1929–30 NHL season
League | National Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | November 14, 1929 – April 3, 1930 |
Number of games | 44 |
Number of teams | 10 |
Regular season | |
Season champions | Boston Bruins |
Season MVP | Nels Stewart (Montreal Maroons) |
Top scorer | Cooney Weiland (Boston) |
Canadian Division champions | Montreal Maroons |
American Division champions | Boston Bruins |
Stanley Cup | |
Finals champions | Montreal Canadiens |
Runners-up | Boston Bruins |
NHL seasons | |
The 1929–30 NHL season was the 13th season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The Montreal Canadiens upset the heavily favoured Boston Bruins two games to none for the Stanley Cup.
League business
The league instituted in the new rules the standard dimensions for ice hockey rinks, that of 200 feet (61 m) × 85 feet (26 m). The already-built Boston Garden 191 feet (58 m) × 88 feet (27 m) and the soon-to-be-open Chicago Stadium 188 feet (57 m) × 85 feet (26 m), which were smaller were exempt from the new rule.[1]
To combat low scoring, the off-side rules were rewritten. Players were now allowed forward passing in the offensive zone, instead of only in the defensive and neutral zones. Players were now allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck. The only off-side rule left was that passing was not allowed from one zone to another.[2] The changes led to abuse: players sat in front of the opposing net waiting for a pass. The rule was changed in mid-season and players were no longer allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck.[3]
Regular season
Cooney Weiland of the Boston Bruins took advantage of the rule changes and smashed the old NHL scoring record with 73 points. Weiland and Tiny Thompson, who won the Vezina Trophy with a 2.23 goals against average, led the Bruins to a final season standings record of 38 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie. The Bruins set three impressive NHL records including most wins in the regular season (38), highest winning percentage (0.875), and most consecutive home ice wins (20).
The 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens and the 1944-45 Montreal Canadiens would tie the record for most wins in a season at 38. But the record remained unbroken for 21 years until March 11, 1951 when the 1950-51 Detroit Red Wings notched their 39th victory in a much longer 70-game season. The record for consecutive wins at home would stand for 82 years, being matched by the 1975–76 Philadelphia Flyers and finally surpassed on February 14, 2012 by the 2011–12 Detroit Red Wings. As of 2016 no team has ever broken the Bruins' single season winning percentage record of 0.875.
Conn Smythe brought up two outstanding forwards, Harvey "Busher" Jackson, and Charlie Conacher, and combined with Joe Primeau, the Kid Line was born. Conacher actually scored on his first shift in the NHL. Jackson got his nickname Busher from Tim Daly, the Toronto trainer, when asked by Daly to assist with some sticks. "I'm a hockey player, not a stickboy," Jackson told Daly, who replied, "Why you fresh young busher!" And it was Busher Jackson from that day on.
On January 7, 1930, Clint Benedict became the first goalie in NHL history to don a protective face mask. He did so for five games to protect a broken nose. The next time a mask made its way into the NHL was almost 30 years later when Jacques Plante wore one in a game on November 1, 1959.
Eddie Gerard resigned as manager-coach of the Montreal Maroons. He was replaced as manager by team president James Strachan. Dunc Munro was hired as coach and led the team to first place in the Canadian Division.
There was a well-founded rumour that Eddie Gerard would take the coaching reins of Ottawa from Newsy Lalonde when Lalonde was not well. Dave Gill filled in during his absence and the team did much better and made the playoffs. Gerard turned down the coaching job.
Final standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Canadian Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Montreal Maroons | 44 | 23 | 16 | 5 | 51 | 141 | 114 | 651 |
Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 21 | 14 | 9 | 51 | 142 | 114 | 600 |
Ottawa Senators | 44 | 21 | 15 | 8 | 50 | 138 | 118 | 536 |
Toronto Maple Leafs | 44 | 17 | 21 | 6 | 40 | 116 | 124 | 613 |
New York Americans | 44 | 14 | 25 | 5 | 33 | 113 | 161 | 372 |
American Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boston Bruins | 44 | 38 | 5 | 1 | 77 | 179 | 98 | 449 |
Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 21 | 18 | 5 | 47 | 117 | 111 | 573 |
New York Rangers | 44 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 44 | 136 | 143 | 445 |
Detroit Cougars | 44 | 14 | 24 | 6 | 34 | 117 | 133 | 474 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 44 | 5 | 36 | 3 | 13 | 102 | 185 | 384 |
Playoffs
First round
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 20 | Boston Bruins | 2 | Montreal Maroons | 1 | 3OT |
March 22 | Boston Bruins | 4 | Montreal Maroons | 2 | |
March 25 | Montreal Maroons | 1 | Boston Bruins | 0 | 2OT |
March 27 | Montreal Maroons | 1 | Boston Bruins | 5 |
Boston wins best-of-five series 3–1. Boston advanced to the final.
