WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.879 Welcome in and thank you so much for joining 00:00:01.879 --> 00:00:04.919 us for today's deep dive. We're really thrilled 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:06.660 to have you here. Yeah, glad you could make it. 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:08.859 We've got a great one today. We really do. Today 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:11.919 we are transporting you back in time to a very 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.119 specific, just an incredibly critical moment 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:18.320 in sports history. We're talking about the 1942 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:22.379 to 1943 National Hockey League season. A really 00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:25.559 wild year. Oh, completely. And we are relying 00:00:25.559 --> 00:00:28.859 on a massive, highly detailed... historical article 00:00:28.859 --> 00:00:31.399 as our single source to kind of unpack all this 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:33.380 today. Right. To figure out how they even survive. 00:00:33.500 --> 00:00:35.840 Exactly. That's the mission for this deep dive. 00:00:35.979 --> 00:00:39.380 We want to uncover how a season defined by, you 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:41.640 know, a global war, unimaginable tragedy in the 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:43.700 boardroom and just sheer desperate survival, 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.820 how all of that accidentally birthed one of the 00:00:46.820 --> 00:00:49.679 most legendary eras in all the sports. The original 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.039 six era. You guessed it. OK, let's unpack this, 00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:53.960 because when you think of the original six, you 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:56.320 usually picture this, I don't know, this golden, 00:00:56.460 --> 00:00:59.630 untouchable. Era of hockey. Pristine sweaters, 00:00:59.630 --> 00:01:02.530 noble rivalries. Yeah, packed arenas, the whole 00:01:02.530 --> 00:01:04.930 romanticized image. But looking at the historical 00:01:04.930 --> 00:01:07.370 record, the foundation of that era was built 00:01:07.370 --> 00:01:10.349 on pure, unadulterated crisis management. It 00:01:10.349 --> 00:01:12.450 really was. What's fascinating here is that the 00:01:12.450 --> 00:01:16.840 original six wasn't... It wasn't some grand marketing 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:20.459 strategy. Right. Or a carefully curated master 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:23.299 plan by the Lee owners to create this premium 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:26.299 product. It was a product of contraction, plain 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:28.680 and simple. Necessity. Yeah. Coming into the 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:32.099 42 -43 season, the NHL was reduced to just six 00:01:32.099 --> 00:01:34.560 teams because the Brooklyn Americans were officially 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:36.439 dropped from the league. And the reason behind 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:38.680 this really highlights the domino effect of the 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:40.959 era, doesn't it? Oh, absolutely. Madison Square 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:43.260 Garden simply turned down a lease agreement with 00:01:43.260 --> 00:01:45.980 the team's owner, Red Dutton. And without a building 00:01:45.980 --> 00:01:48.239 to play in, Dutton was effectively locked out. 00:01:48.379 --> 00:01:50.680 But, I mean, was it purely a logistical issue 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:53.840 with the arena? Or did the remaining owners see 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:56.319 a financial benefit to consolidating the talent 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:58.780 pool and the revenue into just six cities? Because 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:00.620 Dutton certainly didn't seem to think it was 00:02:00.620 --> 00:02:03.760 just about a lease. He argued passionately that 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:06.040 the ongoing Second World War was going to weaken 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:08.919 all the teams across the board anyway. So why 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:11.620 single out the Americans for contraction? He 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:14.680 had a point. Dunn had a point about the war weakening 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:17.939 everyone. But the other owners countered with 00:02:17.939 --> 00:02:21.199 a pretty harsh reality regarding manpower. Yeah, 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:24.219 the military draft. Right. They pointed out that 00:02:24.219 --> 00:02:27.159 the sheer number of players, particularly Americans, 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:29.599 who are currently serving in the armed forces, 00:02:29.780 --> 00:02:32.659 meant the Brooklyn franchise literally could 00:02:32.659 --> 00:02:34.759 not operate. They just didn't have the bodies. 