1934–35 NHL season

1934–35 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration November 8, 1934 – April 9, 1935
Number of games 48
Number of teams 9
Regular season
Season champions Toronto Maple Leafs
Season MVP Eddie Shore (Boston Bruins)
Top scorer Charlie Conacher (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Canadian Division champions Toronto Maple Leafs
American Division champions Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup
Champions Montreal Maroons
  Runners-up Toronto Maple Leafs

The 1934–35 NHL season was the 18th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nine teams each played 48 games. The Montreal Maroons were the Stanley Cup winners as they swept the Toronto Maple Leafs in three games in the final series.

League business

With financial difficulties continuing for the Ottawa Senators, the NHL franchise was transferred to St. Louis changing the nickname to St. Louis Eagles. The Senators became a senior amateur team again. The NHL franchise was not profitable in St. Louis, either, partly due to the extended travel of being located in the Canadian Division. The Eagles would sell players Syd Howe and Ralph "Scotty" Bowman to Detroit for $50,000 to make ends meet.

Montreal Canadiens owners Leo Dandurand and Joseph Cattarinich sell the team to Ernest Savard and Maurice Forget of the Canadian Arena Company.

The penalty shot, an invention of the old Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), was introduced in the NHL this season.[1] The puck was placed in a 10 foot circle, 38 feet (12 m) from the goalmouth. The player could shoot while stationary within the circle, or could shoot while moving, as long as the shot was taken within the circle.[1] The goaltender had to be stationary until the puck was shot, and no more than 1 foot (0.30 m) in front of the goal mouth.[1]

Several more teams changed from a single uniform to a light version and dark version. The Detroit Red Wings introduced a white version of their existing uniform, swapping red elements for white elements. The Chicago Black Hawks introduced a new uniform design, and differentiated between versions by using white in the main horizontal stripe and their socks, and using brown in the other version. The New York Americans and Toronto Maple Leafs continued using their two sets of uniforms. The Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Maroons, New York Rangers and St. Louis Eagles used only a single uniform design each.[2]

Regular season

Charlie Conacher decided to play coy this year and Conn Smythe had trouble signing him. With Harvey Jackson out, it looked as though only Joe Primeau would be the only member of the Kid line in action for Toronto. However, he did finally sign. Conacher responded with his best season, scoring 36 goals and leading the league in scoring.

A bombshell trade was made with Howie Morenz, Lorne Chabot and Marty Burke going to Chicago for Leroy Goldsworthy, Roger Jenkins, and Lionel Conacher. Although Morenz wasn't his old self, he did help Chicago, who finished second in the American Division, just falling short of Boston by only one point. The Canadiens then traded Lionel Conacher and Herb Cain to the Maroons for Nels Crutchfield. The trades did not help and the Canadiens lost some fans.

Meanwhile, Tommy Gorman bought a share of the Montreal Maroons from James Strachan and when he picked up Alex Connell, he had another winner.

The first penalty shot was awarded to the Montreal Canadiens' Armand Mondou on November 10, 1934; he was stopped by the Toronto Maple Leafs' George Hainsworth. On November 13, Ralph "Scotty" Bowman of the St. Louis Eagles scored the first penalty shot goal in NHL history.

The playoffs continued to elude the New York Americans, but they added two important additions, left wing Dave "Sweeney" Schriner and right wing Lorne Carr. Teamed with centre Art Chapman, the Americans were on the way up.

Final standings

American Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
Boston Bruins 48 26 16 6 129 112 58
Chicago Black Hawks 48 26 17 5 118 88 57
New York Rangers 48 22 20 6 137 139 50
Detroit Red Wings 48 19 22 7 127 114 45
Canadian Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 30 14 4 157 111 64
Montreal Maroons 48 24 19 5 123 92 53
Montreal Canadiens 48 19 23 6 110 145 44
New York Americans 48 12 27 9 100 142 33
St. Louis Eagles 48 11 31 6 86 144 28

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

The most pulsating series was that of Chicago and the Montreal Maroons. Chicago coach Clem Loughlin said that the team who won the series very likely would win the Stanley Cup. Neither team scored after two regulation games. In the overtime, Dave Trottier was cut and retired for stitches. He'd hardly arrived in the dressing room when Baldy Northcott scored the goal that won the series for the Maroons.

