1923-24
There were no franchise shifts for the 1923-24 season but there was a blockbuster trade over the summer. The move saw the Ottawa Senators ship veteran forward Cy Denneny and young defenseman Hap Day to the Toronto St. Patick's in exchange for a package of players headlined by Mickey Mackay. The 29-year-old MacKay was a former Senator who had averaged more than a point a game for Toronto last season. Denneny also returns to his former city having spent time in Toronto during its NHA days. He is 31 and looks to be on the downswing but is still considered a very talented player. Day is a 22-year-old highly regarded defenseman who had excelled for the past three seasons on the Ottawa blueline.
The Senators may not have made out too badly in that deal, but they suffered a pair of major losses when the club sold both Howie Morenz and Aurel Joliat to the Montreal Canadiens in a move clearly aimed at balancing the books.
Despite losing plenty of talent again this season, Ottawa once more managed to qualify for the playoffs as the Senators -led by trade pickup Mickey MacKay and veteran goaltender George Hainsworth- nosed out the Toronto St. Patrick's for second place. Only an Ottawa win over Hamilton on the final day of the regular season while Toronto was losing to first place Montreal allowed the Senators to keep their seven-year playoff streak intact. Since the NHL began in 1917-18, only Ottawa has played in the post-season every year.
The first place Canadiens were loaded as the addition of Howie Morenz, who led the league in points, and Aurel Joliat to a star-studded offense that included Babe Dye and Bill Cook and could easily overcome an injury that cost Punch Broadbent much of the season. The Canadiens scored more goals than any other team in the league while goaltender Alec Connell surrendered the fewest against.
Toronto, led by goaltender Clint Benedict along with King Clancy, Duke Keats and an impressive 20-year-old getting his first taste of full-time NHL action in Ace Bailey, came close but missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Hamilton once more finished soundly in the basement, a spot the organization has occupied for the past five years going back to its final season in Quebec. Howie Meeking remains the one bright spot on a franchise that seems to have no direction and has spoiled the final years of Joe Malone's outstanding career. The 34-year-old Malone, who has scored 168 goals between his days in the NHA and NHL, appears to have reached the end of the line after scoring just twice with a career low nine points this season.
The two-game total goal playoff series was, for the third year in a row, a matchup between Montreal and Ottawa. Each team had won one of the previous two and both clubs were looking for bragging rights in the rubber match. This time around the Habs were too much for the Senators in the series as Montreal won both games by a combined score of 8-3. The opener was a 3-1 game in which as a testament to their depth nine different Canadiens earned a point. Aurel Joliat got the better of his former team in game two, scoring twice to lead the Habs to a 5-2 victory.
Like a year ago, the Calgary Tigers were the top team in the west. Tigers netminder Hal Winkler posted a 1.60 goals against average and was named the top goalie in the WCHL. The Victoria Cougars finished with the best record in the PCHA with defenseman Eddie Shore claiming the league MVP award while Cougars winger Hib Milks led the league in scoring with 36 points. Carson Cooper, who set a WCHL record with 26 goals for Calgary last season was clearly not missed after being dealt to Seattle, but the 24-year-old did lead the loop in goals once more with 20 for the Metropolitans.
Unlike a year ago when Calgary was upset in the semi-finals, the Tigers ensured that would not happen again after they thumped Regina 7-0 in the first game of the series and would follow that up with a 2-1 victory. Victoria looked like it would have just as easy a time with Vancouver after Bob Hall scored twice in a 5-1 win in the opener. The Maroons made it close with a 4-1 victory at home two nights later but could not get the fifth goal needed to send the series into overtime.
The best of three final between Calgary and Victoria was tight with the Tigers winning the opener 3-1 at home thanks to Gordon McFarlane, who scored once for Calgary and set up each of the other two goals. Game two saw Victoria outshot the visiting Tigers 37-22 but could not solve Hal Winkler, who turned aside all of the shots for a 1-0 shutout victory and complete the sweep.
STANLEY CUP
The first Stanley Cup final to be played in the city of Calgary saw a star-studded Montreal Canadiens team invade the Alberta city. On paper, the Tigers looked to be no match for a Habs team in search of his record fifth Stanley Cup title but perhaps Montreal had not seen a goalie the caliber of Winkler.