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:36.280 They wouldn't have the bodies to put on the ice. 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:38.639 So the league officially placed the Brooklyn 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:40.919 Americans on what they called reserve status. 00:02:41.659 --> 00:02:44.020 Which is basically suspended animation, right? 00:02:44.180 --> 00:02:46.819 Exactly. To break that down, reserve status essentially 00:02:46.819 --> 00:02:49.340 meant putting the franchise on ice, pun intended. 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:51.659 The League promised Dutton they could return 00:02:51.659 --> 00:02:54.560 after the war was over and the talent pool replenished. 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:57.060 Though as history tells us, they never actually 00:02:57.060 --> 00:02:59.599 returned. Nope, never did. But that manpower 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:02.280 shortage, it wasn't just an excuse to push out 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:04.740 Brooklyn. It was affecting every single roster 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:06.699 in ways that are hard to comprehend today. Oh, 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:09.020 massively. I want to look at the New York Rangers 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:11.979 for a second because they felt the full devastating 00:03:11.979 --> 00:03:15.520 impact of World War II during this specific season. 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.120 They went from being the first place team in 00:03:18.120 --> 00:03:21.759 the league to the absolute worst. First to worst. 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:25.490 First to worst in a single year. If we connect 00:03:25.490 --> 00:03:28.090 this to the bigger picture, the war was draining 00:03:28.090 --> 00:03:30.870 the talent pool relentlessly. The Rangers lost 00:03:30.870 --> 00:03:33.650 key personnel almost overnight. It's staggering. 00:03:33.930 --> 00:03:36.490 We're talking about guys like Art Coulter, Alex 00:03:36.490 --> 00:03:39.569 Shibaki, the Colville brothers, Bill Juzda. By 00:03:39.569 --> 00:03:41.770 the time the dust settled, the Rangers were left 00:03:41.770 --> 00:03:43.949 with just one player from their regular defensive 00:03:43.949 --> 00:03:47.590 rotation. Just one. Just Ott Heller. Everyone 00:03:47.590 --> 00:03:50.409 else had enlisted or been drafted. They were 00:03:50.409 --> 00:03:52.409 desperately trying to plug holes in a sinking 00:03:52.409 --> 00:03:55.069 ship, which led to trades like sending Babe Pratt 00:03:55.069 --> 00:03:57.689 to Toronto just to get Hank Gold up and a player 00:03:57.689 --> 00:04:00.550 named Dudley Red Garrett. And the story of Red 00:04:00.550 --> 00:04:03.009 Garrett, it brings a really heavy perspective 00:04:03.009 --> 00:04:05.349 to this whole discussion. We talk about wins 00:04:05.349 --> 00:04:08.389 and losses and team standings, but the reality 00:04:08.389 --> 00:04:11.210 outside the rink was literally life and death. 00:04:11.349 --> 00:04:13.889 It really was. Dudley Red Garrett proved to be 00:04:13.889 --> 00:04:16.009 an excellent replacement on the ice for New York. 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:19.720 But the somber reality of this era is that professional 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:23.720 hockey was entirely secondary to the global conflict. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:26.699 Garrett played just 21 games for the Rangers 00:04:26.699 --> 00:04:29.540 before he, too, was called into the armed forces. 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:33.220 Wow. And tragically, he gave his life in service 00:04:33.220 --> 00:04:36.439 during the war. It completely recontextualizes 00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:38.519 what these teams were dealing with. It really 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:40.899 does. They weren't just losing star players to 00:04:40.899 --> 00:04:42.959 free agency or injuries. They were sending their 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.459 teammates off to a global theater of war. And 00:04:45.459 --> 00:04:47.779 some of them. Never came back. It makes you realize 00:04:47.779 --> 00:04:49.819 that these front offices were barely holding 00:04:49.819 --> 00:04:51.699 their organizations together. I mean, to survive 00:04:51.699 --> 00:04:55.000 this massive enlistment drain, the NHL actually 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.480 had to make a special, unprecedented agreement 00:04:57.480 --> 00:04:59.660 with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.060 the CAHA. Like the junior leagues. Yeah. Yeah. 