NHL history in a 127 years of bite sized pieces.

[CaptainCrunch]

1930-31


The great depression was starting to cast a long dire shadow over the NHL. The Pittsburgh Pirates had moved to Philadelphia and renamed themselves the Quakers. They were only supposed to stay in Philly for a year as a new arena was built, but the arena was never built and the Quakers would fold their tents at the end of the season. Meanwhile the former power house Ottawa Senators were struggling on the ice and at the gate. Their financial situation was so poor that they sold King Clancy to the Leafs for $35,000 dollars and a couple of players. The Sens were promptly put up for sale for $200,000.00 but no offers came close and the Sens would suspend operations at the end of the season.


The Canadians were in ascension, after upsetting the Bruins last year to win the Cup the Canadians continued to be the premiere team in the 1930-31. Lead by Howie Morenz one of the fastest players that the NHL had ever seen, accompanied by Auriel Joliat compensated for his tiny stature with undeniable skill and creativity. The Canadians added Johnny "Black Cat" Gagnon to complete a dominant line. Meanwhile the Habs had 3 time Vezina winner George Hainsworth in net.



Morenz won the scoring title with 28 goals and 51 points and also took home the Hart trophy.



The Canadians faced the powerful Bruins in round one in a bruising series that went 5 games and then in the finals they beat the Blackhawks in 5 games to take home their second cup.


Trivia

• The NHL introduces the 4 sided scoreboards in some arenas.
• The NHL allows the use of farm teams.
• Legend has it that Toronto Manager Conn Smythe won big on a long shot horse at the track and used that money to buy King Clancy from the Senators.
• Maroons center Nels Stewart sets a NHL record when he scores 2 goals in 4 seconds on Jan 3, 1931 against the Bruins.
• New York American goalie Roy Worters wins the Vezina trophy after giving up 74 goals for the Americans.
• Frank Boucher wins his 4th straight Lady Byng trophy.
• In a attempt to promote hockey during the depression the NHL introduces its first all star team.
• The initial allstar team is made up of Howie Morenz Auriel Joliat with Bill Cook of the Rangers being named on the right wing.Eddie Shore and the Buins and King Clancy of the Leafs are on defense and Charlie Gardiner of Chicago is named the allstar goalie.
• Eddie sore leads all defensemen in scoring with 31 points and racks up 108 penalty minutes.
• Charlie Gardiner of Chicago posts 12 shutouts.
• Chicago upsets Toronto 4-3 in their first round 2 games total goals series.
• The Rangers crush the Maroons 8 goals to 1 in their series.
• The Canadians beat the Bruins in game 5 of their series in overtime.
• In the second round
• Chicago beat the Rangers 3 goals to 0 to earn the right to face the Habs in the finals.
• The Canadians beat a exhausted Black Hawks team 3 games to 2 to take home their second straight Cup.

[Enoch Root]

Eddie sore leads all defensemen in scoring with 31 points and racks up 108 penalty minutes.

Hilarious typo? Or epic Fraudian slip?

[Jay Random]

If anybody wants to complain about the playoff format we have now, they should take a look at the system the NHL used in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The first-place teams in both divisions got a bye in the first round, and then played each other in the second round.

The second-place teams played each other in the opening round, and the third-place teams played each other. Then the winners met in the second round.

This system absolutely guaranteed that the two first-place teams would never meet in the Stanley Cup finals. However, it did make it possible for one division to sweep the other, so that both finalists were from the same division.

The system was screwy as all get-out, and continued until the contraction of the league during the Depression forced them to get rid of the divisional alignment.

By the way, putting the New York Americans in the Canadian Division was a really nasty joke. It guaranteed that the Amerks would always be second fiddle to the Rangers, since they played the bulk of their games against Canadian teams that were a lesser draw to New York City sports fans. In 1930-31, for instance, they played 24 out of 44 games against Canadian opponents; the Rangers played only 16.

