Gourt Home::Gourt :: 1934-35 NHL season
The 1934-35 NHL season was the 18th season of the National Hockey League. 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.
Regular season
With financial difficulties continuing for the Senators, they opted to move to St. Louis where they became the St. Louis Eagles. They would only last one season in St. Louis before folding. Fans stayed away in droves, just like in Ottawa. The Eagles were forced to sell Syd Howe and Scotty Bowman to Detroit for $50,000.
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. 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. Owners Leo Dandurand and Joseph Catarinich had to sell the team to Ernest Savard and Maurice Forget of the Canadian Arena Company.
Meanwhile, Tommy Gorman bought a share of the Montreal Maroons from James Strachan and when he picked up Alex Connell, he had another winner. 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 playoffs continued to elude the New York Americans, but this year 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
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutesNote: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
| Canadian Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 30 | 14 | 4 | 64 | 157 | 111 | 444 |
| Montreal Maroons | 48 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 53 | 123 | 92 | 380 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 19 | 23 | 6 | 44 | 110 | 145 | 314 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 12 | 27 | 9 | 33 | 100 | 142 | 250 |
| St. Louis Eagles | 48 | 11 | 31 | 6 | 28 | 86 | 144 | 385 |
| American Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 26 | 16 | 6 | 58 | 129 | 112 | 368 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 26 | 17 | 5 | 57 | 118 | 88 | 375 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 22 | 20 | 6 | 50 | 137 | 139 | 334 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 19 | 22 | 7 | 45 | 127 | 114 | 305 |
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 |
Stanley Cup 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.
Stanley Cup finals
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.Playoff bracket
NHL awards
See also
References
"1934-35 NHL season"