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:05.560 The agreement allowed junior age players to become 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:08.279 professionals early whenever they wanted, specifically 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:10.379 so these young guys could make a living under 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:13.240 wartime conditions. But how did that actually 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:15.589 play out on the ice? You have to picture. the 00:05:15.589 --> 00:05:18.509 physical reality of this. Because the NHL was 00:05:18.509 --> 00:05:21.110 so desperate for bodies, you suddenly had 16 00:05:21.110 --> 00:05:24.610 and 17 -year -old boys. Kids. Literal kids who 00:05:24.610 --> 00:05:26.329 should have been worrying about high school exams 00:05:26.329 --> 00:05:29.329 stepping onto the ice to play against fully grown, 00:05:29.569 --> 00:05:32.350 heartened professional athletes. That's terrifying. 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:35.189 It was. These veterans were men fighting for 00:05:35.189 --> 00:05:37.730 their livelihoods in an incredibly brutal era 00:05:37.730 --> 00:05:41.149 of the sport. The league fully expected clubs 00:05:41.149 --> 00:05:43.870 to rely heavily on these kids. Did they have 00:05:43.870 --> 00:05:46.689 any rules in place for that? A few. They set 00:05:46.689 --> 00:05:49.350 some ground rules, like requiring NHL teams to 00:05:49.350 --> 00:05:51.790 contact the junior club first and continuing 00:05:51.790 --> 00:05:55.230 to pay the CHA for developing the players. But 00:05:55.230 --> 00:05:57.470 it was purely a survival tactic. They needed 00:05:57.470 --> 00:06:00.110 warm bodies in skates, even if those bodies belonged 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:02.370 to teenagers. The logistics of just keeping the 00:06:02.370 --> 00:06:03.990 league functioning under wartime restrictions 00:06:03.990 --> 00:06:06.709 led to some wild rule changes, too. Oh, the overtime 00:06:06.709 --> 00:06:11.329 thing. Yes. Think about how... Integral overtime 00:06:11.329 --> 00:06:14.250 is to the drama of regular season hockey today 00:06:14.250 --> 00:06:16.769 for you as a fan. It's often the most exciting 00:06:16.769 --> 00:06:19.509 part of the game. But partway through this very 00:06:19.509 --> 00:06:22.629 season, regular season overtime was completely 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:25.329 abolished. Banned entirely. And I know they didn't 00:06:25.329 --> 00:06:27.449 do it for player safety. So what was the actual 00:06:27.449 --> 00:06:30.569 catalyst for banning extra time? This raises 00:06:30.569 --> 00:06:32.589 an important question about how infrastructure 00:06:32.589 --> 00:06:36.170 dictates sports. The ban had absolutely nothing 00:06:36.170 --> 00:06:39.209 to do with player fatigue or safety. It was strictly 00:06:39.209 --> 00:06:42.250 dictated by wartime travel restrictions and the 00:06:42.250 --> 00:06:44.449 rigid schedules of the locomotive trains. The 00:06:44.449 --> 00:06:47.129 trains? Yeah. Teams relied entirely on the rail 00:06:47.129 --> 00:06:49.889 system to get from city to city. And during the 00:06:49.889 --> 00:06:52.610 war, troop movements and military supplies took 00:06:52.610 --> 00:06:55.050 absolute priority. So the passenger trains were 00:06:55.050 --> 00:06:56.930 getting bumped. Exactly. They were operating 00:06:56.930 --> 00:06:59.490 on incredibly strict, unforgiving timetables. 00:06:59.829 --> 00:07:02.660 If a hockey game went into overtime... The visiting 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:04.839 team risked missing their train out of town. 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:07.699 They'd just be stranded. Right. So the last regular 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:10.660 season overtime game, played for decades, happened 00:07:10.660 --> 00:07:12.800 on November 10th, with the Rangers beating Chicago 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:17.980 5 -3. By November 21st, 1942, the league officially 00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:20.519 banned it. Banning a massive component of the 00:07:20.519 --> 00:07:22.660 sport simply so players wouldn't get stranded 00:07:22.660 --> 00:07:25.740 at the station is wild. And that rule stuck around. 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:28.220 For a very long time. Regular season overtime 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:31.819 would not return to the NHL until the 1983 -1984 00:07:31.819 --> 00:07:35.579 season. Decades later. Over 40 years later. An 00:07:35.579 --> 00:07:37.920 entire generation of hockey forever altered because 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:41.220 of train schedules in 1942. But as challenging 00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:43.100 as the on -ice logistics and the train schedules 00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:45.740 were, the league was about to face a completely 00:07:45.740 --> 00:07:49.259 sudden catastrophic crisis at the executive level. 00:07:49.420 --> 00:07:52.699 We need to look at January 25, 1943. Right. The 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:55.079 NHL held a lead meeting that day. It was supposed 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:57.560 to be routine administrative housekeeping. Just 00:07:57.560 --> 00:07:59.860 normal stuff. Yeah. The primary agenda was just 00:07:59.860 --> 00:08:01.779 confirming the playoff dates, setting them to 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:03.779 start on March 20th, and agreeing that all series 00:08:03.779 --> 00:08:05.980 would be best of seven. The morning session went 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:07.920 off without a hitch. But the afternoon session. 