The 1930–31 NHL season was the 14th

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. Ten teams played 44 games each. The

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and became the Philadelphia Quakers, while the Detroit team was renamed the Detroit Falcons. The

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

beat the

Chicago Black Hawks Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

three games to two in the best-of-five

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

for their second consecutive Stanley Cup victory.

League business

The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

was starting to take its toll on the NHL. In attempts to solve financial problems, the

moved to

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 Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

would be without an NHL team until the league doubled in size 36 years later. The

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

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 The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

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

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; ) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included senior ice hockey leagues and the Allan Cup, ...

(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 Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

, 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 Gardens The Duquesne Gardens (officially Duquesne Garden until 1940 and The Gardens afterward) was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the first half of the 20th century. Built in 1890, the building originally served as a tr ...

to Philadelphia Arena.

Regular season

Howie Morenz led the league in scoring. Dick Irvin started his career in coaching with

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

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.

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 The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

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.

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. Source: NHL.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

''GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes'' Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

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

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

'' 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 Édouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde (October 31, 1887 – November 21, 1970) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League (NHL) and a professional lacrosse player. Lalonde is regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse ...

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

References

* * * * * * * * ;Notes

External links

Hockey DatabaseNHL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:NHL, 1930-31 1930–31 in Canadian ice hockey by league 1930–31 in American ice hockey by league