The 1946–47 NHL season was the 30th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 60 games.

Regular season

Tommy Gorman, who had been associated with the National Hockey League since its inception in 1917, announced his retirement in July 1946 as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens. He left behind him seven Stanley Cup champions and a hall of fame career as a coach and general manager. Frank Selke, released from the Toronto Maple Leafs, took over as general manager and would build the greatest dynasty hockey ever knew in the late 1950s. The Canadiens were in financial trouble at this time, despite their winning team and Selke would turn things around by buying up talent and keeping the cream of the crop, selling some players to teams that needed talent.

Red Dutton finally got to resign as president of the NHL, as Clarence Campbell, whom Frank Calder had been grooming as his successor, had come home from Europe. Campbell's experience in law and in hockey made him the perfect choice as president.

Lorne Chabot, whose outstanding career as goalkeeper brought him two Stanley Cups, a Vezina Trophy and a first all-star selection, died October 10, five days after his 46th birthday. He had been suffering from kidney disease for some time and had been bedridden with severe arthritis.

Detroit lost Syd Howe through retirement, but another Howe started his great career as Gordie Howe was Detroit's new rookie. In one of his first fights, he took care of Montreal's Rocket Richard. Sid Abel then added a taunt that enraged Richard and he broke Abel's nose in three places.

Chicago decided to purchase goaltender Paul Bibeault from Montreal and regretted it. He played badly, one of his losses being an 11–0 whitewashing at the hands of Toronto. Finally, president and general manager Bill Tobin had enough and brought up 20 year old Emile Francis to replace him. He made his debut on February 9, 1947, in a 6–4 win over Boston.

A donnybrook took place March 16, 1947, between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. Cal Gardner lifted Kenny Reardon's stick so that it clipped him in the mouth and a fight broke out between both teams and the fans. On that same night, Billy Taylor of Detroit set an NHL record with 7 assists in a 10–6 shootout win over the Chicago Black Hawks.

Bill Durnan broke George Hainsworth's record of consecutive Vezina Trophies as he won his fourth in a row, and Montreal again finished first.

Max Bentley edged out Rocket Richard by one point and won the scoring championship.

The New York Rangers were the first NHL team to have their home games televised.

Final standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Scoring leaders

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

Stanley Cup playoffs

see 1947 Stanley Cup Finals

Playoff bracket

NHL awards

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1946–47 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Johnny Peirson, Boston Bruins
• Pentti Lund*, Boston Bruins
• Bill Gadsby, Chicago Black Hawks
• Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
• Jim McFadden*, Detroit Red Wings
• Bill Barilko, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Garth Boesch, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Gus Mortson, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Howie Meeker, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Sid Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1946–47 (listed with their last team):

• Don Grosso, Boston Bruins
• Bill Cowley, Boston Bruins
• Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins
• Babe Pratt, Boston Bruins
• Clint Smith, Chicago Black Hawks
• Johnny Mowers, Chicago Black Hawks
• Joe Benoit, Montreal Canadiens

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1946 in sports
• 1947 in sports

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com