1944–45 Boston Bruins season

The 1944–45 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 21st season in the NHL.

1944–45 Boston Bruins
Division	4th NHL
1944–45 record	16–30–4
Team information
General manager	Art Ross
Coach	Art Ross
Captain	Bill Cowley
Team leaders
Goals	Herb Cain (32)
Assists	Bill Cowley (40)
Points	Bill Cowley (65)
Penalty minutes	Pat Egan (86)
Wins	Harvey Bennett, Sr. (20)
Goals against average	Harvey Bennett, Sr. (4.20)
← 1943–44 1945–46 →

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

National Hockey League^[1]

• v
• t
• e

		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

Record vs. opponents

1944–45 NHL Records ^[2]
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	MTL	NYR	TOR
Boston	—	7–3	0–9–1	0–10	4–3–3	5–5
Chicago	5–5	—	5–5	0–8–2	7–1–2	5–4–1
Detroit	9–0–1	7–3	—	1–8–1	6–2–2	8–1–1
Montreal	10–0	7–1–2	8–1–1	—	9–1	4–5–1
New York	3–4–3	3–3–4	2–6–2	1–9	—	2–7–1
Toronto	5–5	6–3–1	1–8–1	5–4–1	7–2–1	—

Schedule and results

Regular season schedule

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 28, 1944	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	0–1–0
2	L	October 29, 1944	1–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	0–2–0
3	L	November 4, 1944	2–7	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	0–3–0
4	W	November 5, 1944	6–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	1–3–0
5	T	November 12, 1944	5–5	@ New York Rangers (1944–45)	1–3–1
6	W	November 14, 1944	7–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	2–3–1
7	L	November 18, 1944	3–6	@ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	2–4–1
8	L	November 19, 1944	3–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	2–5–1
9	L	November 21, 1944	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	2–6–1
10	W	November 23, 1944	5–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	3–6–1
11	W	November 26, 1944	8–4	New York Rangers (1944–45)	4–6–1
12	L	November 28, 1944	3–6	Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	4–7–1
13	W	November 30, 1944	7–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	5–7–1
14	W	December 3, 1944	5–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	6–7–1
15	L	December 5, 1944	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	6–8–1
16	W	December 9, 1944	5–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	7–8–1
17	L	December 10, 1944	6–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	7–9–1
18	W	December 12, 1944	7–5	New York Rangers (1944–45)	8–9–1
19	L	December 16, 1944	5–8	@ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	8–10–1
20	L	December 19, 1944	3–6	Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	8–11–1
21	W	December 28, 1944	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	9–11–1
22	L	December 31, 1944	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1944–45)	9–12–1
23	L	January 2, 1945	3–6	Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	9–13–1
24	L	January 7, 1945	4–8	@ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	9–14–1
25	L	January 11, 1945	1–5	@ New York Rangers (1944–45)	9–15–1
26	L	January 13, 1945	1–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	9–16–1
27	L	January 14, 1945	1–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	9–17–1
28	W	January 16, 1945	5–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	10–17–1
29	W	January 21, 1945	14–3	New York Rangers (1944–45)	11–17–1
30	L	January 23, 1945	4–5	Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	11–18–1
31	L	January 27, 1945	3–11	@ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	11–19–1
32	L	January 28, 1945	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	11–20–1
33	L	January 30, 1945	3–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	11–21–1
34	W	February 3, 1945	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	12–21–1
35	T	February 4, 1945	3–3	New York Rangers (1944–45)	12–21–2
36	L	February 6, 1945	1–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	12–22–2
37	L	February 11, 1945	2–3	Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	12–23–2
38	W	February 13, 1945	3–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	13–23–2
39	W	February 17, 1945	6–1	New York Rangers (1944–45)	14–23–2
40	L	February 18, 1945	1–2	@ New York Rangers (1944–45)	14–24–2
41	L	February 21, 1945	0–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	14–25–2
42	T	February 25, 1945	4–4	@ New York Rangers (1944–45)	14–25–3
43	L	March 4, 1945	4–10	@ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	14–26–3
44	L	March 6, 1945	2–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	14–27–3
45	L	March 8, 1945	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	14–28–3
46	L	March 10, 1945	2–9	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)	14–29–3
47	W	March 11, 1945	7–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	15–29–3
48	T	March 13, 1945	2–2	Detroit Red Wings (1944–45)	15–29–4
49	W	March 15, 1945	5–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45)	16–29–4
50	L	March 18, 1945	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1944–45)	16–30–4

Playoffs

The Detroit Red Wings finished second in the league with 67 points. The Boston Bruins finished fourth with 36 points. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with Detroit winning the two of the three previous series. They last met in the 1943 Stanley Cup Finals where the Red Wings won in four games. Detroit won this season's ten-game regular-season series earning nineteen of twenty points.

