1948 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 1948 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League (NHL), began with four teams on March 4, 1948. It concluded on April 14, with the Toronto Maple Leafs defeating the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.

Series

All dates in 1948

Semifinals

The first round of the playoffs saw third place Boston Bruins matched up with first place Toronto Maple Leafs and fourth place New York Rangers against second place Detroit Red Wings.

Toronto vs. Boston

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

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 24	Boston Bruins	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	5	(OT)
March 27	Boston Bruins	3	Toronto Maple Leafs	5
March 30	Toronto Maple Leafs	5	Boston Bruins	1
April 1	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Boston Bruins	3
April 3	Boston Bruins	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

NY Rangers vs. Detroit

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 —

“In this game, you have to be mean, or you're going to get pushed around.”

(Glenn Liebman, Hockey Shorts: 1,001 of the Game's Funniest One Liners" (Contemporary Books, 1996) ) —

Detroil was now pursuing Lord Stanley's Mug for the fourth time in six years.

New York Rangers vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 24	New York Rangers	1	Detroit Red Wings	2
March 26	New York Rangers	2	Detroit Red Wings	5
March 28	Detroit Red Wings	2	New York Rangers	3
March 30	Detroit Red Wings	1	New York Rangers	3
April 1	New York Rangers	1	Detroit Red Wings	3
April 4	Detroit Red Wings	4	New York Rangers	2

Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Finals

Main article: 1948 Stanley Cup Finals

Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 7	Detroit	3	Toronto	5
April 10	Detroit	2	Toronto	4
April 11	Toronto	2	Detroit	0
April 14	Toronto	7	Detroit	2

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Playoff bracket

	Semi-finals					Stanley Cup Final
	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
	3	Boston Bruins	1
						1	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
						2	Detroit Red Wings	0
	2	Detroit Red Wings	4
	4	New York Rangers	2

Playoff scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Ted Kennedy	Toronto Maple Leafs	9	8	6	14
Max Bentley	Toronto Maple Leafs	9	4	7	11
Pete Horeck	Detroit Red Wings	10	3	7	10
Jim McFadden	Detroit Red Wings	10	5	3	8
Syl Apps	Toronto Maple Leafs	9	4	4	8
Harry Watson	Toronto Maple Leafs	9	5	2	7
Milt Schmidt	Boston Bruins	5	2	5	7

See also

• 1947–48 NHL season
• List of Stanley Cup champions

References

Preceded by 1947 Stanley Cup playoffs

Stanley Cup playoffs

Succeeded by 1949 Stanley Cup playoffs