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1943–44 Montreal Canadiens season

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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

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At the Habs' training camp in 1943, Canadiens manager Tommy Gorman settled on Bill 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

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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 Finals after 13 years of frustration. Durnan led the league in games played, wins and goals-against average in the regular season.[2]

Final standings

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National Hockey League[3]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Montreal Canadiens 50 38 5 7 234 109 +125 83
2 Detroit Red Wings 50 26 18 6 214 177 +37 58
3 Toronto Maple Leafs 50 23 23 4 214 174 +40 50
4 Chicago Black Hawks 50 22 23 5 178 187 −9 49
5 Boston Bruins 50 19 26 5 223 268 −45 43
6 New York Rangers 50 6 39 5 162 310 −148 17

Record vs. opponents

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1943–44 NHL Records [4]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYR TOR
Boston — 5–5 1–7–2 3–5–2 7–2–1 3–7
Chicago 5–5 — 5–5 0–8–2 7–1–2 5–4–1
Detroit 7–1–2 5–5 — 0–9–1 8–1–1 6–2–2
Montreal 5–3–2 8–0–2 9–0–1 — 9–0–1 7–2–1
New York 2–7–1 1–7–2 1–8–1 0–9–1 — 2–8
Toronto 7–3 4–5–1 2–6–2 2–7–1 8–2 —


Schedule and results

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Regular season results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 T October 30, 1943 2–2 Boston Bruins (1943–44) 0–0–1
2 W November 2, 1943 2–1 New York Rangers (1943–44) 1–0–1
3 W November 4, 1943 5–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 2–0–1
4 W November 7, 1943 5–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 3–0–1
5 W November 13, 1943 4–1 Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 4–0–1
6 W November 14, 1943 2–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 5–0–1
7 T November 16, 1943 2–2 @ Boston Bruins (1943–44) 5–0–2
8 W November 18, 1943 5–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 6–0–2
9 W November 20, 1943 7–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 7–0–2
10 W November 21, 1943 13–4 Boston Bruins (1943–44) 8–0–2
11 W November 27, 1943 6–3 New York Rangers (1943–44) 9–0–2
12 T November 28, 1943 2–2 @ New York Rangers (1943–44) 9–0–3
13 W December 2, 1943 6–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 10–0–3
14 W December 4, 1943 8–2 Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 11–0–3
15 L December 5, 1943 4–5 @ Boston Bruins (1943–44) 11–1–3
16 L December 11, 1943 2–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 11–2–3
17 W December 12, 1943 5–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 12–2–3
18 W December 19, 1943 3–1 Boston Bruins (1943–44) 13–2–3
19 W December 25, 1943 5–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 14–2–3
20 W December 30, 1943 8–3 Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 15–2–3
21 W January 1, 1944 4–0 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 16–2–3
22 W January 2, 1944 5–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 17–2–3
23 W January 4, 1944 6–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 18–2–3
24 W January 8, 1944 8–2 New York Rangers (1943–44) 19–2–3
25 W January 9, 1944 6–5 @ New York Rangers (1943–44) 20–2–3
26 L January 11, 1944 0–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 20–3–3
27 T January 13, 1944 2–2 Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 20–3–4
28 T January 16, 1944 1–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 20–3–5
29 W January 22, 1944 6–2 Boston Bruins (1943–44) 21–3–5
30 W January 23, 1944 4–1 @ Boston Bruins (1943–44) 22–3–5
31 T January 27, 1944 2–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 22–3–6
32 W January 30, 1944 5–3 @ New York Rangers (1943–44) 23–3–6
33 W February 5, 1944 6–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 24–3–6
34 L February 8, 1944 0–3 @ Boston Bruins (1943–44) 24–4–6
35 W February 12, 1944 3–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 25–4–6
36 T February 13, 1944 2–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 25–4–7
37 W February 17, 1944 3–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 26–4–7
38 W February 19, 1944 5–2 New York Rangers (1943–44) 27–4–7
39 W February 20, 1944 7–2 @ New York Rangers (1943–44) 28–4–7
40 W February 24, 1944 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 29–4–7
41 W February 26, 1944 10–2 Boston Bruins (1943–44) 30–4–7
42 W February 27, 1944 5–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 31–4–7
43 W March 4, 1944 5–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 32–4–7
44 W March 5, 1944 8–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1943–44) 33–4–7
45 W March 9, 1944 3–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 34–4–7
46 W March 11, 1944 4–3 Detroit Red Wings (1943–44) 35–4–7
47 L March 12, 1944 5–6 @ Boston Bruins (1943–44) 35–5–7
48 W March 16, 1944 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1943–44) 36–5–7
49 W March 18, 1944 11–2 New York Rangers (1943–44) 37–5–7
50 W March 19, 1944 6–1 @ New York Rangers (1943–44) 38–5–7

