WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.459 Imagine for a second that you are sitting down 00:00:03.459 --> 00:00:06.740 in a dimly lit living room to watch a live professional 00:00:06.740 --> 00:00:09.779 sporting event on a screen. The year is 1940. 00:00:10.300 --> 00:00:12.859 But as you're watching this flickering black 00:00:12.859 --> 00:00:16.280 and white broadcast. You are part of this impossibly 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:19.379 small club. You know that only about 300 other 00:00:19.379 --> 00:00:21.600 people in the entire country are seeing what 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:23.739 you're seeing. Which is just wild to think about. 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:26.100 It really is. I mean, there are no massive stadium 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:28.920 jumbotrons overhead, no million -dollar ad campaigns 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:31.120 playing during the intermissions. There's just 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:34.399 this tiny, highly experimental window into a 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:37.140 hockey arena that is quietly about to change 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:39.640 the entire course of sports history. It is such 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:42.490 a striking image to hold in your mind. especially 00:00:42.490 --> 00:00:45.649 when you contrast that quaint setup with the, 00:00:45.649 --> 00:00:48.829 you know, multi -billion dollar global sports 00:00:48.829 --> 00:00:51.170 broadcasting empires we live with today. And 00:00:51.170 --> 00:00:53.530 that contrast is exactly the mission of today's 00:00:53.530 --> 00:00:55.649 Deep Dive. You sent us this fascinating stack 00:00:55.649 --> 00:00:57.630 of notes centered on a comprehensive Wikipedia 00:00:57.630 --> 00:01:01.429 article detailing the 1939 -1940 NHL season. 00:01:01.670 --> 00:01:03.570 We've got everything in here from Raw League 00:01:03.570 --> 00:01:05.549 business records to the exact playoff brackets. 00:01:06.170 --> 00:01:08.209 But we are definitely not just going to read 00:01:08.209 --> 00:01:10.549 you a spreadsheet. No, absolutely not. We are 00:01:10.549 --> 00:01:12.769 going to cut right through those raw statistics 00:01:12.769 --> 00:01:16.030 to uncover the human dramas, the unbelievable 00:01:16.030 --> 00:01:19.310 technological milestones, and the birth of one 00:01:19.310 --> 00:01:22.260 of sports history's most infamous curses. All 00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:26.239 packed into a single, frantic season. Okay, let's 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:28.680 unpack this. To really ground ourselves in the 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:31.000 notes you shared, we first have to strip away 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:33.239 a lot of our modern assumptions about professional 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:36.099 sports. This is the 23rd season of the National 00:01:36.099 --> 00:01:38.359 Hockey League. Right. You won't find the massive, 00:01:38.459 --> 00:01:40.599 sprawling organizations you're used to today. 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:44.459 We are looking at an incredibly tight, insular... 00:01:52.989 --> 00:01:56.670 Exactly. And they are playing a fast, grueling... 00:01:56.859 --> 00:01:59.900 48 -game regular season. So every single night 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:02.980 on the ice mattered immensely. But scanning through 00:02:02.980 --> 00:02:04.819 the records you provided before we even get to 00:02:04.819 --> 00:02:07.120 the triumphs on the ice, there's this massive 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:09.599 dark cloud hanging over the very beginning of 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:12.039 the season. It's a tragedy that hits the Montreal 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:15.180 Canadiens and, honestly, the entire league. The 00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:17.759 drowning of Babe Siebert. It is a profoundly 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:19.879 devastating moment in the historical record. 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:23.300 Siebert had just been named the head coach of 00:02:23.300 --> 00:02:25.919 a Montreal club that was, well... already trying 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:29.719 to find his footing but then in august of 1939 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:31.939 right weeks before the season even officially 00:02:31.939 --> 00:02:35.860 began siebert tragically drowned and compounding 00:02:35.860 --> 00:02:38.340 that heartbreak his daughter drowned Along with 00:02:38.340 --> 00:02:40.580 him. When you read the source text, it plainly 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:42.639 states the chronological facts of the tragedy. 