March 20	Boston Bruins		4–3		Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
Bill Cowley (1) – 06:20 Bill Cupolo (1) – 10:07 Herb Cain (1) – 14:04		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Jack McGill (1) – 07:22		Third period			04:04 – Earl Seibert (1) 09:05 – Joe Carveth (1) 19:04 – Eddie Bruneteau (1)
Paul Bibeault		Goalie stats			Harry Lumley

March 22	Boston Bruins		4–2		Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
Jack McGill (2) – 02:46		First period			No scoring
Ken Smith (1) – 10:03 Jean-Paul Gladu (1) – 10:18		Second period			08:25 – Harold Jackson (1)
Pat Egan (1) – 17:05		Third period			12:48 – Eddie Bruneteau (2)
Paul Bibeault		Goalie stats			Harry Lumley

March 24	Detroit Red Wings		3–2		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
Ted Lindsay (1) – 18:54 Murray Armstrong (1) – 19:35		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			16:05 – Pat Egan (2)
Mud Bruneteau (1) – 15:48		Third period			17:57 – Gino Rozzini (1)
Harry Lumley		Goalie stats			Paul Bibeault

March 27	Detroit Red Wings		3–2		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
Earl Seibert (2) – 17:21		First period			08:31 – Ken Smith (2)
No scoring		Second period			14:38 – Herb Cain (2)
Joe Carveth (2) – 05:10 Murray Armstrong (2) – 17:15		Third period			No scoring
Harry Lumley		Goalie stats			Paul Bibeault

March 29	Boston Bruins		2–3	OT	Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
Herb Cain (3) – 11:52		First period			02:51 – Mud Bruneteau (2) 11:41 – Flash Hollett (1)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
Bill Jennings (1) – pp – 17:00		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		First overtime period			17:12 – Mud Bruneteau (3)
Paul Bibeault		Goalie stats			Harry Lumley

April 1	Detroit Red Wings		3–5		Boston Bruins	Boston Garden	Recap
Jud McAtee (1) – 00:45		First period			12:54 – Bill Cowley (2)
Joe Carveth (3) – 03:24 Jud McAtee (2) – 17:12		Second period			06:24 – Bill Jennings (2) 07:33 – pp – Herb Cain (4) 10:38 – Jean-Paul Gladu (2)
No scoring		Third period			09:25 – Bill Cowley (3)
Harry Lumley		Goalie stats			Paul Bibeault

April 3	Boston Bruins		3–5		Detroit Red Wings	Olympia Stadium	Recap
Jack McGill (3) – 19:15		First period			08:20 – pp – Carl Liscombe (1)
Herb Cain (5) – 08:50 Ken Smith (3) – 19:39		Second period			03:51 – Carl Liscombe (2)
No scoring		Third period			02:01 – Eddie Bruneteau (3) 04:09 – Carl Liscombe (3) 19:54 – Carl Liscombe (4)
Paul Bibeault		Goalie stats			Harry Lumley

Detroit won series 4–3

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bill Cowley	C	49	25	40	65	12
Herb Cain	LW	50	32	13	45	16
Ken Smith	LW	49	20	14	34	2
Bill Jennings	RW	39	20	13	33	25
Frank Mario	C	44	8	18	26	24
Armand Gaudreault	LW	44	15	9	24	27
Bill Cupolo	RW	47	11	13	24	10
Jack Crawford	D	40	5	19	24	10
Dit Clapper	RW/D	46	8	14	22	16
Pat Egan	D	48	7	15	22	86
Jean-Paul Gladu	LW	40	6	14	20	2
Gino Rozzini	C	31	5	10	15	20
Art Jackson	C	19	5	8	13	10
Jack Shewchuk	D	47	1	7	8	31
Jack McGill	C	14	4	2	6	0
Bill Thoms	C	17	4	2	6	0
Norm Calladine	C	11	3	1	4	0
Tom Brennan	RW	1	0	1	1	0
Murray Henderson	D	5	0	1	1	4
Harvey Bennett	G	25	0	0	0	0
Paul Bibeault	G	26	0	0	0	0
Marcel Fillion	LW	1	0	0	0	0
Fern Flaman	D	1	0	0	0	0
Pete Leswick	W	2	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Harvey Bennett	1470	25	10	12	2	103	4.20	0
Paul Bibeault	1530	26	6	18	2	116	4.55	0
Team:	3000	50	16	30	4	219	4.38	0

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Herb Cain	LW	7	5	2	7	0
Ken Smith	LW	7	3	4	7	0
Bill Cowley	C	7	3	3	6	0
Jack McGill	C	7	3	3	6	0
Jack Crawford	D	7	0	5	5	0
Jean-Paul Gladu	LW	7	2	2	4	0
Bill Jennings	RW	7	2	2	4	6
Bill Cupolo	RW	7	1	2	3	0
Gino Rozzini	C	6	1	2	3	6
Pat Egan	D	7	2	0	2	6
Armand Gaudreault	LW	7	0	2	2	8
Murray Henderson	D	7	0	1	1	2
Paul Bibeault	G	7	0	0	0	0
Dit Clapper	RW/D	7	0	0	0	0
Bill Thoms	C	1	0	0	0	2

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Paul Bibeault	437	7	3	4	22	3.02	0
Team:	437	7	3	4	22	3.02	0

^[3]

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

Transactions

See also

• 1944–45 NHL season

References

1. "1944–1945 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
3. "1944-45 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2009.