[5]

Playoffs

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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

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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 21 Toronto 3 Montreal 1
March 23 Toronto 1 Montreal 5
March 25 Montreal 2 Toronto 1
March 28 Montreal 4 Toronto 1
March 30 Toronto 0 Montreal 11

[6]

Stanley Cup Finals: Montreal vs. Chicago

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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 4 Chicago 1 Montreal 5
April 6 Montreal 3 Chicago 1
April 9 Montreal 3 Chicago 2
April 13 Chicago 4 Montreal 5 OT

[7] Montreal won the best-of-seven series 4–0.

Player statistics

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Regular season

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Scoring

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Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Elmer Lach C 48 24 48 72 23
Toe Blake LW 41 26 33 59 10
Maurice Richard RW 46 32 22 54 45
Buddy O'Connor C 44 12 42 54 6
Ray Getliffe C/LW 44 28 25 53 44
Phil Watson RW/C 44 17 32 49 61
Gerry Heffernan RW 43 28 20 48 12
Murph Chamberlain LW 47 15 32 47 85
Fern Majeau C/LW 44 20 18 38 39
Leo Lamoureux C/D 44 8 23 31 32
Bob Fillion LW 41 7 23 30 14
Mike McMahon D 42 7 17 24 98
Glen Harmon D 43 5 16 21 36
Emile Bouchard D 39 5 14 19 52
Tod Campeau C 2 0 0 0 0
Bill Durnan G 50 0 0 0 0
Bob Walton C/RW 4 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

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Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Bill Durnan 3000 50 38 5 7 109 2.18 2
Team: 3000 50 38 5 7 109 2.18 2

Playoffs

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Scoring

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Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Toe Blake LW 9 7 11 18 2
Maurice Richard RW 9 12 5 17 10
Elmer Lach C 9 2 11 13 4
Ray Getliffe C/LW 9 5 4 9 16
Murph Chamberlain LW 9 5 3 8 12
Phil Watson RW/C 9 3 5 8 16
Emile Bouchard D 9 1 3 4 4
Glen Harmon D 9 1 2 3 4
Gerry Heffernan RW 7 1 2 3 8
Mike McMahon D 8 1 2 3 16
Buddy O'Connor C 8 1 2 3 2
Leo Lamoureux C/D 9 0 3 3 8
Bill Durnan G 9 0 0 0 0
Bob Fillion LW 3 0 0 0 0
Fern Majeau C/LW 1 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

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Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Bill Durnan 549 9 8 1 14 1.53 1
Team: 549 9 8 1 14 1.53 1

[8]

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

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See also

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Citations

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  1. ^ "Bill Durnan".
  2. ^ a b c "HHOF – Player Details".
  3. ^ "Standings: 1943–1944". National Hockey League. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  4. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  5. ^ "1943–44 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
  6. ^ Diamond(2008), p. 54
  7. ^ Diamond(2008), pp. 54–55
  8. ^ "1943-44 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.

References

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