1944–45 Boston Bruins season

1944–45 Boston Bruins
Division4th NHL
1944–45 record16–30–4
Team information
General managerArt Ross
CoachArt Ross
CaptainBill Cowley
Team leaders
GoalsHerb Cain (32)
AssistsBill Cowley (40)
PointsBill Cowley (65)
Penalty minutesPat Egan (86)
WinsHarvey Bennett Sr. (20)
Goals against averageHarvey Bennett Sr. (4.20)

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

Offseason

Regular season

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

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

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.