Toronto's goaltender George Hainsworth got hot and eliminated the Bruins, while the Rangers outlasted the Montreal Canadiens on Bill Cook's goal in the deciding game. He'd been knocked goofy by the Canadiens Nels Crutchfield, but wasn't too groggy to win the series for the Rangers. George Hainsworth continued hot and the Leafs beat the Bruins to advance to the finals.

Final

The Montreal Maroons throttled the Kid line of Primeau, Jackson and Conacher and goaltender Alex Connell time and again foiled sure goals for Toronto, and the Maroons won the series 3 games to none, and as game three ended, the crowd let out a roar of approval and Connell leaned back on the crossbar and cried. All of the Maroons' games ended in ties or victories, making them the last team until the 1951–52 Detroit Red Wings to not lose a single game during the playoffs. The Maroons were also the last non-Original Six team to win the Stanley Cup until the Philadelphia Flyers won it in 1974 and the last team that is currently defunct to have won a Stanley Cup.

Playoff bracket

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Stanley Cup Final
                           
       
  C1  Toronto Maple Leafs 3  
    A1  Boston Bruins 1  
     
         
    C1  Toronto Maple Leafs 0
  C2  Montreal Maroons 3
  C2  Montreal Maroons 1G  
A2  Chicago Black Hawks 0G  
C2  Montreal Maroons 5G
    A3  New York Rangers 4G  
C3  Montreal Canadiens 5G
  A3  New York Rangers 6G  

Goalie statistics by game and series

Series "A" Boston vs. Toronto Game #1 1–0 Boston- Thompson 37(0), Hainsworth 38(1) 33:26 Overtime, Game #2 2–0 Toronto- Thompson 43(2), Hainsworth 16(0) Game #3 3–0 Toronto- Thompson 37(3), Hainsworth 22(0) Game #4 2–1 Toronto- Thompson 37(2), Hainsworth 29(1) Totals..Thompson 154(7)= .955 Save%...1.54 G.A.A...1 shutout

    Hainsworth 105(2)= .981 Save%...0.44 G.A.A...2 shutouts

Series "B" Chicago vs. Montreal Moroons Game #1 0–0 tie game -Connell 28(0), Chabot 28(0) Game #2 1–0 Montreal -Connell 24(0), Chabot 32(1)...4:02 overtime

Totals...Connell 52(0), 1.00 Save%...0.00 G.A.A.

    ....Chabot 60(1), .983 Save%...0.48 G.A.A.

On April 10, 1935 in the Toronto Globe and Mail, Chicago's Johnny Gottselig stated about this series and its player and i quote "If Maroons can only hit the form that eliminated us, they will give the leafs a real trimming. That Hawks/Maroons series was the closest i ever played in. Lorne Chabot was as good as Chuck Gardiner ever was"

Series "C" New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens Game #1 2–1 N.Y. Rangers...Kerr 31(1), Cude 45(2) Game #2 4–4 tie game.......Kerr 51(4), Cude 31(4) Totals...Cude 76(6), .921 Save%...3.00 G.A.A.

    ...Kerr 82(5), .939 Save%...2.50 G.A.A.

Series "D" New York Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons Game #1 2–1 Montreal... Kerr 41(2), Connell 26(1) Game #2 3–3 tie game... Kerr 45(3), Connell 29(3) Totals....Kerr 86(5), .942 Save%...2.50 G.A.A.

  ...Connell 55(4), .927 Save%...2.00 G.A.A.

