This Day in Hockey History – January 6, 1942 – When the Rubber Meets the Ice

The brutal cold and possible chance of snow could not keep Boston Bruins fans away.  More than 10,000 fans entered the Boston Garden to see the Boston Bruins face the Chicago Black Hawks, hoping their beloved Black and Gold would hold on to their first place standing.

Less than a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese which prompted the United States to enter the war, the game may have been a form of escapism for fans who, just for a few hours, looked for a way to turn their focus and attention away from the daily news of the war or thoughts of their loved ones who were to be shipped out or had already left to fight.   Yet as fans entered the Garden, it was not all escapism.  As fans walked past the concession stands, they also passed booths selling war bonds and stamps to fund the war effort—something they had seen the previous week as well.

Settling into their seats, those sitting closest to the ice may have thought they had a chance of the ultimate souvenir, a hockey puck.   Hockey pucks that were shot out of play and into the stands were not thrown back on the ice but kept by fans who were lucky enough to catch one. It had always been that way. But here too the war crept in, refusing to allow those assembled to truly escape what was the new reality.

The National Anthem was sung and the team lineups announced for that game on January 6, 1942. Normally this was the time that the game would begin, but not this night.

“Secretary Frank Ryan of the B’s took to the amplifiers before the game and thanked the fans for the response to the Bruins’ sale of defense bonds last week. He then made a plea for all pucks shot into the crowd to be returned because of the rubber shortage which positively will handicap delivery of of the discs henceforth. The crowd showed it was in favor of this last request by boohing a fan who was slow in returning the first rubber that flew among the cash customers,” wrote Gerry Moore of The Boston Daily Globe.

Like so many other things like nylons and food stuffs that would ultimately be in short supply, the rationing of rubber products had already begun. The rubber was needed for not only for the military but vital civilian purposes as well. 

This was not the only contributions that the Bruins made during the war.  Little more than a month later, four players would leave the Bruins to serve in the military. Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer, known as the Kraut Line, because they all hailed from the same German community of Kitchener, Ontario, left the Bruins to serve with the Royal Canadian Air force.  Hall of Famer, goalie Frank Brimsek, an American from Minnesota, would go on to serve in the Pacific.

As for the game between the Bruins and the Hawks?

“As a game, last night’s tussle wasn’t very interesting. It lacked pep. The Hawks were without their speedy left winger, Doug Bentley, who was left in Chicago with a twisted ankle. The Bruins didn’t have Milt Schmidt, the clever ‘Kraut’ center, who was on the sidelines with a ‘Pat Egan’ shoulder. Clapper and Dumart were below par,” described Herbert Ralby, reporter for The Boston Globe.

“The B’s looked as if they were going to have a cakewalk when Woody Dumart, Roy Conacher and Eddie Wiseman popped home markers within the last six minutes of the first stanza to build up a 3-0 lead,” wrote Gerry Moore. “Just the opposite proved to be the case. Over the last two sessions, the Hawks, who were battling desperately to avert their sixth straight setback, outplayed our world’s champions about as badly as they have been manhandled all season over a similar stretch.”

In fact, Brimsek may have owed his posts a couple beers as the Black Hawks hit at least two posts in the remainder of the game. Ultimately the Hawks got within one before time ran out. Joe Cooper notched his fourth goal of the season assisted by Red Hamill at 15:56 of the second. Bill Thoms potted his ninth of the season with assists from John Mariucci and Max Bentley at 7:43 of the third.

This was the first win for the Bruins over the Black Hawks during the 1941-42 season despite having already played them three previous times. Two of the earlier games had resulted in ties, while the third was a win for the players in black and red. Boston’s win kept them in first place with a 15-5-3 record and 33 points on the season to that point.

Additional Sources

• “Weather,” Boston Traveler (Boston, Massachusetts), Tuesday, January 6, 1942, p. 14.
• Whitney Martin, “All Sports Would Feel Rationing Pinch if Rubber Situation Becomes Acute,” The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), Tuesday, January 6 1942, Sec. 3, p. 1.
• Gerry Moore, “Bruins Beat Hawks, 3 to 2,” The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), Wednesday, January 7, 1942, p. 18.
• Herbert Ralby, “Hawks Aren’t Cashing in at Net, Thompson Wails,” The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), Wednesday, January 7, 1942, p. 21.
• Fluto Shinzawa, Big 50 Boston Bruins Men and Moments That Made the Boston Bruins (Chicago, Ill.: Triumph Books, 2016), kindle edition.
• John Bishop, “Bruins Finest Served Proudly in World War II,” published November 9, 2006, NHL.com, retrieved 5 Jan 2020.