From the Archives: Tons of Stories in the New York Post-War Papers

The 1945-46 NHL season was the first big-league campaign following the conclusion of the Second World War. A ton of fascinating tales emerged, including:

1. G.I. Son Battles Rangers Boss/Father Over His Returning Job.
2. Leafs Goalie Fights Conn Smythe for Raise After Winning a Cup and a Calder.
3. Habs Have a Super Season and a Super Flop Playoffs.
4. Rangers Suffer Goalie Glut When Least Needed.

All of the stories above are featured in my scrapbook. The stories and two big pictures are from the New York Times with a tiny photo of Ted Lindsay on the bottom. On the flip side, I pasted a full page of special trophy winners from the Rangers' program of 1945-46, which you can see further down.

Here are the stories:

Check out the third headline in the right-hand column.

See where it says "Lynn Patrick a Star?" His dad, Lester Patrick, the club boss, said Lynn was too old to make the team. The question was: how did the player overrule the boss?

As a returning soldier, Lynn knew what his dad did not: every guy in khaki was given a G.I. Bill Of Rights. It stipulated every soldier had to get his job back after the war. Lynn handed the G.I. Bill and Lester had no choice. Lynn was put back on left wing and the New York Times next two lines in their headline proved that Lynn was right:

"He Scores First for New York In 37 Seconds."

Lynn had an excellent season and eventually coached the Rangers to the seventh game – double overtime – of the 1950 Stanley Cup final.

In the top picture, Frank McCool is shown making a save during the 1944-45 season against the Rangers. McCool eventually became Canada's hero because he helped defeat the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens in the first-round of the 1945 playoffs.

McCool then beat the Red Wings in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final by winning the silver for his team and Canada.

When the new season began, Frank demanded a reasonable raise and owner Conn Smythe low-balled him. The two never agreed to a deal and McCool returned to his native Calgary.

The hero goalie – oddly enough – then became the sports editor of The Albertan.

Despite Montreal's remarkable record of 38-8-4 when leading the 1944-45 season and having a pair of special trophy winners, too, the Canadiens still blew it. They even had the NHL's leading scorer, Elmer Lach.

The bottom photo from my scrapbook features a scramble in front of the Canadiens' net with goalie Bill Durnan and his big goalie stick upraised. But I'll get to Bill in a moment.

It's worth bearing in mind in those distant days, that during each season, the sports writers cast their votes for the player they considered the most valuable to his team during the season (the Hart Trophy). Lach, the great playmaking center, had the year of his life and fully deserved the silver.

So did goalie Bill Durnan. Here's why:

The Georges Vezina Memorial Trophy is named in honor of the old "Chicoutimi Cucumber," who for 15 years starred for the Montreal Canadiens and is still rated as one of the greatest goaltenders of all-time. In earlier eras, the goaltender who had been least scored upon during the regular season automatically received this trophy, and the sterling netminder of Vezina's old team, the Flying Frenchmen of Montreal, won the trophy in 1945-46 for the second consecutive season. But, despite all the combined Durnan heroics of 1945-46, the Habs couldn't do it again.

During the 1945-46 season, it was expected that all NHL teams would carry one goalie. At the time, back-up netminders were not in vogue. But the Rangers had a problem – they had two superb goalies – Sugar Jim Henry and Charlie Rayner.

It was Henry who goaled New York to first place in 1941-42 before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. And it was Sugar Jim who expected his job back for the 1945-46 season. Except there was a problem.

When the New York Americans folded following the 1941-42 season, a distribution of their players were held before the 1945-46 season and Rayner – who just happened to be Jim's best friend – was awarded to the Rangers.

Coach Frank Boucher mulled the madness.

"It had to come down to who I thought was the best," said Boucher, "and that would be by winning games."

As you may see from the tattered Times' story on the left of the photo at the top, Rayner beat Toronto, 2-1, and the only goal scored by the Leafs was an accident. Check the sub-headline:

“Young Goalie Loses Shutout When (Bill) Moe Accidentally Bats in (Lorne) Carr's Drive.”

Rayner and Henry shared the goalie gig for a while, but eventually, Rayner won out. Henry was then sent to the minors and later traded to Detroit and Boston.

Through it all, Rayner wound up winning the 1950 Hart Trophy and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.