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:10.360 The afternoon session took a very dark turn. 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:14.100 Frank Calder, the longtime president of the NHL, 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:16.899 had just finished a tense conversation with Red 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:19.060 Dutton. The Brooklyn owner. Right. Officially 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:20.959 informing him about that reserve status for the 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:23.360 Brooklyn Americans we discussed earlier. Shortly 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:26.339 after that exchange, Hapday, the coach of the 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:29.040 Toronto Maple Leafs, noticed Calder was in visible 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:32.340 physical distress. Two lead governors rushed 00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:34.960 over to help him, but Calder, being the old school 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.659 executive he was, tried to brush it off. He assured 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:40.360 them he was fine. But then his face contracted 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:43.200 in pain. He took a few faltering steps and he 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:45.100 suddenly cried out. And this is a direct quote 00:08:45.100 --> 00:08:47.899 from the source. My God, there is something wrong. 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:50.899 From there, a truly harrowing sequence of events 00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:54.240 unfolds. Calder was taken to his hotel room where 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.059 a doctor confirmed he had suffered a massive 00:08:56.059 --> 00:08:58.580 heart attack. A massive one. A specialist had 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:01.120 to intervene and convince him. despite Calder's 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.679 stubborn protests, to check into St. Michael's 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:06.320 Hospital in Toronto. And while he was recovering 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.779 there at St. Michael's, he suffered his second 00:09:08.779 --> 00:09:11.179 heart attack. Yet he somehow fights through that 00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:13.879 second one. After a week, he actually feels well 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:16.279 enough to travel, so he takes a train back to 00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:18.899 Montreal and checks into Montreal General Hospital. 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:21.820 By February 4th, he's sitting in his hospital 00:09:21.820 --> 00:09:24.830 bed. He's surrounded by his family. He eats a 00:09:24.830 --> 00:09:27.529 light breakfast. And what is he doing? Working. 00:09:27.570 --> 00:09:30.669 He is literally reviewing the league's financial 00:09:30.669 --> 00:09:33.909 books from his hospital pillows. The sheer stubborn 00:09:33.909 --> 00:09:36.470 dedication to the job right up to the very end 00:09:36.470 --> 00:09:39.210 is remarkable. While looking over those league 00:09:39.210 --> 00:09:41.789 ledgers, he slipped back onto his pillows and 00:09:41.789 --> 00:09:44.730 passed away from a third fatal heart attack at 00:09:44.730 --> 00:09:47.389 the age of 65. Unbelievable. The league was suddenly 00:09:47.389 --> 00:09:49.710 completely leaderless during the most precarious, 00:09:49.710 --> 00:09:52.340 fragile season in its history. And the irony 00:09:52.340 --> 00:09:54.700 of what happens next is almost hard to believe. 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:57.759 The NHL urgently needed a new president to guide 00:09:57.759 --> 00:09:59.700 them through this wartime chaos and keep the 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:02.299 league from folding entirely. Who did they choose 00:10:02.299 --> 00:10:05.120 to step in on an interim basis? Red Dutton. Red 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:08.399 Dutton. The very same ousted owner who had just 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:11.620 lost his Brooklyn franchise. The very man Frank 00:10:11.620 --> 00:10:13.899 Calder had been speaking to right before his 00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:16.580 first heart attack. Dutton goes from a frustrated, 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:19.320 locked -out owner who believed the league couldn't 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:21.940 survive the war to the interim president tasked 00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:25.080 with ensuring it did exactly that. It is a profound 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:28.659 twist of fate. But it's a sobering reminder of 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:30.600 the human element behind the business of sports. 