[CaptainCrunch]

1931-1932

With the great depression destroying lives, Hockey was the last thing on peoples minds and attendance suffered. The Senators and Quakers folded leaving the league as an 8 team league, but the NHL continued with its divisional format. To help offset losses though the league expanded to 48 games while the players pay stayed the same.

In Toronto, Conn Smythe a decorated hero of WW1 who had bought the St Pats and changed their name to the Leafs was becoming one of the most recognizable faces in Canada. However when Smythe bought the St Pats they were a basement dwelling teams, but Smythe was determined to change that. Smythe got busy rebuilding the newly renamed Leafs, but it was a 100-1 long shot bet that changed the Leafs fortunes and vaulted them to the top of the league.

As legends have it, Smythe bet on a long shot 100-1 horse at the Woondbine racetrack. Smythe bet his entire fortune on this horse and cheered the horse to an astonishing upset. With his winnings, he sent $35,000.00 to the dying Senators for defenseman King Clancy.

The 31-32 were lead by the Kid Line of 22 year old Charlie Conacher, 20 year old Busher Jackson and 25 year old Joe Primeau. The Kid Line became dominant with Jackson leading the league with 53 points, Primeau led the league in assists with 37 and Conacher placed fourth in scoring and scored 34 goals.

Smythe also revealed his palace as Maple Leaf Gardens opened at the time it was the most spectacular arena in the NHL.

The Leafs finished 2nd in the NHL behind the powerhouse Canadians and faced the Black Hawks in a 2 game total goal series. Toronto panicked after the first game when the Hawks shut them down 3-0, but the Leafs roared back pummelling the Hawks 6-0 in the second game. The Leafs then struggled against the Maroons, but one that series in a thrilling game 2 overtime. In the finals the Leafs destroyed the Rangers in 3 games scoring 18 goals and allowing 10. The Leafs thanks to fortune and luck had taken the Stanley Cup.

Trivia

• The league shrinks to 8 teams as Philly and Ottawa fold their franchises.
• Maple Leaf Gardens opens thanks to a fast construction schedule. Smythe pays the workforce with shares in the company to encourage them to work faster.
• Howie Morenz finishes third in scoring but leads Montreal to a first place finish and he wins the Hart Trophy.
• Joe Primeau wins the Lady Byng trophy ending Frank Boucher's four year reign.
• Charlie Gardiner leads the NHL with a 1.92 gaa and wins the Vezina.
• One year after winning the Vezina with the American's Roy Worters leads the league in losses with 20.
• The Rangers win the American division as the Bruins the league power over the last couple of years tumbles to last place.
• Toronto beats the Hawks in their first round matchup, The Maroons beat Detroit and the Canadians fall to the Rangers in 4 games in their series.
• Toronto wins their second round series against the Maroons to move onto the finals against the Rangers.
• In game 1 the Rangers get trounced 6-4 by the Leafs as Busher Jackson scores a hat trick.
• King Clancy scores twice for the maple leafs in game 2 as Toronto destroys the Rangers 6-2.
• Despite a 2 goal game by Frank Boucher and a 2 goal game by Bun Cook the Rangers lose game 3 and the Leafs win their 3rd cup.
• Canada takes home the Gold medal in Lake Pacid, but the games are getting closer, Canada scores 32 goals and allows 4 goals in 6 games. However the games against the American silver medal team as Canada wins the first game 2-1 and ties the second game 2-2.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

1931-1932

[*] Maple Leaf Gardens opens thanks to a fast construction schedule. Smythe pays the workforce with shares in the company to encourage them to work faster.

As a side note from that, the investment is still paying off for some people today. The Carpenter's Union received a large number of those shares and union members still received dividends up until until they were forced to sell their shares when the company was sold (some time in the 1990s I think). The money they received from selling their shares was used for other investments that pay for scholarships and bursaries that the family of union members are eligible to receive today.

