April 18, 1942: The 1st 3-0 Comeback

April 18, 1942: The Stanley Cup is awarded, but not to the team that anyone expected 6 days ago.

This would be the last season before World War II really drained the rosters of the National Hockey League. As a result, the Brooklyn (formerly "New York") Americans would suspend play, leaving what became known, erroneously, as "The Original Six." For the next 25 years, the top 4 finishers in the NHL would make the Playoffs.

The Americans finished 7th and last, and, under the format in place this season, with 6 out of 7 making it, were the only team to miss the Playoffs. They never played again.

The Montreal Canadiens finished 6th. The next season, they would introduce Maurice Richard, and "The Rocket" would define an era in hockey. The Detroit Red Wings finished 5th, the Chicago Black Hawks 4th, the Boston Bruins 3rd, the Toronto Maple Leafs 2nd, and the New York Rangers 1st overall. That would not happen again in the regular season until 1994.

But the Playoff format for 1942 was odd: The 3rd seed played the 4th, the 5th seed played the 6th, the winners played each other in the Semifinals, and the 1st and 2nd seeds got a Quarterfinal bye and played each other in the Semifinal. The Bruins beat the Black Hawks, 2 games to 1. The Red Wings did the same to the Canadiens. Then the Wings eliminated the Bruins, while the Leafs eliminated the Rangers.

The Finals got underway on April 4, at Maple Leaf Garden in Toronto. The Wings won Game 1, 3-2. Then they won Game 2, 4-2. Then the Finals went to the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, and the Wings won Game 3. It looked like they would complete the sweep in Game 4 on April 12.

A funny thing happened on the way to the sweep: The Wings didn't win another game that counted until November 1. The Leafs won Game 4, 4-3. Back in Toronto in Game 5, the Leafs exploded for a 9-3 win. Nick Metz opened the scoring, and his brother Don Metz scored a hat trick.

No team had ever been down 3 games to none and come back to force a Game 7 -- not in the NHL, and not in baseball, either. The NBA wouldn't be founded until 1946, so that doesn't enter into it. But the Leafs won Game 6 in Detroit, 3-0. Game 7 would be played on April 18, at Maple Leaf Gardens.

There was no scoring in the 1st period. Syd Howe (a future Hall-of-Famer, but no relation to later Wings star Gordie Howe) scored at 1:45 of the 2nd period. That lead held until into the 3rd period. With 13 minutes left in regulation, it looked like the Wings would shake off their 3-game losing streak, and take the Cup, having previously done so in 1936 and 1937. For the Leafs, it looked like another Finals defeat: They had won the Cup in 1918, 1922 and 1932; but had lost in the Finals in 1933, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939 and 1940 -- 6 times in a span of 8 seasons.

But at 7:47 of the 3rd period, former Americans star David "Sweeney" Schriner tied the game. Two minutes later, Pete Langelle gave the Leafs the lead. With 3:43 left in regulation, Schriner scored his 6th goal of the Finals, and that iced it. The Leafs won, 3-1, and became the 1st team, in any sport, to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the Finals to win the World Championship.

General manager Frank Selke, head coach Clarence "Hap" Day, center and Captain Syl Apps, left wing Sweeney Schriner, right wing Gordie Drillon, and goaltender Walter "Turk" Broda would all be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. So would their usual head coach, Conn Smythe, then serving overseas as a Major in the Canadian Army.

This began a run of 6 Cups in 10 years for the Leafs. In 1945, the Leafs played the Wings again. History seemed to reverse itself: The Leafs won the 1st 3, then the Wings won the next 3. But the Leafs refused to get the humiliation completely turned around, and won Game 7.

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April 18, 1942 was a Saturday. This was also the day of the Doolittle Raid, America's initial revenge for Pearl Harbor. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 5-1 at Yankee Stadium. Ironically, the Boston pitcher, whose real name was Lancelot Terry, was nicknamed "Yank." Ted Williams went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Joe DiMaggio went 0-for-4.

* The New York Giants beat the Boston Braves, 8-5 at Braves Field in Boston. Hank Lieber hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 9th inning. Mel Ott, in only his 5th game as the Giants' manager, went 2-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Ebbets Field.

* The Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 10-6 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Ken Heintzelman pitched a 5-hit shutout. Rookie Stan Musial went 1-for-3.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Fabian Gaffke singled Buster Mills home in the bottom of the 9th, preserving a 4-hit shutout for Jim Bagby Jr.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Hal White pitched a 7-hit shutout.

* And the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds were rained out at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 23. The Cubs won each game 3-0, on shutouts by Claude Passeau and Lon Warneke.

Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And while England's Football Association had suspended Football League and FA Cup competition for the duration of World War II, the London Wartime Combination was contested. Arsenal defeated Sussex team Brighton & Hove Albion, 5-1 at White Hart Lane in Middlesex.

Yes, The Arsenal used the ground of their arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, because their home, Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London was appropriated by the government for defense purposes. The London Government Act 1963 redrew the boundaries of the city of London (not to be confused with "The City of London") so that White Hart Lane was inside the city for the first time.