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:33.600 Despite losing their foundational leader and 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:35.980 despite operating in the long shadow of a global 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:39.519 war, the league had to press forward. The games 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:41.779 had to go on. The business couldn't stop. The 00:10:41.779 --> 00:10:43.740 games had to be played. And the product on the 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:46.259 ice was surprisingly fierce. Here's where it 00:10:46.259 --> 00:10:48.659 gets really interesting. You'd think a depleted 00:10:48.659 --> 00:10:51.059 grieving league would produce sloppy, forgettable 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:53.620 hockey. But the intensity was off the charts. 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:56.200 The Detroit Red Wings emerged as the absolute 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:58.299 powerhouse of the regular season. They really 00:10:58.299 --> 00:11:00.399 did. They finished in first place with 61 points. 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:02.799 But the stat that really jumps out is their plus 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:05.179 45 goal differential. For those listening who 00:11:05.179 --> 00:11:07.960 might not obsess over hockey analytics, how dominant 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:11.500 is a plus 45 in this specific era? It's a staggering 00:11:11.500 --> 00:11:14.139 number when you consider the context. A plus 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:16.919 45 goal differential simply means Detroit scored 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:19.240 45 more goals than they allowed over the course 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:21.200 of the year. Right. But remember, this was only 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.399 a 50 -game season. Averaging almost a full goal 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:26.679 better than your opponent every single night 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:29.539 in a six -team league where you play the same 00:11:29.539 --> 00:11:32.139 rosters over and over again is total dominance. 00:11:32.379 --> 00:11:34.559 They were just crushing people. And a huge part 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:36.419 of that dominance came down to their man in the 00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:38.950 net. Johnny Mowers was phenomenal. He secured 00:11:38.950 --> 00:11:42.129 six shutouts in those 50 games, winning the Vizina 00:11:42.129 --> 00:11:44.289 Trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the league. 00:11:44.470 --> 00:11:47.169 When your goaltender is a brick wall, it allows 00:11:47.169 --> 00:11:49.590 your defense to play more aggressively, which 00:11:49.590 --> 00:11:52.330 fuels the offense. But it wasn't just precision 00:11:52.330 --> 00:11:55.049 passing and great goaltending. It was also incredibly 00:11:55.049 --> 00:11:58.950 violent. Oh, very. This era was notoriously tough, 00:11:59.149 --> 00:12:01.529 and there's a specific incident that perfectly 00:12:01.529 --> 00:12:04.110 illustrates the raw emotions spilling over on 00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:07.480 the ice. It was a massive stick -swinging brawl 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:10.000 between Jimmy Orlando, a hardened veteran for 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:13.059 Detroit, and a rookie for Toronto named Gay Stewart. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.360 A nasty fight. And apparently the rookie absolutely 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:19.419 dismantled the veteran. Orlando came out of it 00:12:19.419 --> 00:12:22.139 badly cut in the face and... bleeding profusely. 00:12:22.179 --> 00:12:25.039 The league had to step in and suspend both players 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:28.200 to maintain some semblance of order. But what's 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:30.700 notable about Gay Stewart isn't just that he 00:12:30.700 --> 00:12:33.820 won a bloody, visceral fight against an established 00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:36.139 enforcer. Right. He was actually good. Stewart 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:39.399 was a legitimate offensive weapon. He went on 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:42.320 to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:45.320 first year player in the NHL. He represented 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:47.399 a new breed of player coming into the league, 00:12:47.539 --> 00:12:50.220 highly skilled, but tough enough to survive. 