[Jay Random]

I'm not a big union supporter in general, but stuff like this is one reason why I'm all in favour of unions in the construction trades.

[timun]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

1931-1932

With the great depression destroying lives, Hockey was the last thing on peoples minds and attendance suffered. The Senators and Quakers folded leaving the league as an 8 team league,

[...]


Trivia

• The league shrinks to 8 teams as Philly and Ottawa fold their franchises.

Correction: the Senators suspended operations for the '31-'32 season. They resumed play in the '32-'33 season.

[CaptainCrunch]

1932-33

You get a twofer today.

While the league was struggling with the depression, the Ottawa Senators returned after a 1 year hiatus. Players that were on loan to other teams returned to the Senators and they managed to sign former Bruins star Cooney Weiland who lead the team in scoring. They also bought in rookie Gus Forland who became the first swedish born player to play in the NHL. Alex Connell returned and played well, but missed games to injury and lost his starters job to Bill Beverage.

Lester Patrick still stinging over his Ranger's loss in the Cup finals bought in Babe Siebert from Montreal and replaced goalie John Roach with Andy Atikenhead.

Despite his moves he left the core of the team intact with Bill and Bun Cook, Ching Johnson and Murray Murdoch leading the way.

The bread line of the Cooks sandwiching Boucher was still the NHL's best line, and lead a deadly offence.

In the playoffs the Rangers knocked off the the Canadians and Red Wings and advanced tot he finals expecting a rematch against however fortune favoured the Rangers this year. The Leafs played their final game against the Bruins and eliminated them in a 1-0 game that went 6 overtime periods. Then they had to board a late train at 3 am and had to play game 1 the next night.

The exhausted Leafs basically had nothing to give and got pounded 5-1 in game 1 by the rested Rangers and never recovered. the Rangers beat the Leafs 3-1 in game 2, lost game 3, and the Rangers beat the Leafs in overtime thanks to a fortunate line change by the Rangers that lead to a Bill Cook overtime winner. The Rangers had won their 2nd cup in 7 years.

Trivia

• The Senators returned to the NHL and their on loan players returned. The Sens started well but ended up last in the Canadian division.
• The league mandates that if a goalie is penalized a team mate can sit in the box for him.
• Due to the depression and dropping revenue, Frank Calder implements a $70,000 salary cap per team with $7500.00 for the highest paid player. (70,000 is worth 1.6 million today. $7000 is worth $167, 000.00)
• Some of the players go on strike prior to the season, Frank Calder is given permission by ownership to suspend the player but Calder refuses and the striking players return to their team.
• The Rangers sell goalie John Roach to Detroit for $11,000.00.
• Boston Goalie Tiny Thompson wins the GA title with a 1.83 gaa.
• The Bruins who finished last in the American division rebound to finish first.
• Detroit coached by Jack Adams tie for the American division lead due to goal differential.
• Toronto wins the Canadian division.
• Bill Cook of the Rangers leads the league in goals with 28.
• Frank Boucher retakes the Lady Byng trophy (his 5th).
• Howie Morenz who has turned 30 has started to fade as he only scores 14 goals down from 24 goals the year before, beginning one of hockey's tragic stories.
• Eddie Shore wins the Hart trophy, its the first win for a defenseman.
• The NHL comes out with the rookie of the year award. Detroit's Carl Voss takes the award.
• Detroit beats the Maroons 3-2 in a 2 game total goals series.
• The Rangers edge the Canadians 8-5. The Rangers then beat Detroit to meet Toronto in the finals.
• Toronto and Boston face off in a series of titans, the series goes 5 games with 4 of them going to overtime. Game 5 goes to 6 overtime periods before Toronto eliminates the Bruins to head to the finals.
• Bill Cooks overtime goal wins the Stanley Cup for the Rangers as the Leafs never recovered from their series against the Bruins.
• The United States wins the World Hockey Championships snapping Canada's string of 6 straight victories. Team Canada was represented by the Toronto National Sea Bees and coached by Harold Ballard. The American team was a mix of college players.
• The NHL had its first forfeit game that occurred during a Black Hawks Bruins game on March 14th. Following a disputed overtime goal by Boston, Chicago Coach Tommy Gorman attacked and punched referee Bill Stewart. Bill Stewart responded by firmly explaining the rules to Gorman with a flurry of punches and then had the police arrest the Black Hawks coach. The Hawks refused to continue the game without their coach and Stewarts placed the puck at center ice and Boston's Cooley Weiland would skate in on the empty net without any Hawks on the ice and unleash a booming slapshot (kidding). the game was then forfeited to the Bruins. Ironically in a few years Bill Steward would coach the Hawks to the Stanley Cup.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by timun

