Maurice Joseph "Phantom Joe" Malone (born in Quebec City, Quebec February 28, 1890 - died, Montreal, Quebec, May 15, 1969) was a professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey Association National Hockey League, notable for his scoring feats and his clean play, and who scored the second most career goals recorded in major hockey's first half-century.

Malone broke in at the age of nineteen for the Quebec Bulldogs of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association in the 1909 season, scoring eight goals in twelve games. The next season the NHA formed, but Quebec was left out of the loop, so he played for Waterloo in the Ontario Professional Hockey League. Rejoining Quebec in 1911, he was named the team captain and so served for the Bulldogs' seven NHA seasons. Centering linemates such as Eddie Oatman and Tommy Marks, he led the Bulldogs to Stanley Cups in 1912 and 1913 -- rampaging for a career best nine goals in a Cup match against Sydney -- while recording remarkable scoring marks of 43 goals in twenty games in 1913 and 41 goals in 19 games in 1917.

When the NHL was founded in 1917, Quebec did not operate a team its first season, so Malone joined the Montreal Canadiens. Playing on what was one of the most powerful forward lines of all time with Newsy Lalonde and Didier Pitre, Malone shifted to left wing to accommodate the great Lalonde, and was the NHL's first scoring leader, registering 44 goals in twenty games, a record that would stand as the NHL's single season goal scoring mark until 1945. The season following Malone suffered an injured arm and missed most of the regular season, although he scored six goals in five games in the league final series against the Ottawa Senators; the lingering injury held him out of the ill-fated Cup finals against the Seattle Metropolitans.

Quebec revived its franchise in 1919 and Malone rejoined his club, once more leading the league in scoring with 39 goals, and setting a single game goal-scoring mark which still stands of seven against Toronto on January 31st, 1920. However, the team was very weak on the ice -- its goaltender had the poorest goals against average the NHL would ever see -- and recorded a 4-20 record on the season.

The team was relocated to Hamilton for the 1921 season. Despite missing the first four games of the season as well as the franchise's continued poor performance, Malone still finished fourth in league scoring with 28 goals. He finished fourth in scoring the following season as well.

After trading Lalonde the Canadiens traded for Malone in 1923, but at age 33 his skills vanished, and he scored only a single goal that season while generally playing as a substitute. He played nine games without scoring the next season, playing his last game on January 23rd against his former mates in Hamilton, before retiring.

He finished his career with 343 goals and 32 recorded assists over fifteen seasons.

Malone was controversially not elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame when it was founded in 1945, but was in 1950.

He died of a heart attack May 15th,1969.

1890 births | 1969 deaths | Canadian ice hockey players | Montreal Canadiens players | Hamilton Tigers players | Quebec Bulldogs players | Hockey Hall of Fame | National Hockey League scoring leaders (prior to 1947-48) | Canadian Sports Hall of Fame | Quebec sportspeople | Quebecers (city) | Stanley Cup champions

Joe Malone | Joe Malone