00:12:50.830 --> 00:12:53.870 The literal bloodbaths of the 1940s. Speaking 00:12:53.870 --> 00:12:55.710 of new talent, we have to talk about what was 00:12:55.710 --> 00:12:58.470 brewing up in Montreal. Yes. The Canadians finished 00:12:58.470 --> 00:13:00.629 fourth in the standings, barely squeaking into 00:13:00.629 --> 00:13:03.370 the playoffs by a single point. But their coach, 00:13:03.549 --> 00:13:06.269 Dick Riven, was quietly assembling the pieces 00:13:06.269 --> 00:13:09.549 of an absolute juggernaut. He put together the 00:13:09.549 --> 00:13:11.649 very first iteration of what hockey historians 00:13:11.649 --> 00:13:14.990 know as the punchline. Legendary. That was Elmer 00:13:14.990 --> 00:13:17.570 Latch, Toe Blake, and Joe Benoit. The cultural 00:13:17.570 --> 00:13:19.970 and historical impact of the punchline cannot 00:13:19.970 --> 00:13:23.129 be overstated. They would go on to terrorize 00:13:23.129 --> 00:13:26.110 the league for years. And you could see the chemistry 00:13:26.110 --> 00:13:28.509 forming immediately. Joe Benoit had a phenomenal 00:13:28.509 --> 00:13:32.190 year, scoring in even 30 goals. Wow. To put that 00:13:32.190 --> 00:13:34.549 in perspective for Montreal fans, he became the 00:13:34.549 --> 00:13:37.409 first Canadian to hit the 30 -goal plateau since 00:13:37.409 --> 00:13:40.129 the legendary Howie Morens did it way back in 00:13:40.129 --> 00:13:43.350 the 1929 -30 season. The pieces for a dynasty 00:13:43.350 --> 00:13:46.029 were falling into place. But wait, Montreal also 00:13:46.029 --> 00:13:47.750 debuted another rookie that year, didn't they? 00:13:47.809 --> 00:13:49.690 Someone who ended up having a rather, let's say, 00:13:49.710 --> 00:13:52.309 complicated start. Yes, and this is one of the 00:13:52.309 --> 00:13:55.070 great ironies of hockey history. During this 00:13:55.070 --> 00:13:58.909 42 -43 season, Montreal debuted a young, fiery 00:13:58.909 --> 00:14:01.490 player who showed flashes of brilliance but ended 00:14:01.490 --> 00:14:04.409 up suffering a broken leg. A bad break. The Canadiens 00:14:04.409 --> 00:14:07.029 manager at the time, Tommy Gorman, actually went 00:14:07.029 --> 00:14:09.450 on the record expressing deep concern that this 00:14:09.450 --> 00:14:11.769 young player was simply too brittle to ever make 00:14:11.769 --> 00:14:14.090 it in the grinding, physical world of the NHL. 00:14:14.389 --> 00:14:17.029 That brittle rookie was Maurice Richard. Maurice 00:14:17.029 --> 00:14:19.990 Rocket. The one and only. The idea that the Rocket, 00:14:20.090 --> 00:14:23.070 arguably the most fearsome, relentless, and iconic 00:14:23.070 --> 00:14:25.870 goal scorer in the history of the sport, a guy 00:14:25.870 --> 00:14:28.389 who basically defines hockey toughness was almost 00:14:28.389 --> 00:14:32.009 written off as too fragile, is hilarious in hindsight. 00:14:32.309 --> 00:14:35.210 It really highlights how unpredictable player 00:14:35.210 --> 00:14:37.450 development was, especially when you factor in 00:14:37.450 --> 00:14:39.850 the sheer physical toll of the game back then. 00:14:39.990 --> 00:14:42.789 And Richard wasn't the only notable youth movement. 00:14:42.929 --> 00:14:45.870 Right. Over in Boskin, the Bruins debuted a player 00:14:45.870 --> 00:14:48.750 named Beb Guidolin. who made history by becoming 00:14:48.750 --> 00:14:51.409 the youngest rookie to ever play in the NHL. 00:14:51.870 --> 00:14:54.370 Because the older veterans were overseas, the 00:14:54.370 --> 00:14:56.570 door was blown wide open for these teenagers 00:14:56.570 --> 00:14:59.230 to step in and plant the seeds for the next generation. 00:14:59.549 --> 00:15:01.230 But let's look at the structure of the league 00:15:01.230 --> 00:15:03.889 itself, because having only six teams didn't 00:15:03.889 --> 00:15:06.149 just open doors for rookies. It fundamentally 00:15:06.149 --> 00:15:08.970 changed the psychology of the sport. Why did 00:15:08.970 --> 00:15:11.389 this specific contraction forge such intense 00:15:11.389 --> 00:15:14.190 legendary rivalries? It comes down to human nature. 00:15:15.149 --> 00:15:17.210 Familiarity breeds contempt. Sure does. Because 00:15:17.210 --> 00:15:19.990 the lead was reduced to just six teams, the schedule 00:15:19.990 --> 00:15:22.149 was incredibly condensed. You were playing the 00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:24.970 exact same five opponents up to ten times a single 00:15:24.970 --> 00:15:27.629 season. Ten times. You weren't just playing a 00:15:27.629 --> 00:15:30.509 team. You were playing the guy who cross -checked 00:15:30.509 --> 00:15:32.909 you in the teeth two weeks ago, and you knew 00:15:32.909 --> 00:15:35.090 you'd see him again next Tuesday. No escaping 00:15:35.090 --> 00:15:38.429 it. There was no hiding. That constant repetitive 00:15:38.429 --> 00:15:41.750 physical friction birthed the fierce, genuine 00:15:41.750 --> 00:15:45.330 blood feud rivalries that fans eventually romanticized 00:15:45.330 --> 00:15:48.389 as the hallmark of the original six. And that 00:15:48.389 --> 00:15:51.509 familiar hatred really boiled over when the regular 00:15:51.509 --> 00:15:54.250 season ended and the playoffs began. Because 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:57.889 the league was now just six teams, the old quarterfinal 00:15:57.889 --> 00:16:00.850 round was completely eliminated. How did the 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:02.990 new bracket work? The Stanley Cup playoffs were 00:16:02.990 --> 00:16:05.049 reduced to just a four -team best -of -seven 00:16:05.049 --> 00:16:07.230 bracket. The first -place team played the third 00:16:07.230 --> 00:16:09.250 -place team, and the second -place team faced 00:16:09.250 --> 00:16:11.330 the fourth -place team. Nice and simple. It was 00:16:11.330 --> 00:16:13.809 a streamlined, high -stakes sprint to the Cup. 00:16:13.970 --> 00:16:16.149 And this format actually stayed in place all 00:16:16.149 --> 00:16:19.309 the way through the 