Hamilton 50 3 12 15 41
Wally Stanowski 34 2 9 11 16
Pete Backor 36 4 5 9 6
Ross Johnstone 24 3 4 7 8
Tom O'Neill 33 2 5 7 24
John McCreedy 17 2 4 6 11
Bill Ezinicki 8 1 4 5 17
Jack McLean 8 2 1 3 13
Moe Morris 29 0 2 2 18
Frank McCool 50 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SA SV SV% SO
Frank McCool 3000 50 24 22 4 161 3.22 4
Team: 3000 50 24 22 4 161 3.22 4

Playoffs

Scoring
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Ted Kennedy 13 7 2 9 2
Babe Pratt 13 2 4 6 8
Mel Hill 13 2 3 5 6
Gus Bodnar 13 3 1 4 4
Sweeney Schriner 13 3 1 4 4
Lorne Carr 13 2 2 4 5
Moe Morris 13 3 0 3 14
Bob Davidson 13 1 2 3 2
Nick Metz 7 1 1 2 2
Don Metz 11 0 1 1 4
Wally Stanowski 13 0 1 1 5
Reg Hamilton 13 0 0 0 6
Art Jackson 8 0 0 0 0
Frank McCool 13 0 0 0 0
John McCreedy 8 0 0 0 10
Jack McLean 4 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SA SV SV% SO
Frank McCool 807 13 8 5 30 2.23 4
Team: 807 13 8 5 30 2.23 4

[2]

Awards and records

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Transactions

1945 Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup Champions

Don Metz, Frank McCool, Wally Stanowski, Reg Hamilton, Elwin Morris, John McCreedy, Tommy O'Neill, Ted Kennedy, Babe Pratt, Gus Bodnar, Art Jackson, Jack McLean, Mel Hill, Nick Metz, Bob Davidson (captain), Dave Schriner, Lorne Carr, Conn Smythe (manager), Hap Day (coach), Frank Selke (business manager), Tim Daly (trainer)

See also

References

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