00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:45.659 But you have to pause and just imagine the absolute 00:02:45.659 --> 00:02:48.460 shockwave that must have sent through the Canadians 00:02:48.460 --> 00:02:50.479 organization. Oh, absolutely. It wasn't just 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:52.340 a personnel loss. It was a devastating human 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:55.580 loss. They were forced to pivot to a new coach, 00:02:55.780 --> 00:02:58.900 Pitt Lapine, under genuinely traumatic circumstances. 00:02:58.939 --> 00:03:01.199 And you can see the ripple effects of that emotional 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:04.180 and organizational devastation directly in their 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:06.580 performance metrics. Under Lapine, the Canadians 00:03:06.580 --> 00:03:09.419 collapsed. the absolute bottom of the 17 league. 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.300 They really did. Over those 48 games, they barely 00:03:12.300 --> 00:03:15.060 scraped together 10 wins. They were bleeding 00:03:15.060 --> 00:03:18.780 goals, allowing a league -worst 167 against, 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:21.840 while barely managing to find the back of the 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:24.759 net themselves. But buried in those grim statistics 00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:29.139 is a profound moment of league solidarity. An 00:03:29.139 --> 00:03:31.340 all -star benefit game was quickly organized 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:34.039 in Siebert's memory. Which tells you so much 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:35.919 about the tight -knit fraternity of the players 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:37.740 back then. They weren't just passing through 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:40.159 a corporate machine. They rallied together to 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:42.340 financially and emotionally support one of their 00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:45.240 own in the wake of an unthinkable family tragedy. 00:03:45.419 --> 00:03:47.319 If we connect this to the bigger picture, it 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:49.180 really highlights how fundamentally different 00:03:49.180 --> 00:03:52.400 the league's atmosphere was compared to the highly 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.340 insulated corporate sports world of today. The 00:03:55.340 --> 00:03:57.960 handling of a sudden tragedy, and as we are about 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.060 to see, the handling of utter financial ruin, 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:03.259 was done much closer to the ground level. offer 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:05.780 with desperate, deeply personal measures. That 00:04:05.780 --> 00:04:08.439 is such a stark contrast because while Montreal 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:10.639 is dealing with profound grief, you look down 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:12.560 the coast to New York and you find a completely 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:14.979 different kind of desperation. Oh, the Americans. 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:18.519 Yes. Looking through your notes on the New York 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:20.660 Americans is like reading a script for a movie 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:23.500 about a chaotic sinking ship trying to survive 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:26.560 on scraps. They were in severe financial trouble 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:29.139 and their front office was essentially just throwing 00:04:29.139 --> 00:04:31.399 the furniture into the furnace to keep the lights 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:34.230 on. The transactions they made under Red Dutton's 00:04:34.230 --> 00:04:37.389 management were completely staggering. Out of 00:04:37.389 --> 00:04:40.750 sheer financial necessity, they made the agonizing 00:04:40.750 --> 00:04:43.709 decision to trade away their absolute star left 00:04:43.709 --> 00:04:46.569 wing, Sweeney Schreiner, sending him to the Toronto 00:04:46.569 --> 00:04:48.730 Maple Leafs. Wait, walk me through that. They 00:04:48.730 --> 00:04:51.129 are already struggling to stay afloat, and their 00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:53.449 solution is to trade away their marquee talent. 