Ross, Smythe ended bitter feud following 1939 Stanley Cup Final

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday.

This week, Fischler looks back 84 years when the NHL held its first best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final, pitting the Boston Bruins against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 1939 Final also featured a personal battle between the leaders of each team, Art Ross of Boston and Conn Smythe of Toronto, as well as an unexpected happy ending to their feud.

The Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights are playing the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, a best-of-7 series to determine the champion in the NHL this season. However, the Cup Final did not always have a best-of-7 format. Prior to 1939, the champion was crowned following a best-of-5 series.

The 1939 Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs was intriguing, in part, because it would be the first with four wins to secure the title. But it also had a juicy sublot featuring a longstanding feud between Boston's Art Ross and Toronto's Conn Smythe.

The rivalry between the managers was going on 15 years. Ross and Smythe had skirmished both verbally and physically over that time. Now, with their teams about to meet for the championship, Smythe was thirsting for another shot at his rival.

In his autobiography, "If You Can't Beat 'Em In The Alley," Smythe candidly explained why.

"My fracases with Ross were something like total war on and off the ice," Smythe wrote. "I loved to needle him and he was easy to needle. He hated me from the first time I put the zinger on him in 1924."

They had a fist fight between periods of a game at Boston Garden on March 10, 1931, and repeatedly feuded throughout the remainder of the decade.

"Every place Ross and I met, we fought," Smythe said. "And there always was something to battle about."

Their 1939 clash occurred prior to Game 1 of the Final. Of all things, the rivals argued about hockey sticks.

"Smythe demanded that the Bruins sticks be checked by the officials to ensure that they didn't exceed the limit of 53 inches," historian Jeff Miclash wrote in his book "Total Bruins."

"Ross protested that the Leafs also played with non-regulation sticks, so the referees checked theirs as well. This forced Toronto coach Dick Irvin to cut goalie Turk Broda's stick down to regulation minutes before the game started."

Smythe's antics did little to help his team as the Bruins won the Stanley Cup for the second time in their history, taking the best-of-7 series in five games.

"At the end, fireworks exploded throughout the Garden," Maple Leafs historian Eric Zweig said, "and the organ played 'Paree,' the Bruins theme song since the late 1920's."

Perhaps the most ironic sight of all took place when the teams shook hands at center ice. Smythe dashed across the rink, aiming for his longtime foe. But instead of throwing a punch, Smythe congratulated Ross at the face-off circle. Remarkably, this touching example of sportsmanship eventually would lead to a lifelong truce between the intense combatants.

Not long after, Canada entered World War II and Ross's sons, John and Art, Jr., joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. Meanwhile, Smythe, a World War I veteran, re-enlisted. When Smythe learned about the two Ross boys in the RCAF, he was both impressed and penitent.

"After I heard that Art's sons had joined the RCAF I was sorry about having been on Ross all the time" Smythe said. "We weren't so hard on one another after that."

In a sense it was a fitting coda to their peaceful meeting at the end of the first best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final.