1966 -67 season. Let's look 00:16:19.309 --> 00:16:22.379 at the first matchup. The first place... Detroit 00:16:22.379 --> 00:16:24.700 Red Wings against the third place Toronto Maple 00:16:24.700 --> 00:16:27.940 Leafs. Detroit ultimately won the series 4 -2, 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:30.799 but calling it a hard -fought series feels like 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.759 an understatement. Look at game two of that series 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.500 in Detroit. Toronto won the game 3 -2, but it 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:39.080 took them four overtime periods to do it. Four 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:41.799 overtimes? Jack McLean finally scored the winner 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.220 in the fourth OT. You have to imagine the physical 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:47.220 state of those players. These rosters were already 00:16:47.220 --> 00:16:49.559 stretched incredibly thin by the military draft. 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:51.500 They didn't have four lines they could roll to 00:16:51.500 --> 00:16:54.080 keep guys fresh. You had the same handful of 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.299 exhausted men playing essentially two and a half 00:16:56.299 --> 00:16:58.460 full hockey games in a single night. With dull 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:01.309 skates. The skates are dull, the ice is chewed 00:17:01.309 --> 00:17:03.730 up, the lactic acid buildup in their legs must 00:17:03.730 --> 00:17:06.190 have been agonizing. The sheer stamina required 00:17:06.190 --> 00:17:08.690 just to stay upright, let alone compete at a 00:17:08.690 --> 00:17:12.049 championship level, is unimaginable today. Despite 00:17:12.049 --> 00:17:15.190 Toronto's unbelievable resilience in that marathon 00:17:15.190 --> 00:17:18.549 game, Detroit's overall depth and the absolute 00:17:18.549 --> 00:17:20.750 brick wall that was Johnny Moore's were just 00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:23.630 too much to overcome. Detroit eventually closed 00:17:23.630 --> 00:17:26.269 out the series by winning game six in overtime 00:17:26.269 --> 00:17:29.779 on a goal by Joe Karvath. And the other side 00:17:29.779 --> 00:17:32.079 of the bracket. Meanwhile, in the other semifinal, 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:34.720 the second -place Boston Bruins took on the fourth 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.579 -place Montreal Canadiens. Boston handled Montreal 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:40.000 pretty decisively, winning the series four games 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.019 to one. But there is a staggering statistic buried 00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:45.140 in this matchup, isn't there? Yes, and it is 00:17:45.140 --> 00:17:46.779 a piece of trivia that perfectly illustrates 00:17:46.779 --> 00:17:50.140 how the balance of power shifts in sports. When 00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:52.559 Boston eliminated Montreal in Game 5 of this 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.720 1943 series, it marked the absolute end of an 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:57.779 era for Boston. It would be the last time the 00:17:57.779 --> 00:17:59.680 Boston Bruins would defeat the Montreal Canadiens 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:02.960 in a postseason series until 1988. 1988, that 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:05.819 is a 45 -year playoff curse against their biggest, 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:08.140 most hated rivals. Incredible to think about. 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:11.160 But in the spring of 1943, Boston was riding 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:13.960 high. They advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals 00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.950 to face the first -place Detroit Red Wings. But 00:18:16.950 --> 00:18:19.750 if fans were expecting a grueling, quadruple 00:18:19.750 --> 00:18:22.730 -overtime epic like the semifinals, they were 00:18:22.730 --> 00:18:25.410 deeply disappointed. The finals were a complete 00:18:25.410 --> 00:18:28.930 mismatch. Detroit swept the Bruins four out. 00:18:29.069 --> 00:18:32.410 Detroit systematically dismantled Boston. The 00:18:32.410 --> 00:18:34.769 physical toll of the war -shortened rosters and 00:18:34.769 --> 00:18:37.170 the grinding season finally caught up to the 00:18:37.170 --> 00:18:40.529 Bruins. They just ran out of gas. They did. Boston 00:18:40.529 --> 00:18:42.369 managed to score a total of five goals in the 00:18:42.369 --> 00:18:44.549 first two games of Detroit, but when the series 00:18:44.549 --> 00:18:47.130 shifted to Boston for games three and four, the 00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:49.450 Bruins' offense completely evaporated. They had 00:18:49.450 --> 00:18:51.390 nothing left in the tank. And Mowers was waiting 00:18:51.390 --> 00:18:53.490 for them. Detroit's goaltender, Johnny Mowers, 00:18:53.569 --> 00:18:55.890 proved exactly why he was the league's MVP in 00:18:55.890 --> 00:18:58.849 