The 1930–31 NHL season was the 14th season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The Pittsburgh Pirates moved to Philadelphia and became the Philadelphia Quakers, while the Detroit team was renamed the Detroit Falcons. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks three games to two in the best-of-five Stanley Cup Finals for their second consecutive Stanley Cup victory.

League business The Great Depression was starting to take its toll on the NHL. In attempts to solve financial problems, the Pittsburgh Pirates moved to Philadelphia and became the Philadelphia Quakers, but there was nothing about the team to win games or fans. It was intended that the team stay in Philadelphia only until a new arena was built in Pittsburgh. The arena was never built, and the team folded after only one season in the new city. The state of Pennsylvania would be without an NHL team until the league doubled in size 36 years later.

The Ottawa Senators were in a similar financial boat but instead of relocating, they sold a star asset and future Hall of Famer, King Clancy, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for $35,000 and two players. Even after the sale of Clancy, the Senators' owners put the team up for sale for $200,000, although no bids approached anywhere near that figure. The team would suspend operations before the start of the next season.Kitchen(2008), pp. 306–309

The Detroit Cougars changed the team name to the Detroit Falcons.

The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) sent W. A. Fry and W. A. Hewitt to the 1930 NHL general meeting to seek a better working agreement. The CAHA suggested that players remain as amateurs for one season after graduating from junior ice hockey, and in return the CAHA would permit its amateurs to tryout and practice with professional teams. Hewitt subsequently met multiple times with NHL president Frank Calder, who saw merit in Hewitt's request to keep players in amateur hockey, and continued to discuss having a professional-amateur agreement.

Arena changes The relocated Philadelphia Quakers moved from Pittsburgh's Duquesne Garden to Philadelphia Arena.

Regular season Howie Morenz led the league in scoring.

Dick Irvin started his career in coaching with Chicago and they finished second in the American Division. He resigned at season's end after having taken the Black Hawks to the finals.

Final standings

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 On March 26, during the second game of the best-of-five series between the Bruins and Canadiens, coach-GM Art Ross of Boston pulled his goalie for an extra attacker while down 1–0 with 40 seconds left in the final period. The attempt was unsuccessful. This marked the first time in Stanley Cup play that a goalie was pulled for an extra attacker.McFarlane, p. 28

Playoff bracket Two modifications were made to the playoff format. The top three teams in each division still qualified for the playoffs. The two division winners met in a best-of-five Stanley Cup semifinal series. The divisional second-place teams and third-place teams played off in a two-game total-goals series to determine the participants for the other semifinal, which was changed from a best-of-three to another two-game total-goals series. The semifinal winners then played in the Stanley Cup Finals, which was expanded from a best-of-three to a best-of-five.

Quarterfinals

(C2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (A2) Chicago Black Hawks

(A3) New York Rangers vs. (C3) Montreal Maroons

Semifinals

(A1) Boston Bruins vs. (C1) Montreal Canadiens

(A2) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (A3) New York Rangers

Stanley Cup Finals

In the final series, the Chicago Black Hawks took an early two games to one lead in the newly expanded best-of-five Stanley Cup Finals but the Montreal Canadiens came back and won the series three games to two for their second consecutive Stanley Cup win.

Awards Howie Morenz won the Hart Trophy for the second time in his career. Frank Boucher won the Lady Byng for the fourth consecutive year. Roy Worters won the Vezina Trophy for the one and only time in his career.

1930–31 NHL awardsO'Brien Cup:(Canadian Division champion) Montreal CanadiensPrince of Wales Trophy:(American Division champion) Boston BruinsHart Trophy:(Most valuable player) Howie Morenz, Montreal CanadiensLady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Frank Boucher, New York RangersVezina Trophy:(Fewest goals allowed) Roy Worters, New York Americans

All-Star teams This was the first season that the NHL named its 'all-stars'. Although Roy Worters won the Vezina Trophy for "most valuable goaltender", Charlie Gardiner and Tiny Thompson were named to the all-star teams at the goaltender position.

First Team   Position   Second TeamCharlie Gardiner, Chicago Black Hawks GTiny Thompson, Boston BruinsEddie Shore, Boston Bruins DSylvio Mantha, Montreal CanadiensKing Clancy, Toronto Maple Leafs DChing Johnson, New York RangersHowie Morenz, Montreal Canadiens CFrank Boucher, New York RangersBill Cook, New York Rangers RWDit Clapper, Boston BruinsAurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens LWBun Cook, New York RangersLester Patrick, New York Rangers CoachDick Irvin, Chicago Black Hawks Source: NHL.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Howie Morenz Montreal Canadiens 39 28 23 51 49 Ebbie Goodfellow Detroit Falcons 44 25 23 48 32 Charlie Conacher Toronto Maple Leafs 37 31 12 43 78 Bill Cook New York Rangers 43 30 12 42 39 Ace Bailey Toronto Maple Leafs 40 23 19 42 46 Joe Primeau Toronto Maple Leafs 38 9 32 41 18 Nels Stewart Montreal Maroons 42 25 14 39 75 Frank Boucher New York Rangers 44 12 27 39 20 Cooney Weiland Boston Bruins 44 25 13 38 14 Bun Cook New York Rangers 44 18 17 35 72 Aurel Joliat Montreal Canadiens 43 13 22 35 73 Source: NHL.

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 Roy Worters New York Americans 44 18 16 10 2760 74 8 1.61 Charlie Gardiner Chicago Black Hawks 44 24 17 3 2710 78 12 1.73 John Ross Roach New York Rangers 44 19 16 9 2760 87 7 1.89 George Hainsworth Montreal Canadiens 44 26 10 8 2740 89 8 1.95 Tiny Thompson Boston Bruins 44 28 10 6 2730 90 3 1.98 Lorne Chabot Toronto Maple Leafs 37 21 8 8 2300 80 6 2.09 Source: NHL.

Coaches American Division Boston Bruins: Art Ross Chicago Black Hawks: Emil Iverson Detroit Falcons: Jack Adams New York Rangers: Lester Patrick Philadelphia Quakers:Cooper Smeaton

Canadian Division Montreal Canadiens: Cecil Hart Montreal Maroons: Dunc Munro and George Boucher New York Americans: Eddie Gerard Ottawa Senators: Newsy Lalonde and Dave Gill Toronto Maple Leafs: Art Duncan

Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1930–31 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Art Chapman, Boston Bruins Doc Romnes, Chicago Black Hawks John Sorrell, Detroit Falcons Johnny Gagnon, Montreal Canadiens Paul Haynes, Montreal Maroons Dave Kerr, Montreal Maroons Alex Levinsky, Toronto Maple Leafs Bob Gracie, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1930–31 (listed with their last team): Frank Fredrickson, Detroit Falcons Bert McCaffrey, Montreal Canadiens Joe Simpson, New York Americans Babe Dye, Toronto Maple Leafs

See also 1930–31 NHL transactions List of Stanley Cup champions 1930 in sports 1931 in sports

References

Notes

External links Hockey Database NHL.com