1930–31 NHL season

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1930–31 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration November 11, 1930 – April 14, 1931
Number of games 44
Number of teams 10
Regular season
Season champions Boston Bruins
Season MVP Howie Morenz (Montreal Canadiens)
Top scorer Howie Morenz (Montreal Canadiens)
Canadian Division champions Montreal Canadiens
American Division champions Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup
Finals champions Montreal Canadiens
  Runners-up Chicago Black Hawks
NHL seasons

The 1930–31 NHL season was the 14th season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks three games to two in a best-of-five Stanley Cup final for their second consecutive Cup win.

League business

Art Ross bitterly complained about the Stanley Cup final setup. His team had been vanquished in two consecutive games by the Montreal Canadiens in 1929–30. As a result, the Board of Governors decided to make the final a best-of-five series.

The Great Depression was starting to take its toll on the NHL. In attempts to solve financial problems, the Pittsburgh Pirates moved to Philadelphia and became the Philadelphia Quakers, but there was nothing about the team to win games or fans. It was intended that the team stay in Philadelphia only until a new arena was built in Pittsburgh. The arena was never built, and the team folded after only one season in the new city. The state of Pennsylvania would be without an NHL team until the league doubled in size 36 years later.

The Ottawa Senators were in a similar financial boat but instead of relocating, they sold a star asset and future Hall of Famer, King Clancy, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for $35,000 and two players. Even after the sale of Clancy, the Senators' owners put the team up for sale for $200,000, although no bids approached anywhere near that figure. The team would suspend operations before the start of the next season.[1]

The Detroit Cougars changed the team name to the Detroit Falcons.

A program from a game at the Maple Leaf Gardens.

Regular season

Howie Morenz led the league in scoring.

Dick Irvin started his career in coaching with Chicago and they finished second in the American Division. He resigned at season's end after having taken the Black Hawks to the finals.

Final standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Canadian Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Montreal Canadiens 44 26 10 8 60 129 89 602
Toronto Maple Leafs 44 22 13 9 53 118 99 540
Montreal Maroons 44 20 18 6 46 105 106 568
New York Americans 44 18 16 10 46 76 74 495
Ottawa Senators 44 10 30 4 24 91 142 486
American Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Boston Bruins 44 28 10 6 62 143 90 403
Chicago Black Hawks 44 24 17 3 51 108 78 416
New York Rangers 44 19 16 9 47 106 87 514
Detroit Falcons 44 16 21 7 39 102 105 429
Philadelphia Quakers 44 4 36 4 12 76 184 477

Playoffs

On 26 March, during the second game of the best-of-five series between the Bruins and Canadiens, coach-GM Art Ross of Boston pulled his goalie for an extra attacker while down 1–0 with 40 seconds left in the final period. The attempt was unsuccessful. This marked the first time in Stanley Cup play that a goalie was pulled for an extra attacker.[2]

First round

Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins
Date Away Team Home Team Notes
March 24 Mtl. Canadiens 4 5 Boston OT
March 26 Mtl. Canadiens 1 0 Boston
March 28 Boston 3 4 Mtl. Canadiens OT
March 30 Boston 3 1 Mtl. Canadiens
April 1 Boston 2 3 Mtl. Canadiens OT
Montreal won 3-2 and advanced to the finals.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Date Away Team Home Team Notes
March 24 Chicago 2 2 Toronto
March 26 Toronto 1 2 Chicago OT
Chicago won series 4-3 on total goals.
New York Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons
Date Away Team Home Team
March 24 Mtl. Maroons 1 5 NY Rangers
March 26 NY Rangers 3 0 Mtl. Maroons
NY Rangers won series 8-1 on total goals.

Second round

Chicago Blackhawks vs. New York Rangers
Date Away Team Home Team
March 29 NY Rangers 0 2 Chicago
March 31 Chicago 1 0 NY Rangers
Chicago won series 3-0 on total goals.