net. He shut out the exhausted Bruins in game 00:18:58.849 --> 00:19:01.410 three with a 4 -0 win and then drove the final 00:19:01.410 --> 00:19:03.349 nail in the coffin, shutting them out again in 00:19:03.349 --> 00:19:06.130 the deciding game four with a 2 -0 victory. Back 00:19:06.130 --> 00:19:08.210 -to -back shutouts in the Stanley Cup finals 00:19:08.210 --> 00:19:10.950 to clinch the championship. That is the definition 00:19:10.950 --> 00:19:13.430 of a clutch performance. Detroit was simply on 00:19:13.430 --> 00:19:16.109 another level. But before we completely close 00:19:16.109 --> 00:19:18.069 the book on the on -ice action, we should definitely 00:19:18.069 --> 00:19:20.349 acknowledge a couple of the standout statistical 00:19:20.349 --> 00:19:22.609 stars from the regular season who didn't necessarily 00:19:22.609 --> 00:19:25.849 get to hoist the cup, right? Absolutely. The 00:19:25.849 --> 00:19:28.569 individual talent was still blindingly bright. 00:19:28.890 --> 00:19:31.869 The scoring title went to Chicago's Doug Bentley, 00:19:32.029 --> 00:19:35.490 who put up an incredibly impressive 73 points, 00:19:35.769 --> 00:19:39.670 33 goals, and 40 assists in just 50 games. Great 00:19:39.670 --> 00:19:42.690 numbers. And the Hart Trophy, given to the league's 00:19:42.690 --> 00:19:45.470 most valuable player, went to Boston center Bill 00:19:45.470 --> 00:19:49.009 Cowley, who racked up 72 points in 48 games before 00:19:49.009 --> 00:19:52.049 running out of gas in the finals. Even in a contracted 00:19:52.049 --> 00:19:54.690 war -torn league, the high -end offensive talent 00:19:54.690 --> 00:19:56.769 was still putting on a show for the fans who 00:19:56.769 --> 00:19:59.170 needed the distraction. So what does this all 00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:01.289 mean? We've covered a franchise collapsing over 00:20:01.289 --> 00:20:03.509 a lease dispute, teenagers playing against hardened 00:20:03.509 --> 00:20:06.690 men, a tragic death in a hospital bed, wartime 00:20:06.690 --> 00:20:08.769 train schedules altering the rulebook, and a 00:20:08.769 --> 00:20:12.250 dominant championship sweep. How do we pull all 00:20:12.250 --> 00:20:14.890 of these chaotic threads together? If we synthesize 00:20:14.890 --> 00:20:18.440 everything we've discussed. The 1942 -43 NHL 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:21.339 season wasn't just another year of hockey. It 00:20:21.339 --> 00:20:24.180 was a crucible. A crucible. The world was consumed 00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:27.279 by a devastating war. The league lost its visionary 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:30.279 president under shocking circumstances. And the 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:32.500 talent pool was severely depleted by the military 00:20:32.500 --> 00:20:35.480 draft. They were forced into a lean six -team 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:37.440 survival mode just to keep the lights on. Yeah. 00:20:37.619 --> 00:20:40.160 But in doing so, they inadvertently created a 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:42.609 pressure cooker. The constraints of the time 00:20:42.609 --> 00:20:45.009 forged a fiercely competitive, intimate, and 00:20:45.009 --> 00:20:47.309 violent league that would capture the imagination 00:20:47.309 --> 00:20:50.569 of fans for the next quarter century. They built 00:20:50.569 --> 00:20:53.069 the most stable, celebrated, and romanticized 00:20:53.069 --> 00:20:55.650 era in the sports history out of pure desperation. 00:20:56.250 --> 00:20:58.089 It really makes you stop and think about how 00:20:58.089 --> 00:21:00.730 history is shaped by circumstance. I want to 00:21:00.730 --> 00:21:02.910 leave you, the listener, with a final thought 00:21:02.910 --> 00:21:05.150 to mull over today as you go about your week. 00:21:05.309 --> 00:21:08.670 We revere the original Sixth Era as this foundational, 00:21:08.869 --> 00:21:11.529 almost mythical golden age of modern hockey fandom. 00:21:11.769 --> 00:21:14.150 We buy the vintage jerseys and celebrate the 00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:16.920 history. We certainly do. But if World War II 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:19.980 hadn't forced Madison Square Garden to deny Red 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:22.279 Dutton his lease, and if the global military 00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:24.480 draft hadn't forced the league to consolidate 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:27.809 its talent into just six cities to survive, would 00:21:27.809 --> 00:21:30.849 the original six era have ever existed at all? 00:21:31.009 --> 00:21:32.670 It's a great question. Would those legendary 00:21:32.670 --> 00:21:35.069 rivalries have ever formed without the repetitive, 00:21:35.210 --> 00:21:38.390 grueling schedules? Or is the NHL's most celebrated, 00:21:38.589 --> 00:21:41.589 romanticized golden age purely an accidental 00:21:41.589 --> 00:21:44.170 byproduct of a global catastrophe? Thank you 00:21:44.170 --> 00:21:45.710 so much for joining us on this deep dive. We 00:21:45.710 --> 00:21:47.630 hope you enjoyed it, and we encourage you to 00:21:47.630 --> 00:21:49.650 keep exploring the history hidden in your own 00:21:49.650 --> 00:21:49.990 sources.