00:04:53.790 --> 00:04:56.189 It was a survival tactic. In return for their 00:04:56.189 --> 00:04:58.470 one superstar, they acquired an entirely new 00:04:58.470 --> 00:05:01.509 core of four players. Ah, I see. Harvey Busher 00:05:01.509 --> 00:05:04.769 Jackson, Buzz Bull, Murray Armstrong, and a minor 00:05:04.769 --> 00:05:07.430 leaguer named Jimmy Fowler. It was a massive 00:05:07.430 --> 00:05:09.689 one -for -four player swap designed to instantly 00:05:09.689 --> 00:05:12.230 flesh out a thin roster without spending new 00:05:12.230 --> 00:05:14.649 money. But the frantic moves didn't even stop 00:05:14.649 --> 00:05:17.790 there. The source material outlines these late 00:05:17.790 --> 00:05:21.250 -season trades that just scream panic. They traded 00:05:21.250 --> 00:05:24.810 Eddie Wiseman and $5 ,000 to the Boston Bruins. 00:05:25.310 --> 00:05:28.209 just to get the legendary Eddie Shore. They were 00:05:28.209 --> 00:05:30.069 just aggressively mashing buttons at that point. 00:05:30.170 --> 00:05:33.209 They even obtained Charlie Conacher, who is famously 00:05:33.209 --> 00:05:35.509 a forward. And your notes specifically point 00:05:35.509 --> 00:05:37.649 out they used him as a defenseman. Which is a 00:05:37.649 --> 00:05:40.370 brilliant detail. Putting a forward on the blue 00:05:40.370 --> 00:05:42.670 line at the professional level is a massive red 00:05:42.670 --> 00:05:45.649 flag. It is a true testament to how physically 00:05:45.649 --> 00:05:48.350 depleted their roster was and how chaotic their 00:05:48.350 --> 00:05:50.889 day -to -day survival had become. But the absolute 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:53.589 irony of the New York Americans' frantic, duct 00:05:53.589 --> 00:05:56.069 -taped season... is where they ended up. They 00:05:56.069 --> 00:05:58.370 didn't finish last? They did not. Because in 00:05:58.370 --> 00:06:01.509 this deeply unusual seven -team era, the league 00:06:01.509 --> 00:06:03.949 structure allowed the top six teams to qualify 00:06:03.949 --> 00:06:06.370 for the postseason. So despite the financial 00:06:06.370 --> 00:06:10.769 hemorrhage, the wild trades, the $5 ,000 lifelines, 00:06:10.889 --> 00:06:13.629 and forcing forwards to play defense, the Americans 00:06:13.629 --> 00:06:17.699 managed to secure 15 wins all year. The source 00:06:17.699 --> 00:06:20.720 calls it a poor sixth place. But they effectively 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:23.660 beat out the grieving Montreal Canadiens by a 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:26.300 few points and somehow punched their ticket to 00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:29.959 the playoffs. It is a bizarre, chaotic, underdog 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:32.920 story hiding right there in the standings. But 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:35.500 if you look at the other end of those standings, 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:39.060 the chaos completely vanishes. Let's look at 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:41.420 the absolute kings of the regular season that 00:06:41.420 --> 00:06:44.579 year. The Boston Bruins. The Bruins were operating 00:06:44.579 --> 00:06:46.379 on a completely different planet than the rest 00:06:46.379 --> 00:06:48.509 of the league. They comfortably secured first 00:06:48.509 --> 00:06:51.569 place, racking up 31 wins and distancing themselves 00:06:51.569 --> 00:06:53.490 from everyone else. Yeah, they were a machine. 00:06:53.730 --> 00:06:55.970 They were an offensive juggernaut, scoring 34 00:06:55.970 --> 00:06:58.529 more goals than their closest competitor. And 00:06:58.529 --> 00:07:00.310 they achieved all of this dominant structure 00:07:00.310 --> 00:07:03.170 under a new coach, Cooney Weiland, who was actually 00:07:03.170 --> 00:07:05.089 a former captain of the team stepping behind 00:07:05.089 --> 00:07:07.600 the bench. But Cooney Whelan wasn't just relying 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:10.540 on good defensive structure. He was armed with 00:07:10.540 --> 00:07:12.699 what might be one of the most lethal forward 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:15.699 lines in hockey history. The Kraut line. Exactly. 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:18.660 The source material highlights their top trio, 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:21.180 famously known as the Kraut line, Milt Schmidt, 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:24.500 Woody Dumart, and Bobby Bauer. Here's where it 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:26.920 gets really interesting. If you look at the final 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:29.600 scoring charts for the entire NHL that season, 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:32.720 those three guys didn't just lead Boston. No. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:35.420 They finished first, second, and third in overall 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:39.800 league scoring. It is a genuine statistical marvel. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.560 When you synthesize the player statistics from 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.120 your nights, it is just a wall of Boston Bruins 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:48.000 at the top. Milt Schmidt ran away with the number 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.060 one spot, hovering well over 50 points. Unbelievably. 