1936-37 NHL season

The 1936-37 NHL season was the 20th season of the National Hockey League. Eight teams each played 48 games. The Detroit Red Wings were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the New York Rangers three games to two in the final series.

Frank Calder had been naming the top rookies commencing with 1932-33. This year, he commenced buying a trophy for the top rookie and Syl Apps was this year's winner.

Regular season

The Great Depression had been taking its toll on the NHL. At the beginning of the decade, there were ten teams. Since then, two teams folded and it looked like the New York Americans were to become the third team. The NHL, however, was not about to let that happen. So, instead of letting the team fold because of money and ownership problems, the league assumed control of the team for the 1936-37 season. It was then that owner Bill Dwyer sued. A settlement then allowed for Dwyer to own the team, run by the NHL, and that Dwyer would be given a chance to pay back his debts.

The Montreal Maroons, short of money, had to sell their star and team captain Hooley Smith to Boston. It was hoped that Carl Voss would fill in adequately for him,but he came down with influenza and never was much help. But Bob Gracie started scoring and the Maroons almost nipped the Canadiens for first place in the Canadian Division.

The New York Americans had started in first place, but then their players came down with influenza and the team sagged. But the worst blow was when Roy Worters suffered a hernia and had to retire. Alfie Moore and Lorne Chabot were not adequate replacements and the Amerks finished last in the Canadian Division.

The Montreal Canadiens had hit the bottom in 1935-36, and Babe Siebert was obtained to shore up the defence. But the most loved of all movements was buying Howie Morenz back from the Rangers. The Canadiens went from last to first in the Canadian Division. Morenz was just hitting his stride in January of 1937, when tragedy struck. On one of his hurtling rushes, he was being checked by Earl Seibert of Chicago when his left skate got caught in the dasher of the end boards, and Morenz suffered a badly fractured leg. After suffering a nervous breakdown worrying about if he'd be able to come back, more bad luck occurred. On March 8th, 1937, X-rays revealed that Howie had blood clots in his healing leg. An operation was scheduled for the next day, but when Howie ate a light supper and told the nurse he wanted to rest, in falling asleep his palor suddenly changed and the nurse knew something was wrong. A blood clot had stopped his heart, and attempts to revive Howie failed. News of Morenz's death shocked the hockey world, and thousands filed past his bier, many in tears, to pay their last respects to the man who made the NHL a truly major league.

Detroit, led by Vezina Trophy winning Normie Smith, finished first in the American Division. The NHL lost greats in one way or the other this year. Boston's Eddie Shore suffered a broken back, and Toronto favourite King Clancy retired. But Toronto's biggest loss occurred when Charlie Conacher injured his wrist. He was never the same again.

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

Canadian Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Canadiens	48	24	18	6	54	115	111	298
Montreal Maroons	48	22	17	9	53	126	110	379
Toronto Maple Leafs	48	22	21	5	49	119	115	371
New York Americans	48	15	29	4	34	122	161	481

American Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Detroit Red Wings	48	25	14	9	59	128	102	244
Boston Bruins	48	23	18	7	53	120	110	303
New York Rangers	48	19	20	9	47	117	106	312
Chicago Black Hawks	48	14	27	7	35	99	131	291

Scoring leaders

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

PLAYER	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Sweeney Schriner	New York Americans	48	21	25	46	17
Syl Apps	Toronto Maple Leafs	48	16	29	45	10
Marty Barry	Detroit Red Wings	48	17	27	44	6
Larry Aurie	Detroit Red Wings	45	23	20	43	20
Busher Jackson	Toronto Maple Leafs	46	21	19	40	12

Stanley Cup playoffs

Playoff bracket

NHL awards

O'Brien Trophy:	Montreal Canadiens
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Babe Siebert, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Marty Barry, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:	Normie Smith, Detroit Red Wings

References

NHL 1936/37

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