Kerr kept the Rangers in this series. His play was outstanding and but for him the Rangers would have been crushed. Series "E" Toronto vs. Montreal maroons Game #1 3–2 Maroons...Connell 21(2), Hainsworth 39(3)...5:28 overtime Game #2 3–1 Maroons...Connell 43(1), Hainsworth 19(3) Game #3 4–1 Maroons...Connell 19(1), Hainsworth 29(4) Totals...Connell 83(4), .952 Save%...2.00 G.A.A.

   Hainsworth 87(10), .885 save%...3.33 G.A.A.

This was Alex Connell's 2nd stanley cup win. An interesting fact about Connell's career was the fact that the only time he won a game in the play-offs were his two cup win years, yet he has been recognized as a great money goalie. i.e. in 26–27 and 34–35 his combined record was 8 wins, 0 losses, and 5 ties in the other 4 seasons of playoffs he was 0 wins, 5 losses, and 3 ties Connell was a great goalie, but Chabot was definitely the best money goalie from that era.

Awards

Eddie Shore won the Hart Trophy for the second time in his career. Frank Boucher won the Lady Byng for the seventh and final time in his career, and his third consecutive time. Lorne Chabot won the Vezina for the first and only time in his career.

Hart Trophy:
(Most valuable player)
Eddie Shore, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Trophy:
(Excellence and sportsmanship)
Frank Boucher, New York Rangers
O'Brien Cup:
(Canadian Division champion)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(American Division champion)
Boston Bruins
Rookie of the Year:
(Best first-year player)
Sweeney Schriner, New York Americans
Vezina Trophy:
(Fewest goals allowed)
Lorne Chabot, Chicago Black Hawks

All-Star teams

First Team   Position   Second Team
Lorne Chabot, Chicago Black Hawks G Tiny Thompson, Boston Bruins
Eddie Shore, Boston Bruins D Cy Wentworth, Montreal Maroons
Earl Seibert, New York Rangers D Art Coulter, Chicago Black Hawks
Frank Boucher, New York Rangers C Cooney Weiland, Detroit Red Wings
Charlie Conacher, Toronto Maple Leafs RW Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins
Busher Jackson, Toronto Maple Leafs LW Aurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens
Lester Patrick, New York Rangers Coach Dick Irvin, Toronto Maple Leafs

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Player Team GP G A PTS PIM
Charlie Conacher Toronto Maple Leafs 47 36 21 57 24
Syd Howe St. Louis Eagles/Detroit Red Wings 50 22 25 47 34
Larry Aurie Detroit Red Wings 48 17 29 46 24
Frank Boucher New York Rangers 48 13 32 45 2
Busher Jackson Toronto Maple Leafs 42 22 22 44 27
Herbie Lewis Detroit Red Wings 48 16 27 43 26
Art Chapman New York Americans 47 9 34 43 4
Marty Barry Boston Bruins 48 20 20 40 33
Sweeney Schriner New York Americans 48 18 22 40 6
Nels Stewart Boston Bruins 47 21 18 39 45

Source: NHL.[3]

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player Team GP W L T Mins GA SO GAA
Lorne Chabot Chicago Black Hawks 48 26 17 5 2940 88 8 1.80
Alec Connell Montreal Maroons 48 24 19 5 2970 92 9 1.86
Normie Smith Detroit Red Wings 25 12 11 2 1550 52 2 2.01
George Hainsworth Toronto Maple Leafs 48 30 14 4 2957 111 8 2.25
Tiny Thompson Boston Bruins 48 26 16 6 2970 112 8 2.26
Dave Kerr New York Rangers 37 19 12 6 2290 94 4 2.46

Source: NHL.[4]

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1934–35 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1934–35 (listed with their last team):

See also

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 "N.H.L. Coaches Are Picking Their Penalty Shot Artists". Montreal Gazette. October 20, 1934. p. 16.
  2. "1933–34 – The Hockey Uniform Database". nhluniforms.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  3. Dinger 2011, p. 147.
  4. "1934–1935 – Regular Season – Goalie – Goalie Season Stats Leaders – Goals Against Average". nhl.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.

External links

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