Correction: the Senators suspended operations for the '31-'32 season. They resumed play in the '32-'33 season.

c'mon man I was trying to create some drama here for the 32-33 season with the dramatic return of the Sens.

[Jay Random]

At about this time, my connection to NHL history becomes almost personal.

In 1932, my father was a boy of five, living on a remote homestead in the Peace River country, where he would soon be playing pond hockey with his two brothers. The family were officially Leafs fans, but my father had more than a hint of admiration for the Rangers. I remember him, in later years, telling me all about Bill and Bun Cook, Babe Siebert, and Earl Seibert, who played defence for the Blueshirts at that time. (I'm sure Siebert and Seibert taught a whole generation of hockey fans the importance of correct spelling.)

At that time, each team dressed a maximum of 12 skaters, so there were only 100-odd players in the whole league. My father knew them all by heart – names, faces, teams, and statistics, carefully memorized from hockey cards and newspaper coverage. It was a little later on that the family got their first radio, and he joined the rest of Canada (and ‘hockey fans in the United States and Newfoundland’) in listening to Foster Hewitt call games on Saturday nights.

The teams were still in eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S., but the voice of the NHL was reaching out into new places.

[CaptainCrunch]

1933-34

We've all said and heard it before "I'd die for a chance to blank" Or if I blank, I would die a happy man". History has been filled with people who have died on the way to the ultimate victory. Years ago I sat in a session with a former mountain climber who had climbed some of the biggest mountains in the world and that they were littered with the bodies of climbers within sight of the summit. Is it a tale of victory? Or is it a tragedy? When's it OK to give up?

The Hawks had been part of the NHL since 1926, but to this point in time they had been seen as a failure. Last year they finished with a 16-21-12 record, but they were finally ready to take a step into the spotlight.

Under the leadership of coach and manager Tommy "The ref puncher" Ghorman and backstopped by goalie Charlie Gardiner the Hawks finished the season with a 20-17-11 record thanks to allowing the fewest goals in the league at 83. Gardiner finished the year with 10 shutouts and a 1.73 gaa. But Gardiner had a secret and people were starting to notice his short fuse, his intolerance for mistakes by his team mates. Gardiner was not well and he kept it from everyone as he suffered from a serious chronic tonsil infection. Now days with modern medicine, this isn't a big deal, but in 1933 it was a serious problem. Gardiner knew he was seriously sick but he was obsessed with winning the Stanley Cup.

Gardiner's Hawks thanks to him made it to the Stanley Cup finals, they beat the Canadians 4-3 in their first round 2 games total goals series 4-3. Then beat the Maroons 6-2 in their second series. This put them into the finals against the powerful Detroit Red Wings who were one of the scariest offensive teams in the league.

The finals were an emotional whirlwind, the Hawks won game 1 in double overtime 2-1. In game 2 the Hawks won game 2 4-1. But Gardiner was exhausted and wracked with severe pain. Ghorman commented on Gardiner's condition "He's bad".