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:53.420 And right behind him, tied in a dead heat for 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:55.459 second and third, were his line mates, Woody 00:07:55.459 --> 00:07:58.069 Dumart and Bobby Bauer. both cruising comfortably 00:07:58.069 --> 00:08:00.310 in the 40 -plus point range, they completely 00:08:00.310 --> 00:08:02.290 suffocated the rest of the league's elite talent. 00:08:02.470 --> 00:08:04.670 It's almost impossible to wrap your head around 00:08:04.670 --> 00:08:07.449 that level of dominance. Even today, if you are 00:08:07.449 --> 00:08:10.089 watching modern hockey with all the hyper -specialized 00:08:10.089 --> 00:08:12.629 line matching, power play setups, and video analysis, 00:08:12.870 --> 00:08:15.790 having three guys from the exact same line sweep 00:08:15.790 --> 00:08:18.610 the gold, silver, and bronze in league scoring 00:08:18.610 --> 00:08:22.310 is mind -blowing. They weren't just playing well. 00:08:22.410 --> 00:08:24.189 They were fundamentally breaking the math of 00:08:24.189 --> 00:08:27.040 the league. And the league recognized it. The 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.720 postseason accolades reflected a complete Boston 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:32.440 takeover. Milt Schmidt took home the official 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:35.299 scoring title. Bobby Bauer was awarded the Lady 00:08:35.299 --> 00:08:38.000 Bing Trophy for combining that elite skill with 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:40.629 sportsmanship. And the team awards too. Right. 00:08:40.809 --> 00:08:43.070 Boston effortlessly claimed the Prince of Wales 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:45.590 trophy as the regular season champions. They 00:08:45.590 --> 00:08:47.629 had Dick Clapper locked onto the first all -star 00:08:47.629 --> 00:08:50.610 team on defense. And in net, Frank Brimsek was 00:08:50.610 --> 00:08:53.049 an absolute fortress. He posted a goals against 00:08:53.049 --> 00:08:56.090 average just under two, which is remarkable for 00:08:56.090 --> 00:08:58.389 an era with that much offensive firepower. They 00:08:58.389 --> 00:09:01.590 seemed entirely inevitable, a true dynasty in 00:09:01.590 --> 00:09:04.679 motion. But before we follow the Bruins into 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:06.639 what should have been a coronation in the playoffs, 00:09:06.860 --> 00:09:09.340 we have to talk about the milestone we teased 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:11.639 at the very beginning of this deep dive. Oh, 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:14.080 yes. Let's go back to that dimly lit living room 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:18.440 and the 300 viewer revolution. February 25, 1940. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:21.580 It is a date that sits quietly in the archives, 00:09:21.820 --> 00:09:24.919 but serves as the absolute foundation of modern 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:27.690 sports media consumption. The notes you provided 00:09:27.690 --> 00:09:30.230 outline a regular season game between the New 00:09:30.230 --> 00:09:33.049 York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens. And 00:09:33.049 --> 00:09:35.330 plainly stated in the text, this was the very 00:09:35.330 --> 00:09:38.769 first NHL game ever broadcast on television. 00:09:39.049 --> 00:09:41.549 Yes. But the detail that completely stops you 00:09:41.549 --> 00:09:44.070 in your tracks is the scale of that broadcast. 00:09:44.389 --> 00:09:46.169 The viewership numbers are almost comical by 00:09:46.169 --> 00:09:48.429 today's standards. The broadcast was pushed out 00:09:48.429 --> 00:09:50.669 to a highly localized area in the United States 00:09:50.669 --> 00:09:53.649 and was seen by an estimated 300 people. 300 00:09:53.649 --> 00:09:56.029 people. You could fit the entire television audience. 00:09:56.110 --> 00:09:58.250 of the National Hockey League into a moderately 00:09:58.250 --> 00:10:01.090 sized local movie theater. Exactly. It's just 00:10:01.090 --> 00:10:03.730 wild to think about the executives putting on 00:10:03.730 --> 00:10:06.870 this broadcast totally unaware of the monster 00:10:06.870 --> 00:10:09.190 they were birthing. What's fascinating here is 00:10:09.190 --> 00:10:12.250 how that minuscule flickering broadcast was the 00:10:12.250 --> 00:10:15.230 quiet genesis of today's multi -billion dollar 00:10:15.230 --> 00:10:18.799 sports industry. Those 300 people were participating 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:21.460 in a technological test run that would eventually 00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:24.080 dictate the entire financial structure of global 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:26.440 sports. It's incredible. But the source material 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:29.299 you shared is also very careful to provide proper 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:32.139 global context here. Because there is a common 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:34.580 historical misconception that needs correcting. 