Calgary's 32-year-old veteran netminder was a former Canadien, having spent a season with Montreal back in its NHA days before heading west, and he had the Habs number in the opener. Montreal dominated the play, outshooting their hosts 41-22 but Winkler was nearly unbeatable. Barney Stanley opened the scoring on the power play in the second period, but it was the only goal the Canadiens would get. Calgary tied the contest late in the middle frame on a Gordon McFarlane tally, and with just 14 seconds remaining in regulation Abbie Newell beat Montreal's Alec Connell with the game winning goal in a 2-1 Calgary victory.
With the Cup on the line Winkler was exposed in game two as Aurel Joliat scored three times and Howie Morenz had a goal and two helpers in a 5-2 Montreal victory to force a deciding third game. The Canadiens would win that one too, but it proved very difficult as Winkler made 51 saves on the night but lost 3-1. Joliat opened the scoring midway through the first period on the powerplay but Stan Jackson got the equalizer for the Tigers in the middle period. Syl Mantha would get what proved to be the Cup winner eleven minutes into the third period and Joliat rounded out the scoring with an empty netter for his 5th goal of the finals and the Habs had their fifth Stanley Cup.
1924 WINTER OLYMPICS
The very first edition of the winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France between January 25th and February 5th. The games were originally dubbed as the "International Winter Sports Week" and were organized by the French Olympic Committee in advance of the Summer Games in Paris that year. They were a big success and as a result were retroactively designated by the International Olympic Committee as the first Winter Games.
It was not the first Olympics for hockey as it was played in Antwerp in the spring of 1920 as part of the Olympics that would take place later that summer. The United States upset Canada to win gold that first year.
A total of eight teams competed in hockey with Canada joined in Group A by Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Switzerland while Group B would feature the United States, Great Britain, Belgium and Olympic host France. In real life the Canadian team would be represented by the 1923 Allan Cup champion Toronto Granites with a gentleman by the name of W.A. Hewitt selected to oversee the club. One of his children would be the legendary broadcaster Foster Hewitt. In the sim Canada would be represented by a cross-section of players that are either currently with non-playable minor league teams or junior clubs.
Opening day results saw Canada, keyed by 3 assists from defenseman Harold McMunn, blast the Czechs 7-1. In other action Art Langley made 17 saves to lead the United States to a 3-0 win over Great Britain, Sweden edged Switzerland 4-3 while Belgium dumped France 5-2.
Two days later Canada outshot Switzerland 58-7 and won by a 5-0 score with young Fred Lowrey, currently with the Ottawa Montagnards of a non-playable senior league but in real life would later get a few NHL games in with the Montreal Maroons and Pittsburgh Pirates, scoring twice. Czechoslovakia nipped Sweden 5-4, the United States shutout Belgium 6-0 while Great Britain and France skated to a 3-3 tie.
In the final day of round robin play both Canada and the United States remained perfect. The Canadians shutout Sweden 4-0 while the United States downed France 4-1. The other two games saw Switzerland shade the Czechs 3-2 while Great Britain secured a spot in the final round with a 4-1 win over Belgium.
Sweden would join Britain, Canada and the USA in the final round. It opened with Canada beating Sweden for the second day in a row, this time by a 3-1 score. Meanwhile Great Britain held the United States scoreless for two periods before Hago Harrington scored twice for the Americans late in the game to give the US a 2-0 victory. A Massachusetts native, Harrington would go on in real life to play 66 NHL games and became the first Massachusetts born player to score for the Boston Bruins when he did so in 1925.
Two days later the Canadians blanked Great Britain 4-0 while the Americans downed Sweden 4-1 setting up a game between Canada and the US to decide the goal medal. Fred Doherty and Skene Ronan staked Canada to a 2-0 lead in the opening period and after a scoreless second period the Canadians would get a third goal when Ronan set up Hobie Kitchen. Everett McGowan would get one back for the Americans on a rebound of a Hugo Harington shot but that would be as close as they would get. Eddie McCalmon added an empty netter to round out the scoring and give Canada the gold medal with a 4-1 victory.
Sweden would claim the bronze for the second straight Olympic games as led by a goal and two assists from Georg Johansson, the Swedes dumped Great Britain 5-2.