Detroit won game 3 5-2 and after the game Gardiner rallied his team mates and told them, "All I want is 1 goal next game, one goal and I'll take care of the other games". In game 4 neither team scored in regulation and Gardiner was good for his word stopping everything, but his fatigue was clear but he battled through the first overtime and half way through the second the Hawks Mush Murray beat Detroit goalie Wilf Cude to secure the Hawks first Stanley Cup. for Gardiner it was his final battle, he'd given everything he had, and 2 months later in a Winnipeg hospital he died.

Trivia

• The league continues to play with the rules to increase scoring, only three players including the goalie could occupy the defensive zone.
• Visible time clocks become required in all buildings.
• The NHL goes from a ref and a linesmen to two referees.
• The Detroit franchise in serious financial jeopardy is purchased by James Norris Sr and he renames the franchise the Red Wings.
• The Red Wings on the back of heir top line of Cooney Weiland, Herbie Lewis and Larry Aurie win the American division.
• The Maple Lears and Canadians make a block buster deal as Montreal sends George Hainsworth to Toronto for Lorne Chabot.
• The Leafs win the Canadians division while the Habs finish second.
• Charlie Gardiner wins his second straight Vezina trophy.
• Charlie Conacher of the Leafs wins the scoring title with 52 goals in 42 games.
• King Clancy of the Leafs leads all defensemen with 28 points.
• Red Horner of the Leafs is the most penalized player with 146 penalty minutes.
• On Dec 26 Toronto Star Irvine "Ace" Bailey is almost killed after a vicious hit by Eddie Shore when Bailey's head struck the ice on a blind side hit. Shore had been hit by King Clancy during a rush and enraged and confused thought he was attacking Clancy but nearly killed Bailey. Bailey fell into a coma and hovered near death for 2 weeks, Shore was suspended. When Bailey recovered Shore's suspension was set at 16 games. Though he recovered, Bailey never played professional hockey again. The first All-Star game happened to raise funds for Bailey and Shore and Bailey shook hands and embraced at center ice. Bailey's number 6 was the first number retired by the Leafs. $29,000 was raised by the game for Bailey and his family. Nearly $670,000 today.
• In the playoffs The Black Hawks upset the Canadians in round one, The Maroons squeak by the New York Rangers, The Wings upset the Leafs in their best of 5 semifinal 3 games to 2.
• Chicago beats Detroit 3-1 in the finals to win their first cup.
• The struggling Ottawa Senators franchise plays its last game in Ottawa transferring to St Louis and becoming the Eagles.
• Auriel Joliat wins the Hart Trophy.
• Maroons Russ Blinco wins the Rookie of the year trophy.
• Frank Boucher wins his 6th Lady Byng trophy in 7 years.
• Charlie Gardiner dies of a brain Hemorrhage 2 months after winning the Stanley Cup.

[CaptainCrunch]

1934-35

It wasn't unusual to have two teams in Montreal at the time. The Habs were seen as the predominant team for French Canadian hockey fans, the Maroons for the English.

It also created a great rivalry as the Forum was filled every time they played. It wasn't like the Maroons were doormats either. They had won the cup in 1926, and been competitive since.

However in 1934-35 the Maroons decided to go for glory, Tommy Ghorman the manager for the Maroons quickly put his stamp on the team bringing in veteran Lionel Conacher to anchor a really good defence and they still had one of the top goalies in the NHL in Alex Connell.

Unlike the Canadians, the Maroons liked to play tough nasty hockey. On Jan 22, they engaged in a brawl with the Bruins that caused a riot in the streets of Boston and involved Lionel Conacher brawling with fans in the stands.

Against the Americans, Red Dutton slashed Hooley Smith across the hand and when Dutton skated to the Maroon's bench to apologize Smith knocked him unconscious sparking another brawl.

The Maroons seemed to jell heading into the playoffs, they trounced the Champion Hawks in the first round and buried the Rangers in the second round. The Leafs never stood a chance in the finals. The Maroons swept them in three games including a 4-1 beating in the second game and a 3-1 throw down in game three to win their second Stanley Cup.