00:10:34.899 --> 00:10:37.720 Right. The first broadcast ever. Correct. While 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:39.500 this Rangers -Canadians matchup was the first 00:10:39.500 --> 00:10:41.940 NHL game on television, it was not the first 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:44.559 ice hockey game ever broadcast. That's a great 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:46.620 distinction to make. The text points out that 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:48.259 a hockey broadcast had actually been successfully 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:51.240 transmitted in England two years prior in 1938 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:54.320 by the BBC. And what I found even more surprising 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.659 in your notes is the timeline for Canada. We 00:10:56.659 --> 00:10:59.019 heavily associate the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:02.399 the CBC, with the cultural institution of hockey 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:05.000 broadcast today. But they didn't air their first 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:08.720 hockey game until 12 years later in 1952. It 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:11.639 really emphasizes how experimental and localized 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:14.960 that 1940 Rangers broadcast was in the United 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:17.799 States. It wasn't a cultural phenomenon yet. 00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:20.100 It was a science experiment. A science experiment 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:22.080 that happened to feature the New York Rangers. 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:25.399 which brings us perfectly back to the ice, because 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:28.120 the Rangers were putting on an absolute show 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:30.740 for those 300 viewers. They certainly were. If 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:32.879 you track the regular season through these notes, 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.220 they were on an absolute rollercoaster ride. 00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:39.259 They went on a historic, scorching, 19 -game 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:41.840 undefeated streak, just coasting comfortably 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:43.919 in first place for a massive jump of the year. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:46.159 But maintaining that kind of historic momentum 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:49.019 is nearly impossible. they hit a massive debilitating 00:11:49.019 --> 00:11:51.100 slump in the second half of the season. Yeah, 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:53.399 the wheels really started to wobble. And that 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:56.500 loss of momentum is exactly what allowed the 00:11:56.500 --> 00:11:58.879 Boston Bruins, carried by that unstoppable kraut 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.700 line, to edge them out for the top spot. The 00:12:01.700 --> 00:12:03.600 Rangers ended up finishing as the second seed, 00:12:03.779 --> 00:12:06.399 trailing Boston by just a few points. And this 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:08.440 sets up a playoff bracket that genuinely made 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:11.679 me reread the notes you sent us. Because it defies 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:14.740 all modern sports logic. It really does. The 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:18.980 playoff bracket in 1940 was brutal. The top two 00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:21.320 teams in the league did not get a bye to rest 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:23.320 and wait for the lower seeds to battle it out. 