1922-23 NHL season
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The 1922-23 NHL season was the sixth season of the National Hockey League.
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Regular Season
At the start of the season, Newsy Lalonde found himself moving west as the Montreal Canadiens traded him to the Saskatoon Crescents of the Western Canada Hockey League for a rising young star named Aurel Joliat. Joliat would help the Habs win the second playoff spot over the St. Patricks.
Joliat scored two goals in his first game with the Canadiens, but Babe Dye had five goals in the Toronto St. Patricks' 7-2 win.
At a January 27th league meeting, Leo Dandurand introduced on behalf of Thomas Duggan the subject of expansion by granting franchises to United States cities. It was unanimously decided that negotiations with Mr. Duggan should be left in the hands of president Calder with power to act.
On January 31, 1923, the Montreal Canadiens and Hamilton Tigers played the first penalty-free game in NHL history, a 5-4 Montreal victory.
In a rough game February 14th, Bert Corbeau attacked Georges Vezina, breaking his nose in a 4-2 Hamilton win over Montreal. The Canadiens sought to postpone a game with Ottawa as the result, but Ottawa refused. Vezina showed courage by not missing a game despite this.
On February 17th, Cy Denneny scored his 143rd goal, surpassing Joe Malone as the all-time goal-scoring leader as the Ottawa Senators shut out the Montreal Canadiens 2-0.
Standings
| National Hockey League | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Senators | 24 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 29 | 77 | 54 | 188 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 28 | 73 | 61 | 174 |
| Toronto St. Patricks | 24 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 27 | 82 | 88 | 200 |
| Hamilton Tigers | 24 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 81 | 100 | 182 |
Leading Scorers
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babe Dye | Toronto | 22 | 26 | 11 | 37 |
| Cy Denneny | Ottawa | 24 | 23 | 11 | 34 |
| Billy Boucher | Montreal | 24 | 24 | 7 | 31 |
| Jack Adams | Toronto | 23 | 19 | 9 | 28 |
| Mickey Roach | Hamilton | 24 | 17 | 10 | 27 |
| Odie Cleghorn | Montreal | 24 | 19 | 6 | 25 |
| Buck Boucher | Ottawa | 24 | 14 | 9 | 23 |
| Reg Noble | Toronto | 24 | 12 | 11 | 23 |
| Cully Wilson | Hamilton | 23 | 16 | 5 | 21 |
| Aurel Joliat | Montreal | 24 | 12 | 9 | 21 |
Leading Goaltenders
| Player | Team | GP | MINS | GA | SO | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clint Benedict | Ottawa | 24 | 1486 | 54 | 4 | 2.18 |
| Georges Vezina | Montreal | 24 | 1488 | 61 | 2 | 2.46 |
| John Ross Roach | Toronto St. Patricks | 24 | 1469 | 88 | 1 | 3.59 |
| Jake Forbes | Hamilton Tigers | 24 | 1470 | 110 | 0 | 4.49 |
Stanley Cup Playoffs
The playoffs out east was won by the Senators, who had won the series despite the dirty play of several Montreal players in the first game and being down 2-0 in the second. Out west, the Pacific Coast Hockey Association abandoned seven-man hockey in favor of the six-man rules used in the NHL and the Western Canada Hockey League. This allowed the PCHA and the WCHL to play interleague games. In the end, the newly renamed Vancouver Maroons won the PCHA championship and the Edmonton Eskimos won the WCHL championship.
The Stanley Cup Finals this year was played out west, in Vancouver. There, the WCHL champions received the privilege of battling the winner between Ottawa and Vancouver. In the end, Ottawa prevailed over both Western opponents to win the Silver Cup.
All dates are in 1923.
NHL Finals
Ottawa vs Montreal
- March 7 - Ottawa 2 Montreal 0 : A vicious game was played at
Mount Royal Arena. When Cy Denneny scored, Billy Coutu clubbed him on the head from behind and was ejected from the game. When Sprague Cleghorn cross-checked Lionel Hitchman in the face late in the game, upon Cleghorn's ejection, a riot almost took place as fans threw all debris they could. The debris was cleaned up and the game completed.
Canadiens manager-coach Leo Dandurand was so disturbed at Cleghorn and Coutu's play that he suspended them for game two himself without waiting for NHL president Frank Calder to act.
- March 9 - Montreal 2 Ottawa 1* : Pit Pitre and Odie Cleghorn took Sprague Cleghorn and Billy Coutu's place on defence and Joe Malone filled in for Odie Cleghorn at center.The Canadiens played much better in game two as Aurel Joliat and Billy Boucher each scored as Montreal defeated Ottawa 2-1. However, Ottawa won the playoff having scored one more goal than the Canadiens.
Ottawa wins total goals series 3 goals to 2
At a March 5th league meeting, president Calder reported progress in negotiations with Thomas Duggan in regards to expansion of the NHL into New York, Boston or Brooklyn.
Stanley Cup Finals
Ottawa Senators vs. Vancouver Maroons
Denman Arena, Vancouver
- March 16 - Ottawa 1 Vancouver 0 : Clint Benedict played great as he
shut out the Maroons. Punch Broadbent scored the only goal of the game.
- March 19 - Ottawa 1 Vancouver 4 : Frank Boucher and defenceman
Art Duncan scored a pair of goals as Ottawa, injuries thinning their ranks, lost to Vancouver.
- March 23 - Ottawa 3 Vancouver 2: Ottawa was seeking to use
Billy Boucher but PCHA president Frank Patrick refused the request. The undermanned Senators played very well as the over 10,000 fans saw Punch Broadbent score a pair of goals and Frank Nighbor scored the winner as Ottawa won.
- March 26 - Ottawa 5 Vancouver 1: Punch Broadbent scored a pair of
goals as Ottawa beat Vancouver and won the series. However, in a collision with Corbett Denneny, Eddie Gerard separated his shoulder.
After the gritty show put on by the undermanned Senators, PCHA president Frank Patrick called them the greatest team he had ever seen.
Ottawa wins best-of-five series 3 games to 1
Ottawa Senators vs. Edmonton Eskimos
Denman Arena, Vancouver
- March 29 - Ottawa 2 Edmonton 1 : King Clancy replaced Eddie Gerard on defence. The Eskimos went ahead on a goal by Crutchy Morrison, but Lionel Hitchman tied it up. At 2:08 of overtime, Cy Denneny burst through to win it
for Ottawa.
- March 31 - Ottawa 1 Edmonton 0 : Punch Broadbent scored the only goal
and Clint Benedict racked up a shutout as the Senators won the Stanley Cup. King Clancy played every position including goal in this game. When Clint Benedict picked up a penalty for slashing, Clancy filled in for him when Benedict was in the penalty box.
Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to none
When the Senators came home, they were grandly received by the fans and a parade held for them, as well as a reception at the train station. Film footage was taken of this.
Related topics
| Preceded by: 1921-22 NHL season | NHL seasons | Succeeded by: 1923-24 NHL season |
