The 1938 Stanley Cup Finals was a best-of-five series between the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. Chicago won the series 3–1 to win their second

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

. With their record of 14-25-9, they possess, to date, the lowest regular-season winning percentage of any championship team in the four major professional sports leagues, and are the only ones to do so with a losing record. This would be the last best-of-five Stanley Cup Finals.

Paths to the Finals

Toronto defeated

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making ...

in a best-of-five 3–0 to advance to the Finals. The Black Hawks had to play two best-of three series; winning 2–1 against

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, and 2–1 against the

New York Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...

to advance to the Finals.

Game summaries

Chicago lost their regular goaltender, Mike Karakas, during the playoffs and started Alfie Moore in game one. League president

Frank Calder Frank Sellick Calder (November 17, 1877 – February 4, 1943) was a British-born Canadian ice hockey executive, journalist, and athlete. Calder was the first president of the National Hockey League (NHL), from 1917 until his death in 1943. He ...

ruled that Moore was ineligible, but allowed the victory.

Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (1911–1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decen ...

played and lost game two. Karakas returned for games three and four wearing a steel toe in his skate to protect his foot. Chicago set a record with eight American players winning the Stanley Cup. Also set a record for attendance with 18,497 in game three. It was the second time in NHL history a team won the Stanley cup after starting three different goalies in the playoffs after the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and are ...

accomplished the feet in the previous year, no Stanley Cup Champion would win the cup while starting three different goalies until the

Penguins Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

did it in

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. It was the last time that the Hawks would win the Stanley Cup at home until 2015, and the last that a Chicago team would win a championship at Chicago Stadium until the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding * Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

won their second straight NBA championship in 1992. The NHL did not see fit to make sure that the Stanley Cup was in Chicago when they won the game and the series on April 12.

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1938 Stanley Cup was presented to Black Hawks captain Johnny Gottselig by NHL President

following the Black Hawks 4–1 win over the Maple Leafs in game four. The following Black Hawks players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup 1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks

References & notes

* * Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). ''Lord Stanley's Cup''. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. * {{1937–38 NHL season by team Stanley Cup Stanley Cup Finals Chicago Blackhawks games Toronto Maple Leafs games April 1938 sports events 1930s in Toronto 1930s in Chicago 1938 in Ontario

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

Sports competitions in Chicago

Paths to the Finals

Game summaries

Stanley Cup engraving

See also

References & notes