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1923–24 NHL season

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1923–24 NHL season
LeagueNational Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationDecember 15, 1923 – March 11, 1924
Number of games24
Number of teams4
Regular season
Season championsOttawa Senators
Season MVPFrank Nighbor (Senators)
Top scorerCy Denneny (Senators)
O'Brien Cup
ChampionsMontreal Canadiens
  Runners-upOttawa Senators
NHL seasons

The 1923–24 NHL season was the seventh season of the National Hockey League. Four teams each played 24 games. The league champions were the Montreal Canadiens, who defeated the first-place Ottawa Senators in the league playoff. The Canadiens then defeated the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) and Vancouver Maroons of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) to win their second Stanley Cup championship.

League business

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At the NHL meeting of February 9, 1924, the NHL discussed plans for expansion into the United States.[1] The same meeting saw the introduction of the new Hart Trophy, to be awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team.[2]

After the suspensions of their own players by the Canadiens, in 1922–23. the NHL decided to take a further role in discipline, as it redefined match fouls, changed fines and adds presidential review for possible further punishment.[3]

Arena changes

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The Ottawa Senators moved from The Arena to the Ottawa Auditorium.

Teams

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1923-24 National Hockey League
Team City Arena Capacity
Hamilton Tigers Hamilton, Ontario Barton Street Arena 4,500
Montreal Canadiens Montreal, Quebec Mount Royal Arena 10,000
Ottawa Senators Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa Auditorium 7,500
Toronto St. Patricks Toronto, Ontario Arena Gardens 7,500

Regular season

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1923-24 NHL teams

A newcomer that would become the NHL's first drawing card, Howie Morenz, started his career with the Montreal Canadiens this year. Morenz scored the first goal of his career on December 27, 1923, in the inaugural NHL game at the new Ottawa Auditorium. It was the first of a career 270 goals.

The Hamilton Tigers added Billy Burch and the Green brothers, Shorty and Redvers (nicknamed Red) and now they had a team that could compete nicely with the rest of the league. On December 28, Shorty Green scored at 12:22 of overtime to give Hamilton its first ever road victory over the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa. However, the changes did not pay off this season. The Hamilton Tigers finished last for the fifth season in a row (counting one season as the Quebec Athletics).

The NHL held a mid-season meeting to consider Sprague Cleghorn's suspension. Ottawa claimed he was deliberately injuring opponents, citing a spearing incident against Cy Denneny. The league rejected the charges, and in a game against Ottawa shortly thereafter, Cleghorn charged Lionel Hitchman into the boards and earned a one-game suspension.[4]

A game between Ottawa and the Canadiens was postponed due to a bizarre incident near the end of the season. On their way to Montreal, the Ottawa's train got snowbound near Hawkesbury, Ontario. The team was stuck all night and so Cy Denneny decided to scrounge around for some food, and somehow fell down a well. He was not injured. The game was postponed until the next night and Georges Vezina shut out the Senators 3–0.

Final standings

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National Hockey League
GP W L T Pts GF GA
Ottawa Senators 24 16 8 0 32 74 54
Montreal Canadiens 24 13 11 0 26 59 48
Toronto St. Patricks 24 10 14 0 20 59 85
Hamilton Tigers 24 9 15 0 18 63 68

[5] 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.

Record vs. opponents

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1923–24 NHL records [6]
Team HAM MTL OTT TOR
Hamilton — 2–6 2–6 4–4
Montreal 6–2 — 3–5 4–4
Ottawa 6–2 5–3 — 6–2
Toronto 4–4 4–4 2–6 —


Playoffs

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This was the last season that three leagues competed for the Stanley Cup as, after the season, the PCHA folded. Two of its teams, the Vancouver Maroons and Victoria Cougars, joined the WCHL for the 1924–25 WCHL season.

NHL Championship

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The Montreal Canadiens had finished second overall in the NHL regular season standings but in the playoffs, they would upset the first-place Ottawa Senators.


March 8 Ottawa Senators 0–1 Montreal Canadiens Mount Royal Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 5:00 - Howie Morenz (1)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Clint Benedict Goalie stats Georges Vezina
March 11 Montreal Canadiens 4–2 Ottawa Senators Ottawa Auditorium Recap  
Howie Morenz (2) - 12:20 First period 13:20 - Cy Denneny (1)
Howie Morenz (3) - 3:30
Aurele Joliat (1) - 6:30
Billy Boucher (1) - 18:05 		Second period 10:25 - pp - Cy Denneny (2)
No scoring Third period No scoring
Georges Vezina Goalie stats Clint Benedict
Montreal won the series on total goals 5-2


Stanley Cup playoffs

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The second place Vancouver Maroons of the PCHA once again faced the first place Seattle Metropolitans and once again, Vancouver would come out on top winning the PCHA league championship. Meanwhile, in the Western Canada Hockey League, the Calgary Tigers won the regular season and the playoffs. The Canadiens owner, Leo Dandurand, wanted Calgary and Vancouver to face off against each other and then have the Canadiens play the winner for the Stanley Cup. Frank Patrick, the president of the PCHA, refused to go along with that idea.

Semi-final

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Main article: 1924 Stanley Cup playoffs

Since Leo Dandurand's request to have Vancouver and Calgary face off first was denied, the first round match-up was the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Maroons. The Canadiens swept the best-of-three series two games to none. Game one was played under eastern rules. Game two was played under western rules.