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:26.720 Instead, the NHL forced the first place Boston 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:28.940 Bruins and the second place New York Rangers 00:12:28.940 --> 00:12:31.960 to play each other immediately in a best of seven 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:34.700 Stanley Cup semifinal series. It is a wildly 00:12:34.700 --> 00:12:36.879 punitive reward for being the two best teams 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:39.779 in hockey. You spend 48 grueling games fighting 00:12:39.779 --> 00:12:42.399 for the top spot, and your prize is facing your 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:44.159 absolute toughest competition right out of the 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:46.639 gate. It makes no sense. Given Boston's regular 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.860 season dominance and their monopoly on the scoring 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:51.600 charts, the expectation was that the Bruins would 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:53.919 survive the gauntlet. But the ice is slippery 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:57.220 for a reason. Despite all of Boston's firepower, 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:01.460 the Rangers completely flipped the script. New 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:03.919 York didn't just beat the Bruins. They dismantled 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:05.679 them. They really did. They won the series in 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:08.659 six games. They completely suffocated Boston's 00:13:08.659 --> 00:13:11.559 offense, outscoring them 14 -8 across the entire 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:15.179 series. And most shockingly, they managed to 00:13:15.179 --> 00:13:17.860 shut out the mighty Kraut line twice. Incredible. 00:13:17.899 --> 00:13:20.480 They opened the series with a 4 -0 shutout and 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.799 dropped another 1 -0 shutout on them in Game 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:25.679 4. The architect of that monumental upset was 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:28.659 the goaltending. You had Boston's Frank Brimsek, 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:31.000 who was elite all year, going up against the 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.799 Rangers' Dave Kerr. And Kerr put on an absolute 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:36.379 masterclass in that. He really did. He actually 00:13:36.379 --> 00:13:38.519 won the Vizina Trophy that year for the fewest 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:41.279 goals allowed, posting a 1 .54 average in the 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:44.139 regular season. But to maintain that exact level 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:46.519 of brilliance in the playoffs, recording a 1 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:49.120 .56 average and three shutouts against the greatest 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:52.080 offensive line of the era is historic. He completely 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.919 out -dueled Brimsek, whose playoff average ballooned 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:58.100 up to 2 .50. Kerr was an absolute brick wall 00:13:58.100 --> 00:14:00.799 when it mattered most. So the Rangers eliminate 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:04.240 the heavy favorite Bruins. Meanwhile, if you 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:06.480 look at the lower brackets in your notes, the 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:09.279 third seed Toronto Maple Leafs were carving a 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.580 much different path to the finals. The lower 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:13.580 bracket was operating on a completely different 00:14:13.580 --> 00:14:17.039 frequency. Toronto swept the fourth place Chicago 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:20.279 Blackhawks, then watched as the fifth place Detroit 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:23.820 Red Wings. barely squeezed past the financially 00:14:23.820 --> 00:14:26.840 ruined New York Americans. Right. Toronto then 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:29.799 easily swept Detroit. So you have a situation 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:32.200 where Toronto advanced to the finals after playing 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:34.259 just four games while the Rangers had to fight 00:14:34.259 --> 00:14:37.100 through a grueling physical six game war with 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:39.879 Boston. Which sets the ultimate stage. the Stanley 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:42.440 Cup Finals, the New York Rangers against the 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:44.379 Toronto Maple Leafs. And instead of giving you 00:14:44.379 --> 00:14:46.759 a tedious play -by -play of every single period, 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:49.100 you just need to understand the wild swings of 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:51.220 momentum the source outlines here. It was a true 00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:53.740 heavyweight bout. Game one immediately set the 00:14:53.740 --> 00:14:55.860 tone with a grueling overtime battle that New 00:14:55.860 --> 00:14:58.620 York barely edged out. They carried that momentum 00:14:58.620 --> 00:15:01.720 into a blowout win in game two, fueled by a Brian 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:04.059 Hextall hat trick. But then they went to Toronto. 