Sadly the Great Depression continue to damage sports in general, the Maroons and Canadians were suffering at the gate, and this cup was their last swan song, they plummeted to the bottom of the league over the next two years before closing up shop forever.

Trivia

• The NHL adapts the penalty shot that was last seen in the PCHA. However the penalty shot was to be taken from a 10 foot circle 38 feet from the goal.

• Ottawa officially moves to St Louis and is renamed the Eagles.
• Howie Morenz who was seen as a declining player is traded to the Black Hawks in a block buster deal. Morenz and goalie Lorne Chabot were moved to the Hawks for Lionel Conacher, Roger Jenkins, and Leroy Goldsworthy. The Hawks were desparate for a goalie after the death of Charlie Gardiner.
• Black Hawks Manager and Coach Tommy Ghorman leaves the Hawks to run the Maroons.
• The Leafs win the Canadians Division by 9 points over the Maroons.
• Charlie Conacher of the Leafs wins his second straight scoring title 2ith 57 points.
• Syd Howe of Detroit bursts onto the scene and finishes second with 47 points.
• The Boston Bruins rebound to take the American division.
• Eddie Shore a year after nearly killing Ace Bailey leads all defensemen in scoring with 33 points.
• Lorne Chabot of the Hawks leads all goalies with a 1.83 gaa.
• Howie Morenz can't find a spark in Chicago and finishes with 8 goals.
• Detroit defenseman Ralph "Scotty" Bowman scores the first ever penalty shot in NHL history.
• St Louis boss Eddie Gerard is fired after 13 games and replaced by Georrge Boucher. It doesn't help.
• In the first round of the playoffs the Maroons shut out the Hawks in a 2 game total goal series 2-0. The Rangers squeak by the Habs 6-5 in their 2 game total goal series. The Leafs beat up the Bruins in their semi final series winning 3 games to 1.
• In game 1 of the finals the Maroons face off against the Leafs and win 3-2 in ot. They trash the Leafs 4-1 in the second game and close out the Leafs to win their second cup in game 3 3-1.
• Dave "Sweeney" Schriner of the Rangers wins the Rookie of the Year.
• Lorne Chabot in his first year with the Hawks carts off the Vezina.
• Frank Boucher wins his 7th Lady Byng trophy, the league tells him to keep the trophy.
• Eddie Shore despite being a massively hated jerk takes home his second Hart trophy.

[Jay Random]

I love the work you're doing, CaptainCrunch, but I do feel the need to point out one thing:

There is no H in ‘Gorman’.

Thanks.

[FlamesAddiction]

Yeah, I have been enjoying reading these as well. Keep it up.

[timun]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

1934-35
[...]

• Detroit defenseman Ralph "Scotty" Bowman scores the first ever penalty shot in NHL history.

Not to be confused with Hall-of-Fame coach William Scott Bowman, who was born in 1933.

[CaptainCrunch]

1935-36

The Maroons were in trouble, their attendance was down to a terrible level, they weren't the only team as the New York American's were in dire financial straits as well. The on ice continued to be fairly strong, and the Maroons who started poorly had traded Toe Black to Chicago for Lorne Chabot who had refused to be sent to the minors.

The Maroons rebounded with a strong showing by Cabot, and met up with the Detroit Red Wings in the Semi finals. Both Detroit and the Maroons were good offensive teams, but in game one in the forum history was made.

With the score deadlocked at 0-0 and Chabot and Norm Smith for Detroit did their best imitations of a brick wall. Period after period passed and at 4 minutes into the 9th overall period of hockey a new record was set for the longest game in history.

