1948 Stanley Cup playoffs


The 1948 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League for the 1947–48 season. It began on March 24, 1948. It concluded on April 14, with the Toronto Maple Leafs defeating the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.

Playoff seeds

The top four out of the six teams in the league qualified for the playoffs:
  1. Toronto Maple Leafs – 77 points
  2. [1947–48 1947–48 Detroit Red Wings season|Detroit Red Wings season|Detroit Red Wings] – 72 points
  3. [1947–48 1947–48 Boston Bruins season|Boston Bruins season|Boston Bruins] – 59 points
  4. [1947–48 1947–48 New York Rangers season|New York Rangers season|New York Rangers] – 55 points

Playoff bracket

In each round, teams competed in a best-of-seven series. In the semifinals, the first-place team played the third-place team, while the second-place team played the fourth-place team. The winners of the semifinals then played for the Stanley Cup.

Semifinals

(1) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (3) Boston Bruins

Toronto beat Boston 4 games to 1. Although Boston kept it close. Three of the five games were decided by one goal.

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) New York Rangers

It looked initially to be a close series as, after the Blueshirts lost the first two games, the Wings Production line got lazy. But wingers, Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe chose follow Lindsay's recent quote:

Finals

Detroit appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals for the fourth time in six years, while Toronto was trying to repeat as Cup champpions.

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
PlayerTeamGPGAPts
Ted KennedyToronto Maple Leafs98614
Max BentleyToronto Maple Leafs94711
Pete HoreckDetroit Red Wings103710
Jim McFaddenDetroit Red Wings10538
Syl AppsToronto Maple Leafs9448
Harry WatsonToronto Maple Leafs9527
Milt SchmidtBoston Bruins5257