LEHMAN RETIRES
The best goaltender in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and perhaps one of the best of all-time in this simulation has decided to call it quits. Hugh Lehman, who was named the best goaltender in the PCHA three times after being the leading goaltender in the National Hockey Association for each of its first two seasons, has retired at the age of 38.
Lehman debut as a pro in 1909-10 with the Renfrew Creamery Kings before moving on to the Montreal Canadiens, helping the Habs to an NHL title in 1911-12. He would then jump to the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA and be named top goalie in that loop three times in five seasons while guiding Vancouver to two Stanley Cup appearances.
He returned east at the dawn of the NHL and spent five seasons with the Toronto St. Patrick's (also known as Arenas) before leaving that team following the 1922-23 season when Toronto acquired Clint Benedict. He has not played in the NHL since then but waited until this past summer before officially announcing his retirement.
The real-life Hugh Lehman was born in Pembroke, Ontario and after playing in several regional leagues in his home province he was signed by the New Westminster Royals of the newly founded Pacific Coast Hockey Association. Later he moved to Vancouver and helped the Millionaires win the Stanley Cup in 1915. He would stay with Vancouver until the western league collapsed and then he finished out his career with the Chicago Black Hawks in 1926-27. In 1926 Lehman, at age 41, became the oldest goaltender to win his first NHL game. That record was broken in 2020 when Toronto emergency backup David Ayres got a win for Carolina against the Leafs at the age of 42. Lehman was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.
1924-25: EXPANSION IN THE NHL, CONTRACTION IN THE WEST
While the Hamilton franchise continued to struggle to remain solvent and Ottawa appeared to be steady after several years in which the club need to sell players to stay afloat, the National Hockey League began to grow as two new clubs were added to the loop.
In 1923 Thomas Duggan secured an option from the league to explore the possibility of adding up to three American teams to the NHL. Duggan, a Montreal native, had some experience in sports already having been involved in the construction of the Mount Royal Arena, present home of the Montreal Canadiens and was a part owner of the Buffalo franchise in baseball's short-lived Federal League. He also owned several horse racing tracks.
He eyed Boston and New York as two locations for potential NHL clubs and he partnered with Boston grocery magnate Charles F. Adams to mark the start of the Bruins franchise. He would sell the rights to the club to Adams and later be involved in the formation of the New York Americans. Under Adams, who selected brown and yellow for his team's colours to match that of his grocery chain, the Bruins became the first American NHL team.
The Montreal Maroons gave their city a second NHL team for the first time since the Wanderers arena burned down in 1918, forcing that club to fold. A new ice arena, called the Montreal Forum, was constructed and ready for the 1924-25 season and the birth of the Maroons. The Canadiens originally protested the addition of a second team in Montreal but relented after the NHL agreed to pay the Habs $11,000 of the Maroons $15,000 expansion fee to join the league.
Originally the Maroons had no nickname as they planned on using Wanderers as the Maroons first president, James Strachan, had owned the Wanderers in the 1900s. However, the Wanderers final owner, Sam Lichtenhein, demanded $5,000 for the rights to the name. Simply called the Montreal Professional Hockey club to start, the moniker Maroons was bestowed on the team by the media after the club unveiled its jersey- maroon coloured with a large capital "M" in white, which stood for Montreal, not Maroons.
While the NHL was expanding the western loop was contracting. The Pacific Coast Hockey Association portion of the alliance folded, leaving the Western Canada Hockey League as a single division with six teams. The Vancouver Maroons and Victoria Cougars survived from the PCHA and joined the four holdovers in the Calgary Tigers, Edmonton Eskimos, Regina Capitals and Saskatoon Crescents in the league.
While they may not have had the depth of talent to match the Montreal Canadiens, both the Boston Bruins and Montreal Maroons added some quality talent for their inaugural season. The Bruins biggest acquisitions were the additions of high scoring forwards Jack Adams and Carson Cooper from the now defunct Seattle team of the WCHL but then also appear to have solidified their goaltending by acquiring Tiny Thompson from Regina. Bun Cook, brother of the Canadiens Bill Cook and Billy Boucher, brother of Ottawa's Frank and Buck Boucher were also brought in from the west. The Maroons looked set in goal with the signing of Lorne Chabot from the western league and also brought in young rearguard Babe Siebert along with veteran forwards Reg Noble (from Toronto) and Mickey MacKay (from Ottawa).