By this time most of the veterans were exhausted and the younger less used players were being relied on. One such player Modere "Mud" Bruneteau a 21 year old who had seen more playing time in the minors then the NHL who had scored 2 points for Detroit all year was literally the last man standing. Detroit coach Jack Adams looked at his exhausted bench and sent Bruneteau out with Syd Howe, at 16 minutes of the 6th overtime Mud fired a hard shot that stuck in the mesh of the net. The goaljudge who was probably asleep didn't flash the goal light, but referee Nels Steward screamed "Your bloody right its a goal" And ended one of the longest games in history at 2:30 in the morning.

Mud went onto a decent career scoring 141 goals and 280 points in 410 NHL games all with the Wings.

Trivia

• The St Louis Eagles players are dispersed around the league and the franchise is folded by the league.
• Detroit wins the American division. The other 3 teams end up tied 6 points back.
• The Maroons take the Canadian division.
• The Canadians finish horribly last, the league enacts a ruling granting the Habs first rights to all French Canadian players for three years.
• New York American Sweeny Schiner wins the scoring title with 45 points.
• Toronto defenseman Red Horner leads the league with 167 PIM.
• Tiny Thompson of Boston leads the league with a 1.71 GAA, he also becomes the first goalie to register a assist.
• Howie Morennz who continues to decline plays horribly in Chicago and gets traded to the Rangers. He scores 2 goals in 29 games on Broadway.
• Toronto takes out Boston in their opening round two game series.
• The New York Americans win their 2 game series against the Black Hawks.
• The Red Wings take on the Maroons in their best of 5 semi final which featured the longest game in history going to 6 overtime periods. Detroit wins the series 3-0.
• The Leafs beat the Americans in a sweep of their semi final series.
• Detroit beats the Leafs 3-1 to claim their first Stanley Cup.
• Mike Karaskas a rookie goalie for the Hawks wins the Rookie of the Year trophy.
• Doc Rommnes of Chicago wins the Lady Byng trophy.
• Eddie Shore wins his third Hart Trophy in 4 years.
• Tiny Thompson wins his third Vezina trophy.
• In one of the greatest hockey upsets in Olympic history Great Britain wins its first and only Olympic Gold medal in hockey upsetting Canada.

[Dion]

On this day in 1959: Tiny Thompson inducted into Hockey Hall of fame

At the first official induction ceremony for the Hockey Hall of Fame, longtime Bruins goaltender Cecil “Tiny” Thompson was engrained his name in the hockey history books by becoming the first Boston goaltender to be inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Jack Adams, and Cy Denneny.

Thompson also won the Vezina Trophy four times over the course of his career in 1930, 1933, 1936 and 1938. He is also the only Boston goaltender to win it more than two times.

Thompson holds franchise records in shutouts (74), and GAA (1.99). He also has played the second minutes (28,948), holds the second most wins (252), and has played in the second most games in team history (468).

He was also won of the first netminders to use the catching glove as an actual glove, while also using it as a grip on his stick at the same time. In fact, he was such a good stickhandler that he was the first goaltender to record an assist in NHL history by passing the puck to one of his teammates.

https://causewaycrowd.com/2023/09/05...key-hall-fame/

[FlamesAddiction]

Players had much better nicknames back then. Nowadays, Tiny Thompson would just be Thompsie or something like that.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Players had much better nicknames back then. Nowadays, Tiny Thompson would just be Thompsie or something like that.

I've been doing another of my dives into the very early history of the game. Two of the best nicknames belonged to A. E. ‘Dolly’ Swift and W. C. ‘Weldy’ Young, who played in the 1890s.

Dolly and Weldy were both heavy-duty goons (and very good all-round players), and they hated each other bitterly. They spent a substantial part of their careers trying to disassemble each other with their sticks. Weldy went on to become a mining entrepreneur in Northern Ontario, and Dolly became a general in World War I.

I'd like to see the modern-day player with the stones to let people call him Dolly.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I'd like to see the modern-day player with the stones to let people call him Dolly.

Just need a player with the last name "Parton", but we all know his actual nickname would be "tits."