The 1936/37 NHL season was the 20th season in the National Hockey League . Eight teams played 48 games each. The Stanley Cup won the Detroit Red Wings after a 3-2 win in the final series against the New York Rangers . Howie Morenz , now 34 , had returned to Montreal and was enjoying his second spring there. This ended abruptly after he crashed into the gang after a duel with Chicago's Earl Seibert and broke four bones. But it got much worse. In the hospital, Morenz suffered a collapse and died of embolism six weeks later . All of Montreal mourned and paid homage to its former star, laid out in the Montreal Forum . 200,000 people accompanied the funeral procession through Montreal's streets. Many players had ended their careers, including King Clancy and George Hainsworth , as new players had to follow. Here, especially in Boston, the “ Kraut Line ” with Milt Schmidt , Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart stood out. In Chicago, at the end of the season, they bet on a purely American team. However, only one win in nine games showed the Hawks that they couldn't do without Canadians.