1947-48

Logo & Uniform Changes:

• Vancouver drops their orange alternate sweater.
• New York simplifies the arm striping on their blue sweater and adds the players' numbers to the front of both jerseys, right below the wordmark.

Standings:

Canadian Division:

1. Montreal
2. Buffalo
3. Toronto
4. Edmonton
5. Hamilton

American Division

1. Chicago
2. Boston
3. Philadelphia
4. New York
5. Detroit

Season Summary:

The 1947-48 season was a bizzare one for several teams. The Hamilton Kings appeared to run out of gas after their big run the previous year. Star players Frankie Jenkins and Ted Nixon were both injured early in the season and frustrated 18-year veteran Gilbert Wriggly retired in January, 1948. As a result, the Kings fell to a last place finish in the Canadian Division. Meanwhile, the Montreal Royale, spurred by young phenom Pierre Drouin, climbed all the way from the basement back to first place. In the American Division, Detroit fell to last place, while the Philadelphia Redshirts, still clinging to life as a franchise, overcame their financial problems and rumors about their future to finish in third place and back in the playoffs for the first time since 1944.

In the playoffs, Montreal dominated Vancouver and Buffalo, not allowing a goal until game 2 against Buffalo. They would face the Chicago Shamrocks in the Lewis Cup final, where the Shamrocks would sweep them in 4 straight to capture their second cup. Early in the summer of 1948, Milt Stevenson anounced he had struck a deal to sell the Redshirts to a wealthy Quebec City businessman named Jean Poulette. The team would be called the Quebec Nationale. The deal fell through, however, when the Poulette couldn't come up with the down payment in time. The Redshirts would stay in Philly for at least one more year.