Both newcomers had high hopes of icing competitive teams but only one of them succeeded. That would be the Montreal Maroons who actually finished ahead of their defending champion cross-town Canadiens. Both Montreal teams finished with 16 wins, but the Maroons lost just 11 and tied 3, while the Canadiens lost 13 and tied just once. Most would say the Maroons got lucky as they had a -5 goal differential while the Habs were +24. Boston found life in the NHL just as rough as Hamilton has for the past half decade as the Bruins managed just 13 points out of their 30 games but it was still 5 more than the terrible Tigers mustered.
At the top of the league, we had the Ottawa Senators and Toronto St. Patrick's. The Senators Frank Boucher led the league in scoring with 39 points and was named the winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP while his linemate Harold Darragh tied with Montreal's Howie Morenz for second, two points back. Ottawa goaltender George Hainsworth once more led the netminders with a sparkling 1.91 goals against average. Toronto scoring was nearly as effective as that of the Senators with Ace Bailey, Duke Keats and defenseman King Clancy leading the way.
With six teams in the league a semi-final was added to the playoffs. It would be a two-game total goal set between the second and third place teams with first place Ottawa, which had a bye in the opening round, facing the winner in a one-game, winner take all final.
Former Toronto star Mickey MacKay came back to haunt his old team in the opener of the semi-final as the Maroons center scored twice and assisted on the third Montreal goal as the Maroons nipped Toronto 3-2. The big story was Lorne Chabot as the Maroons goalie held off the St. Patrick's despite his club being outshot 52-20. Game two was a 3-3 tie thanks to MacKay's third goal of the series with just over three minutes left in regulation. It gave the Maroons a 6-5 series victory.
The Maroons proved no match for Ottawa in the one game final as the Senators built a 3-1 first period lead and easily won by a 6-3 count. Frank Boucher picked up 5 points in the game while his brother Buck had three of his own.
The Western Canada Hockey League was down to a single division and just six teams and, just as last year, it was the Calgary Tigers and Victoria Cougars that were the class of the loop. Victoria, led by Eddie Shore's second consecutive MVP award and scoring leader Hib Milks, finished in first during the regular season, two points ahead of a Calgary club led by top goaltender Dolly Dolson. Saskatoon finished third to qualify for the playoffs, which like the NHL, admitted the top three teams.
Calgary, which won the league playoff title a year ago, had little trouble with Saskatoon in the semi-finals, outscoring the Crescents 8-4 with a 5-3 win at home followed by a 3-1 road win. Next up was first place Victoria, which had won the title two years ago but fell in the finals to Calgary a year ago. Unlike the NHL, the WCHL stuck with a two-game total goal format for the final and Victoria won them both by identical 8-4 scores to advance to play for the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years and third time overall.
STANLEY CUP
A rematch of the 1923 Stanley Cup when Ottawa beat Victoria it would be the third meeting between the two cities and sixth overall appearance for the Senators, who are 4-1 and looking to the Montreal Canadiens with the most Stanley Cup titles at five. Victoria lost in both of its previous trips to the finals and each was to Ottawa.
A best of five series, it began in the nation's capital with the Senators recording back to back shutout victories by George Hainsworth. Game One was 6-0 as Frank Boucher and Hooley Smith each had two goals and two assists while Hainsworth made 29 saves. Two night later Calgary outshot Ottawa 29-27 but could not solve Hainsworth while Ottawa beat Tigers goaltender Dolly Dotson seven times. Each of the Boucher brothers, Frank and Buck, had 4 points in the 7-0 rout with Harold Darragh adding three.
Back home for game three the Tigers were a much different team in Calgary. It was Dolly Dotson's turn to shine and he did, making 24 saves as Calgary won 3-0 to stay alive in the series. Game four saw Ottawa take a 2-1 lead after twenty minutes on goals from Hooley Smith and Red Green sandwiched between one from the Tigers Stan Jackson. Calgary pulled even early in the third period when Duke McCurry scored on a shorthanded breakaway. Haisworth and Dotson would stand tall the rest of the period and the game headed into overtime. It was a short one as the first shot of the extra-frame, by Ottawa's Johnny Gottselig, found the back of the net and ended the series with a 3-2 Ottawa victory.