1929–30 NHL season

1929–30 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration November 14, 1929 – April 3, 1930
Number of games 44
Number of teams 10
Regular season
Season champions Boston Bruins
Season MVP Nels Stewart (Montreal Maroons)
Top scorer Cooney Weiland (Boston)
Canadian Division champions Montreal Maroons
American Division champions Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup
Champions Montreal Canadiens
  Runners-up Boston Bruins

The 1929–30 NHL season was the 13th season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The Montreal Canadiens upset the heavily favoured Boston Bruins two games to none for the Stanley Cup.

League business

The league instituted in the new rules the standard dimensions for ice hockey rinks, that of 200 feet (61 m) × 85 feet (26 m). The already-built Boston Garden 191 feet (58 m) × 88 feet (27 m) and the soon-to-be-open Chicago Stadium 188 feet (57 m) × 85 feet (26 m), which were smaller were exempt from the new rule.[1]

To combat low scoring, the off-side rules were rewritten. Players were now allowed forward passing in the offensive zone, instead of only in the defensive and neutral zones. Players were now allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck. The only off-side rule left was that passing was not allowed from one zone to another.[2] The changes led to abuse: players sat in front of the opposing net waiting for a pass. The rule was changed in mid-season and players were no longer allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck.[3]

Regular season

Cooney Weiland of the Boston Bruins took advantage of the rule changes and smashed the old NHL scoring record with 73 points. Weiland and Tiny Thompson, who won the Vezina Trophy with a 2.23 goals against average, led the Bruins to a final season standings record of 38 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie. The Bruins set three impressive NHL records including most wins in the regular season (38), highest winning percentage (0.875), and most consecutive home ice wins (20).

The 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens and the 1944-45 Montreal Canadiens would tie the record for most wins in a season at 38. But the record remained unbroken for 21 years until March 11, 1951 when the 1950-51 Detroit Red Wings notched their 39th victory in a much longer 70-game season. The record for consecutive wins at home would stand for 82 years, being matched by the 1975–76 Philadelphia Flyers and finally surpassed on February 14, 2012 by the 2011–12 Detroit Red Wings. As of 2016 no team has ever broken the Bruins' single season winning percentage record of 0.875.[4]

Conn Smythe brought up two outstanding forwards, Harvey "Busher" Jackson, and Charlie Conacher, and combined with Joe Primeau, the Kid Line was born. Conacher actually scored on his first shift in the NHL. Jackson got his nickname Busher from Tim Daly, the Toronto trainer, when asked by Daly to assist with some sticks. "I'm a hockey player, not a stickboy," Jackson told Daly, who replied, "Why you fresh young busher!" And it was Busher Jackson from that day on.

On January 7, 1930, Clint Benedict became the first goalie in NHL history to don a protective face mask. He did so for five games to protect a broken nose. The next time a mask made its way into the NHL was almost 30 years later when Jacques Plante wore one in a game on November 1, 1959.

Eddie Gerard resigned as manager-coach of the Montreal Maroons. He was replaced as manager by team president James Strachan. Dunc Munro was hired as coach and led the team to first place in the Canadian Division.

There was a well-founded rumour that Eddie Gerard would take the coaching reins of Ottawa from Newsy Lalonde when Lalonde was not well. Dave Gill filled in during his absence and the team did much better and made the playoffs. Gerard turned down the coaching job.

Final standings

American Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
Boston Bruins 44 38 5 1 179 98 77
Chicago Black Hawks 44 21 18 5 117 111 47
New York Rangers 44 17 17 10 136 143 44
Detroit Cougars 44 14 24 6 117 133 34
Pittsburgh Pirates 44 5 36 3 102 185 13
Canadian Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Montreal Maroons 44 23 16 5 141 114 51
Montreal Canadiens 44 21 14 9 142 114 51
Ottawa Senators 44 21 15 8 138 118 50
Toronto Maple Leafs 44 17 21 6 116 124 40
New York Americans 44 14 25 5 113 161 33

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

Finals

After defeating the Montreal Maroons and after having not lost consecutive games all season, the Boston Bruins were swept by the Montreal Canadiens two games to none in a best-of-three series. The first game saw Boston play way below its usual form. The Canadiens then won the Stanley Cup with a 4–3 victory in game two. The Canadiens went 5–0–1 in the playoffs, making them one of the few Stanley Cup-winning teams in history to not lose a game in the playoffs.

Playoff bracket

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Stanley Cup Final
                           
       
  C1  Montreal Maroons 1  
    A1  Boston Bruins 3  
     
         
    C2  Montreal Canadiens 2
  A1  Boston Bruins 0
  C2  Montreal Canadiens 3G  
A2  Chicago Black Hawks 2G  
C2  Montreal Canadiens 2
    A3  New York Rangers 0  
C3  Ottawa Senators 3G
  A3  New York Rangers 6G  

Awards

Nels Stewart won the Hart Trophy for the second time. Frank Boucher won the Lady Byng for the third consecutive year. Tiny Thompson won the Vezina for the first time. Thompson would go on to win the trophy four times.

1929–30 NHL awards
O'Brien Cup:
(Canadian Division champion) 		Montreal Maroons
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(American Division champion) 		Boston Bruins
Hart Trophy:
(Most valuable player) 		Nels Stewart, Montreal Maroons
Lady Byng Trophy:
(Excellence and sportsmanship) 		Frank Boucher, New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy:
(Fewest goals allowed) 		Tiny Thompson, Boston Bruins

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS PIM
Cooney Weiland Boston Bruins 44 43 30 73 27
Frank Boucher New York Rangers 42 26 36 62 16
Dit Clapper Boston Bruins 44 41 20 61 48
Bill Cook New York Rangers 44 29 30 59 56
Hec Kilrea Ottawa Senators 44 36 22 58 23
Nels Stewart Montreal Maroons 44 39 16 55 81
Howie Morenz Montreal Canadiens 44 40 10 50 72
Norman Himes New York Americans 44 22 28 50 15
Joe Lamb Ottawa Senators 44 29 20 49 119
Dutch Gainor Boston Bruins 43 18 31 49 39

Source: NHL.[5]

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player Team GP W L T Mins GA SO GAA
Tiny Thompson Boston Bruins 44 38 5 1 2680 98 3 2.19
Flat Walsh Montreal Maroons 30 16 10 4 1897 74 2 2.34
George Hainsworth Montreal Canadiens 42 20 13 9 2680 108 4 2.42
Charlie Gardiner Chicago Black Hawks 44 21 16 9 2750 111 3 2.42
Alex Connell Ottawa Senators 44 21 15 8 2780 118 3 2.55

Source: NHL.[6]

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1929–30 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1929–30 (listed with their last team):

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Duplacey 1996, pp. 1–2.
  2. ↑ Duplacey 1996, p. 143.
  3. ↑ Duplacey 1996, p. 144.
  4. ↑ "NHL Team Records". HockeyCentral.co.uk. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  5. ↑ Dinger 2011, p. 146.
  6. ↑ "1929–1930 – Regular Season – Goaltender – Goalie Season Stats Leaders – Goals Against Average". nhl.com. Retrieved June 21, 2012.

External links

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