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:07.490 Exactly. The moment the series shifted back to 00:15:07.490 --> 00:15:10.570 Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto woke up. They scraped 00:15:10.570 --> 00:15:13.669 out a tight win in Game 3 and completely shut 00:15:13.669 --> 00:15:15.730 the Rangers out in Game 4 to tie the series. 00:15:15.809 --> 00:15:18.250 The momentum is just violently swinging back 00:15:18.250 --> 00:15:20.330 and forth. It all comes down to the final two 00:15:20.330 --> 00:15:22.710 games, both played in Toronto. Game 5 becomes 00:15:22.710 --> 00:15:25.289 an absolute test of endurance, dragging deep 00:15:25.289 --> 00:15:27.409 into double overtime before the Rangers finally 00:15:27.409 --> 00:15:29.649 break the bedlock to take the series lead. The 00:15:29.649 --> 00:15:33.730 tension was incredible. And then, April 13, 1940... 00:15:34.250 --> 00:15:37.230 Game six. Toronto comes out desperate, jumping 00:15:37.230 --> 00:15:39.309 out to an early two -goal lead, but the Rangers 00:15:39.309 --> 00:15:42.070 slowly claw their way back in the third period, 00:15:42.289 --> 00:15:45.190 scoring twice in rapid succession to source overtime 00:15:45.190 --> 00:15:48.429 yet again. The tension is immense, and just over 00:15:48.429 --> 00:15:50.450 two minutes into that first overtime period, 00:15:50.789 --> 00:15:53.529 Brian Hextall finds the back of the net. He scores 00:15:53.529 --> 00:15:55.870 the cup -winning goal. The New York Rangers win 00:15:55.870 --> 00:15:58.950 the series 4 -2 and hoist the Stanley Cup. It's 00:15:58.950 --> 00:16:01.690 their third Stanley Cup in just 14 years of existence. 00:16:02.049 --> 00:16:04.450 When you look at the roster in these notes, they 00:16:04.450 --> 00:16:07.009 had the Vazina winning goalie in Dave Kerr. They 00:16:07.009 --> 00:16:09.629 had a phenomenal coach in Frank Boucher. They 00:16:09.629 --> 00:16:12.669 had the league's best rookie in Kilby McDonald. 00:16:13.009 --> 00:16:15.129 Yeah, they were stacked. If you are a Rangers 00:16:15.129 --> 00:16:17.990 fan watching this in 1940, you are looking at 00:16:17.990 --> 00:16:20.710 a franchise poised to completely dominate the 00:16:20.710 --> 00:16:22.990 next decade of hockey. Which is what makes the 00:16:22.990 --> 00:16:25.350 historical aftermath outlined in your source. 00:16:25.870 --> 00:16:28.529 so utterly staggering. Because that triumphant 00:16:28.529 --> 00:16:31.509 night in Toronto kicked off a massive, dark, 00:16:31.549 --> 00:16:34.490 historical irony. This raises an important question. 00:16:34.649 --> 00:16:37.250 How quickly can a dynasty vanish into thin air? 00:16:37.629 --> 00:16:40.129 Because as the source text explicitly notes, 00:16:40.350 --> 00:16:43.830 the Rangers' 1940 Cup win was the quiet beginning 00:16:43.830 --> 00:16:47.049 of the infamous 54 -year curse. Wow. After looking 00:16:47.049 --> 00:16:49.610 utterly invincible on that April night, the New 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:51.450 York Rangers would not win another Stanley Cup 00:16:51.450 --> 00:16:55.529 until 1994. Try to actually conceptualize a 54 00:16:55.529 --> 00:16:58.669 -year drought. That is over half a century. Entire 00:16:58.669 --> 00:17:00.929 generations of fans would be born, live their 00:17:00.929 --> 00:17:03.470 entire lives, and pass away without ever seeing 00:17:03.470 --> 00:17:05.809 the Rangers host that trophy again. It's a lifetime. 00:17:06.990 --> 00:17:09.289 be fought the moon landing would happen the berlin 00:17:09.289 --> 00:17:12.069 wall would fall and through it all the rangers 00:17:12.069 --> 00:17:14.809 would be waiting and it all started the exact 00:17:14.809 --> 00:17:17.470 second brian hextall scored that overtime goal 00:17:17.470 --> 00:17:21.029 it had such a profound melancholic layer to what 00:17:21.029 --> 00:17:23.970 was objectively a brilliant season for them they 00:17:23.970 --> 00:17:27.170 survived the insane 19 game streak they weathered 00:17:27.170 --> 00:17:29.990 the late season slump They survived the brutal, 00:17:30.109 --> 00:17:32.589 punishing first round matchup with the powerhouse 00:17:32.589 --> 00:17:36.210 Bruins, and they outlasted Toronto in multiple 00:17:36.210 --> 00:17:38.849 double overtime thrillers. Only to walk right 00:17:38.849 --> 00:17:41.349 into a half century of heartbreak. Precisely. 00:17:41.349 --> 00:17:43.769 It really is incredible to pull back and look 00:17:43.769 --> 00:17:46.200 at the whole picture. When you review the 1939 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:49.700 -1940 NHL season through these notes, it is a 00:17:49.700 --> 00:17:52.619 yam defined by massive, unbelievable contrasts. 