March 18 Vancouver Maroons 2–3 Montreal Canadiens Mount Royal Arena Recap  
Helge Bostrom (1) - 5:10 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 1:00 - Sprague Cleghorn (1)
18:00 - Aurele Joliat (2)
Joe Matte (1) - 7:00 Third period 8:00 - Billy Boucher (2)
Hugh Lehman Goalie stats Georges Vezina
March 20 Vancouver Maroons 1–2 Montreal Canadiens Mount Royal Arena Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Frank Boucher (1) - 15:00 Third period 5:00 - Billy Boucher (3)
14:00 - Billy Boucher (4)
Hugh Lehman Goalie stats Georges Vezina
Montreal won the series 2-0


Finals

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Main article: 1924 Stanley Cup Finals

After sweeping Vancouver, Montreal's next opponent was the Calgary Tigers. Montreal swept them too in a best-of-three series. Howie Morenz scored a hat trick in game one and another goal in the game two, which was transferred to Ottawa because of the slushy ice at Mount Royal Arena. Morenz was body-checked by Cully Wilson of Calgary and suffered a chipped collarbone. The Canadiens swept all three teams they faced during the playoffs en route to their first Stanley Cup since their 1916 Cup win as a member of the NHA.


March 22 Calgary Tigers 1–6 Montreal Canadiens Mount Royal Arena Recap  
No scoring First period 19:10 – Howie Morenz (4)
Herb Gardiner (1) – 19:30 Second period 00:40 – Howie Morenz (5)
11:20 – Billy Boucher (5)
15:55 – Howie Morenz (6)
No scoring Third period 03:40 – Aurele Joliat (3)
04:50 – Sprague Cleghorn (2)
Charlie Reid Goalie stats Georges Vezina
March 25 Calgary Tigers 0–3 Montreal Canadiens Ottawa Auditorium Recap  
No scoring First period 04:55 – Howie Morenz (7)
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 03:30 – Billy Boucher (6)
13:50 – Aurele Joliat (4)
Charlie Reid Goalie stats Georges Vezina
Montreal won series 2–0


Playoff scoring leader

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Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Howie Morenz Montreal Canadiens 6 7 3 10

Awards

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The league introduced its first individual award, the Hart Trophy, to the player judged to be "the most valuable player" to their team.[3]

1923–24 NHL awards
Hart Trophy:
(Most valuable player)		 Frank Nighbor, Ottawa Senators
O'Brien Cup:
(League champion)		 Montreal Canadiens
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(League champion)		 Montreal Canadiens

Note: The Prince of Wales Trophy was not in existence yet in 1924. The 1923–24 Canadiens were engraved onto the trophy in 1925–26.[7]

Player statistics

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Scoring leaders

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Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Cy Denneny Ottawa Senators 21 22 2 24
Billy Boucher Montreal Canadiens 23 16 6 22
Aurel Joliat Montreal Canadiens 24 15 5 20
Babe Dye Toronto St. Patricks 19 17 2 19
George Boucher Ottawa Senators 21 14 5 19
Billy Burch Hamilton Tigers 24 16 2 18
Jack Adams Toronto St. Patricks 22 13 3 16
Howie Morenz Montreal Canadiens 24 13 3 16
King Clancy Ottawa Senators 24 8 8 16
Reg Noble Toronto St. Patricks 23 12 3 14

Source: NHL.[8]

Leading goaltenders

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Note: GP = Games Played, GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average

Name Team GP Mins W L T GA SO GAA
Georges Vezina Montreal Canadiens 24 1459 13 11 0 48 3 1.97
Clint Benedict Ottawa Senators 22 1356 15 7 0 45 3 1.99
Jake Forbes Hamilton Tigers 24 1483 9 15 0 68 1 2.75
John Ross Roach Toronto St. Patricks 23 1380 10 13 0 80 1 3.48
Sammy Hebert Ottawa Senators 2 120 1 1 0 9 0 4.50

Source: NHL[9]

Coaches

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Debuts

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The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1923–24 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

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The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1923–24 (listed with their last team):

Free agency

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Date Players Team
September 30, 1923 Howie Morenz Montreal Canadiens
December 3, 1923 Sylvio Mantha Montreal Canadiens
February 21, 1924 Frank Finnigan Ottawa Senators

Transactions

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December 14, 1923 To Toronto St. Patricks
Amos Arbour
Bert Corbeau
George Carey 		To Hamilton Tigers
Ken Randall
Rights to Corbett Denneny
cash
December 18, 1923 To Ottawa Senators
Leth Graham 		To Hamilton Tigers
cash
January 16, 1924 To Hamilton Tigers
Ganton Scott 		To Toronto St. Patricks
cash

See also

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References

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  • Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol.1 1893–1926 inc. National Hockey League. pp. 441–464.
  • Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
  • Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
  • Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
  • Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (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
  1. ^ McFarlane 1973, p. 34.
  2. ^ Coleman 1966, pp. 443–444.
  3. ^ a b Fischler 2003, p. 54.
  4. ^ Fischler 2003, p. 55.
  5. ^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  6. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  7. ^ McCarthy, Dave, ed. (2008). The National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2009. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 241. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  8. ^ Dinger 2011, p. 146.
  9. ^ "1923–24 Regular Season – Goalie Season Stats Leaders". NHL. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
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