Summary
The NHL staged a preseason all-star game to benefit the family of Howie Morenz, the Montreal Canadien great who had died the previous season. Pitting players from the two Montreal teams against stars from the other six teams, the game raised $20,000 for the family.
With Eddie Shore back after having missed most of the previous season with a back injury, the Boston Bruins had the league's best record and Shore won his fourth Hart Trophy. The Toronto Maple Leafs took first place in the Canadian Division.
Thanks mainly to great goaltending from Turk Broda, the Leafs beat the Bruins in their series. Meanwhile, the Chicago Black Hawks were surprising everyone by beating the Canadiens and the New York Americans to get into the Stanley Cup finals.
The Black Hawks weren't given much of a chance against the Maple Leafs. For one thing, they'd won only 14 games while losing 25 and tying 9 during the regular season. For another, they'd lost their starting goalie, Mike Karakas, to a toe injury against the Americans.
A former NHL goalie, Alfie Moore, returned to action and Chicago won the first game, 3-1. Then Moore was declared ineligible and the Maple Leafs took the next game against a minor-league goalie. But Karakas returned for Game 3 and the Black Hawks won two in a row to take the series and the Stanley Cup.
They were the first losing team to win the trophy, and they did it with a team made up mostly of American players and coached by an American, Bill Stewart.