00:17:52.619 --> 00:17:55.160 You have a league reeling from the tragic grounding 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:57.559 of Montreal's coach Babe Seibert, while simultaneously 00:17:57.559 --> 00:17:59.720 acting as the testing ground for the first -ever 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:01.920 television broadcast to an audience of just 300 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.700 people. You have the New York Americans trading 00:18:04.700 --> 00:18:07.400 away their future and their stars just to afford 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:10.019 to keep the lights on, while the Boston Bruins' 00:18:10.099 --> 00:18:13.200 kraut line is mathematically breaking the record 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:17.960 books by sweet... And towering over it all, you 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:20.480 have the New York Rangers climbing to the absolute 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:23.480 peak of the mountain, completely unaware that 00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:26.059 they are about to wander into a 54 -year desert. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:29.339 So what does this all mean? I think it reveals 00:18:29.339 --> 00:18:31.960 that sports history is rarely clean or straightforward. 00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:35.039 It is chaotic, it is deeply human, and it is 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:37.849 entirely unpredictable. It isn't just a sterile 00:18:37.849 --> 00:18:39.990 list of who hoisted the trophy at the end of 00:18:39.990 --> 00:18:42.329 the year. It is about the strange, desperate 00:18:42.329 --> 00:18:45.329 and sometimes tragic journeys it takes to get 00:18:45.329 --> 00:18:47.869 to that final handshake line. Well said. It's 00:18:47.869 --> 00:18:50.150 about how those fleeting, seemingly localized 00:18:50.150 --> 00:18:53.009 moments on the ice ripple out for decades, whether 00:18:53.009 --> 00:18:55.029 it's the genesis of a global sports broadcasting 00:18:55.029 --> 00:18:58.130 empire or the quiet birth of a generational curse 00:18:58.130 --> 00:19:00.529 that will haunt a city for half a century. And 00:19:00.529 --> 00:19:02.750 if you want something truly provocative to mull 00:19:02.750 --> 00:19:05.349 over long after we wrap up here, consider this 00:19:05.349 --> 00:19:12.029 final. Oh, I saw that. There's a brief administrative 00:19:12.029 --> 00:19:16.509 note about June 1939. The Canadian Amateur Hockey 00:19:16.509 --> 00:19:19.890 Association formally notified the NHL that they 00:19:19.890 --> 00:19:22.470 wanted development fees implemented for when 00:19:22.470 --> 00:19:24.809 the professional teams sign amateur players to 00:19:24.809 --> 00:19:27.529 contracts. Because the existing pro -amateur 00:19:27.529 --> 00:19:29.970 agreement was expiring that year, it seems like 00:19:29.970 --> 00:19:32.690 such a dry, bureaucratic detail compared to everything 00:19:32.690 --> 00:19:35.750 else we've talked about. It does. But think about 00:19:35.750 --> 00:19:38.809 the implications. As you look at the massive, 00:19:38.930 --> 00:19:42.730 highly regulated global draft systems of modern 00:19:42.730 --> 00:19:45.250 professional sports today, systems that dictate 00:19:45.250 --> 00:19:48.069 the entire financial future of billionaire franchises, 00:19:48.210 --> 00:19:50.609 consider how much of that modern infrastructure 00:19:50.609 --> 00:19:53.450 traces its roots directly back to the administrative 00:19:53.450 --> 00:19:56.349 negotiations of this quaint 17 era. That's a 00:19:56.349 --> 00:19:58.230 great point. How many of the complex salary cap 00:19:58.230 --> 00:20:00.470 rules and amateur drafting regulations that we 00:20:00.470 --> 00:20:02.950 completely take for granted today were born purely 00:20:02.950 --> 00:20:05.269 out of the financial desperation of teams like 00:20:05.269 --> 00:20:07.660 the 1940 New York. York Americans who were just 00:20:07.660 --> 00:20:09.720 trying to secure talent without going completely 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:12.339 bankrupt. Right. The modern billion dollar business 00:20:12.339 --> 00:20:15.119 of global sports was quite literally being drafted 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:17.160 in the background while guys like Eddie Shore 00:20:17.160 --> 00:20:19.220 were being traded for five thousand dollars in 00:20:19.220 --> 00:20:22.450 a handshake. It really forces you to view the 00:20:22.450 --> 00:20:25.190 entire modern sports landscape through a completely 00:20:25.190 --> 00:20:28.029 different lens. We owe so much of what we watch 00:20:28.029 --> 00:20:30.690 today to the absolute chaos and desperation of 00:20:30.690 --> 00:20:33.390 those early days. Thank you so much for sharing 00:20:33.390 --> 00:20:35.650 these notes and joining us on this deep dive 00:20:35.650 --> 00:20:38.690 into the archives. As always, keep questioning 00:20:38.690 --> 00:20:40.970 the stats, look for the deeply human stories 00:20:40.970 --> 00:20:43.190 hiding behind the numbers, and stay curious.