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 23 | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0 | |
March 26 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | 2OT |
Montreal wins two-game, total goals series 3–2
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 20 | New York Rangers | 1 | Ottawa Senators | 1 | |
March 23 | Ottawa Senators | 2 | New York Rangers | 5 |
New York wins two-game, total goals series 6–3
Second round
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 28 | New York Rangers | 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | 4OT |
March 30 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | New York Rangers | 0 |
Montreal wins best-of-three series 2–0
Finals
After defeating the Montreal Maroons and after having not lost consecutive games all season, the Boston Bruins were swept by the Montreal Canadiens two games to none in a best-of-three series. The first game saw Boston play way below its usual form. The Canadiens then won the Stanley Cup with a 4–3 victory in game two. The Canadiens went 5–0–1 in the playoffs, making them one of the few Stanley Cup-winning teams in history to not lose a game in the playoffs.
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 28 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | Boston Bruins | 0 | |
March 29 | Boston Bruins | 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 |
Montreal wins best-of-three series 2–0
Awards
1929–30 NHL awards | |
---|---|
O'Brien Cup: (Canadian Division champion) |
Montreal Maroons |
Prince of Wales Trophy: (American Division champion) |
Boston Bruins |
Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) |
Nels Stewart, Montreal Maroons |
Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) |
Frank Boucher, New York Rangers |
Vezina Trophy: (Fewest goals allowed) |
Tiny Thompson, Boston Bruins |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cooney Weiland | Boston Bruins | 44 | 43 | 30 | 73 | 27 |
Frank Boucher | New York Rangers | 42 | 26 | 36 | 62 | 16 |
Dit Clapper | Boston Bruins | 44 | 41 | 20 | 61 | 48 |
Bill Cook | New York Rangers | 44 | 29 | 30 | 59 | 56 |
Hec Kilrea | Ottawa Senators | 44 | 36 | 22 | 58 | 23 |
Nels Stewart | Montreal Maroons | 44 | 39 | 16 | 55 | 81 |
Howie Morenz | Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 40 | 10 | 50 | 72 |
Norman Himes | New York Americans | 44 | 22 | 28 | 50 | 15 |
Joe Lamb | Ottawa Senators | 44 | 29 | 20 | 49 | 119 |
Dutch Gainor | Boston Bruins | 43 | 18 | 31 | 49 | 39 |
Source: NHL.[4]
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tiny Thompson | Boston Bruins | 44 | 38 | 5 | 1 | 2680 | 98 | 3 | 2.19 |
Flat Walsh | Montreal Maroons | 30 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 1897 | 74 | 2 | 2.34 |
George Hainsworth | Montreal Canadiens | 42 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 2680 | 108 | 4 | 2.42 |
Charlie Gardiner | Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 21 | 16 | 9 | 2750 | 111 | 3 | 2.42 |
Alex Connell | Ottawa Senators | 44 | 21 | 15 | 8 | 2780 | 118 | 3 | 2.55 |
Source: NHL.[5]
Team Photos
References
- (2000) in Diamond, Dan: Total Hockey. Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
- (2011) The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
- Duplacey, James (1996). The annotated rules of hockey. Lyons & Burford. ISBN 1-55821-466-6.
- (2000) Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
- (2003) The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Publications International Inc.. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
- McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1.
- Notes
- ↑ Duplacey 1996, pp. 1–2.
- ↑ Duplacey 1996, p. 143.
- ↑ Duplacey 1996, p. 144.
- ↑ Dinger 2011, p. 146.
- ↑ "1929–1930 – Regular Season – Goaltender – Goalie Season Stats Leaders – Goals Against Average". nhl.com. http://www.nhl.com/ice/historicalstats.htm?fetchKey=19302ALLGAHSALL&sort=goalsAgainstAverage&viewName=statsLeadersSingleSeasonGoalies. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
External links
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