Stanley Cup Final

In the final series, the Chicago Black Hawks took an early two games to one lead in the newly expanded best-of-five Stanley Cup finals but the Montreal Canadiens came back and won the series three games to two for their second consecutive Stanley Cup win.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 3 Montreal Canadiens 2 Chicago Blackhawks 1
April 5 Montreal Canadiens 1 Chicago Blackhawks 2 2OT
April 9 Chicago Blackhawks 3 Montreal Canadiens 2 3OT
April 11 Chicago Blackhawks 1 Montreal Canadiens 2
April 14 Chicago Blackhawks 1 Montreal Canadiens 2

Montreal wins best-of-five series three games to two.

Awards

1930–31 NHL awards
O'Brien Cup:
(Canadian Division champion)		 Montreal Canadiens
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(American Division champion)		 Boston Bruins
Hart Trophy:
(Most valuable player)		 Howie Morenz, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Trophy:
(Excellence and sportsmanship)		 Frank Boucher, New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy:
(Fewest goals allowed)		 Roy Worters, New York Americans

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Howie Morenz Montreal Canadiens 39 28 23 51 49
Ebbie Goodfellow Detroit Red Wings 44 25 23 48 32
Charlie Conacher Toronto Maple Leafs 37 31 12 43 78
Bill Cook New York Rangers 43 30 12 42 39
Ace Bailey Toronto Maple Leafs 40 23 19 42 46
Joe Primeau Toronto Maple Leafs 38 9 32 41 18
Nels Stewart Montreal Maroons 42 25 14 39 75
Frank Boucher New York Rangers 44 12 27 39 20
Cooney Weiland Boston Bruins 44 25 13 38 14
Bun Cook New York Rangers 44 18 17 35 72
Aurel Joliat Montreal Canadiens 43 13 22 35 73

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
Roy Worters New York Americans 44 18 16 10 2760 74 8 1.61
Charlie Gardiner Chicago Black Hawks 44 24 17 3 2710 78 12 1.73
John Ross Roach New York Rangers 44 19 16 9 2760 87 7 1.89
George Hainsworth Montreal Canadiens 44 26 10 8 2740 89 8 1.95
Tiny Thompson Boston Bruins 44 28 10 6 2730 90 3 1.98
Lorne Chabot Toronto Maple Leafs 37 21 8 8 2300 80 6 2.09

Source: NHL.[4]

Team Photos

  • Boston Bruins

    Boston Bruins

  • Chicago Black Hawks

    Chicago Black Hawks

  • Detroit Falcons

    Detroit Falcons

  • Montreal Canadiens

    Montreal Canadiens

  • New York Americans

    New York Americans

  • New York Rangers

    New York Rangers

  • Ottawa Senators

    Ottawa Senators

  • Philadelphia Quakers

    Philadelphia Quakers

  • Toronto Maple Leafs

    Toronto Maple Leafs

References

  • (2000) in Diamond, Dan: Total Hockey. Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X. 
  • (2009) NHL Official Guide & Rule Book 2010. NHL. 
  • (2011) The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5. 
  • (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. 
  • Kitchen, Paul (2008). Win, Tie or Wrangle. Manotick, Ontario: Penumbra Press. ISBN 978-1-897323-46-5. 
  • McFarlane, Brian (1989). One hundred years of hockey. Toronto, Ontario: Deneau Publishers. ISBN 0-88879-216-6. 
Notes
  1. ↑ Kitchen(2008), pp. 306–309
  2. ↑ McFarlane, p. 28
  3. ↑ Dinger 2011, p. 146.
  4. ↑ "1930–1931 – Regular Season – Goalie – Goalie Season Stats Leaders – Goals Against Average". nhl.com. http://www.nhl.com/stats/historical?fetchKey=19312ALLGAHSALL&ord=asc&sort=goalsAgainstAverage&viewName=statsLeadersSingleSeasonGoalies. Retrieved March 24, 2015. 

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