Bill Cowley started his National Hockey League career with the St. Louis Eagles in 1934-35 and moved on to the Boston Bruins the following year after the Eagles went defunct. Cowley spent the rest of career with Boston and retired after the 1946-47 season. It took the Hockey Hall of Fame over 20 years to honour Bill, a true injustice that it took so long.
Bill Cowley – NHL Career
Cowley played in the NHL from 1934-35 to 1946-47 with the St. Louis Eagles and Boston Bruins. He is the only player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame that started his career with the Eagles. Besides that first year, Bill spent his entire NHL career with Boston.
Over 549 regular season games, Cowley scored 195 and assisted on 353 for 548 points. He added another 46 points over 64 Stanley Cup playoff games. The two-time Stanley Cup champion was also awarded the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP on two occasions. He was also scoring champion in one season, seven years before the Art Ross Trophy was introduced.
Bill was part of two Stanley Cup champions with the Bruins. In 1938-39, Boston took out the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 in the final series for the win. Two years later in 1940-41, the Bruins swept the Red Wings in four. Both of those Cup winners were coached by Art Ross. Cowley went to the finals one more time with the Bruins. In 1945-46, Boston lost in five to the Montreal Canadiens in the finals. By that time, Dit Clapper had taken over as head coach of the team.
Cowley first showed his offensive abilities in 1937-38. Over 48 regular season games, he scored 17 and assisted on 22 for 39 points. He tied for tenth in the NHL for goals and tied for seventh in the assists department. In the overall scoring race, Bill finished tied for fifth, 13 points behind leader Gordie Drillon of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Drillon remains the only player from the Maple Leafs to lead the NHL in scoring.
The following year, 1938-39, Cowley led the league with 34 assists despite playing just 34 of Boston’s 48 regular season games. His 42 points placed him third in the league, five behind league leader Toe Blake of the Montreal Canadiens.
1939-40 was similar to the 1970-71 Bruins. Boston was dominant offensively, having the top four scorers in the league. Yet, they were not Stanley Cup champions despite winning the year before and the year after. Cowley scored 13 and assisted on 27 for 40 points while playing the full 48 game schedule. He tied for third in the league for assists, three behind league leader and teammate Milt Schmidt. Bill tied for fourth in points with Toronto’s Gordie Drillon. Ahead of them were Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer, all from the Bruins.
In 1940-41, Cowley dominated the scoring race with 62 points on 17 goals and 45 assists over 46 games. He was first for assists with 17 more than the next player, Neil Colville of the New York Rangers. Bill was the scoring champ with 18 more points than a group of five all tied with 44 points. Cowley won his first of two Hart Trophies.
Cowley’s point production increased by ten for the 1942-43 season but he was not the scoring leader. Bill scored 27 and assisted on 45 for 72 points over the full 48 game schedule but finished second in the NHL, one point behind Doug Bentley of the Blackhawks. Cowley led the league in assists and tied for fifth for goals. Bill came away with his second Hart Trophy.
1943-44 places Cowley in the history books and the world of ‘What if?’. Bill played just 36 of Boston’s 50 regular season games due to injury. He scored 30 goals and assisted on 41 for 71 points. His 1.97 points per game average would have gave him 98 on the season. That would have remained an NHL record until Phil Esposito totalled 126 in 1968-69 over a much longer 74 game schedule. As it was, Cowley placed ninth for goals, tied for fifth for assists and seventh for points.
Bill’s numbers diminished rapidly over his final two years in the league. One thing that he was never honoured for and should have been was his gentlemanly and clean style of play. Over his 549 games, Cowley sat just 143 minutes in the penalty box. In seven seasons, he sat 10 PIM or less. In 1938-39, Bill was assessed just one minor penalty over his 34 games. Yet, he was never awarded the NHL door prize – the Lady Byng Trophy.
Bill Cowley -Rookie Card
It’s disputed but the Bill Cowley rookie card appears as number 98 in the 1939-40 O-Pee-Chee V301-1 set. The card is valued at three times that of a common card. The 100 card set is led in value by the Eddie Shore hockey card and the rookie card of Detroit’s Sid Abel.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1934-35 | St. Louis Eagles | NHL | 41 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 10 |
| 1935-36 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 17 |
| 1936-37 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 46 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 4 |
| 1937-38 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 8 |
| 1938-39 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 34 | 8 | 34 | 42 | 2 |
| 1939-40 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 24 |
| 1940-41 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 46 | 17 | 45 | 62 | 16 |
| 1941-42 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 28 | 4 | 23 | 27 | 6 |
| 1942-43 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 48 | 27 | 45 | 72 | 10 |
| 1943-44 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 36 | 30 | 41 | 71 | 12 |
| 1944-45 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 49 | 25 | 40 | 65 | 12 |
| 1945-46 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 26 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 6 |
| 1946-47 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 51 | 13 | 25 | 38 | 16 |
| NHL Totals | 549 | 195 | 353 | 548 | 143 |