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Revisiting Calder Trophy Seasons (The Hockey Writers)

Revisiting Calder Trophy Seasons: Johnny Quilty’s 1940-41 Season

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Andrew Forbes | Last updated Jul 10, 2025 9:45 AM ET

The second consecutive player born in Ottawa, Ontario, to win the the NHL’s Calder Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year, John ‘Johnny’ Quilty played his junior hockey with Glebe Collegiate and the Ottawa St. Pats of the, then, Ottawa City Hockey League.

From there, he made a quick jump to the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens and it was there that he placed his name in the league’s record books in the first season of his NHL career. It was after four seasons with the St. Pats, including a Memorial Cup run in 1938-39, that Quilty made his NHL debut.

It took Quilty a few games to get going with the Canadiens, but when he finally got on the scoresheet as an NHL rookie, he didn’t look back in his first season with the team. That effort would help solidify his place in hockey history and, with it, earn him the Calder Trophy during the 1940-41 season.

Johnny Quilty’s Calder Run

It was Nov. 3, 1940, when Quilty made his NHL debut with the Canadiens against the Boston Bruins. The game ended in a 1-1 tie with Toe Blake scoring the only goal for the Canadiens. Quilty finished with nothing to show outside of his first career NHL game. His second appearance came a week later in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Black Hawks with much of the same result for Quilty.

Finally, four days later, in a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Quilty tallied his first career assist and point on a Lou Trudel goal just 39 seconds into the second period. Quilty also added two penalty minutes in the game, but his team remained winless on the season.

In fact, it took the Quilty five games to get his first goal of his NHL career – in a 4-4 tie with the Black Hawks – and it took the Canadiens seven games to get their first win on the season. Quilty went on to have seven multi-point games in 48 regular season games in his rookie season, including a four-point game in a 7-3 win over the Black Hawks on February 22, 1941.

Quilty finished the season with 18 goals and 34 points in 48 games and while his Canadiens made the playoffs, they were knocked off in three games at the hands of the Black Hawks. Quilty added two assists in those three games.

The only other Calder candidate was Detroit Red Wings’ Red Wings goalie, Johnny Mowers, who finished the season 21-16-11 with a 2.01 goals against average at the age of 24. However, ultimately, Quilty’s 34 points as a 20-year-old was more impressive and earned him the Calder Trophy.

Johnny Quilty’s NHL Career Was Short-Lived

It seems crazy, but Quilty’s NHL career only lasted 125 regular season games. Those were scattered over four seasons, which were actually spread out over seven calendar years.

After kicking off his career in 1940, Quilty played back-to-back seasons with the Canadiens before joining the Toronto Royal Canadian Air Force team and following it up by playing for the RCAF in Vancouver as well. It was a way of keeping him active in the game while remaining an active member of the Air Force.

Quilty didn’t play in 1944-45, but joined the Québec Senior Hockey League’s (QSHL) Ottawa Senators in 1945-46 for two games on his road back to the NHL the following season. He played just three games for the Canadiens in 1946-47, with most of his time spent in the AHL with Springfield Indians.

He closed out his NHL career in 1947-48 playing that season between the Canadiens and Boston Bruins, tallying 10 points in 26 games. From there, he went on to play more with the Ottawa RCAF Flyers in the East Coast Senior Hockey League (ECSHL), amongst other teams in other leagues before closing out his career in 1952 with the Renfrew Millionaires of the ECSHL, scoring nine goals and 36 points in 40 games earning him MVP honours that season.

Johnny Quilty Welcomed to Ottawa’s Hall of Fame

Quilty’s NHL career ended on the heels of a devastating leg fracture that ultimately never allowed him to regain his form at the top level of hockey. Outside of hockey, his post-career life wasn’t overly documented. However, 17 years after he retired from the game of hockey, Quilty passed away suddenly at home in Ottawa on September 12, 1969 at the age of 48.

In 1991, 22 years after his passing, Quilty was inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame posthumously alongside six class members – including, Pat Marsden, Gerry Organ, Denis Potvin, Mel Rogers, Andrew Tommy and Arthur Tommy. He also joined his father, Sylvester ‘Silver’ Quilty, in the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame – who was inducted in 1966.

Regardless of the Hall of Fame, Quilty will forever be commemorated in Ottawa and remembered in Montreal as the game’s top rookie during the 1940-41 season – a name that goes down in hockey history.