1924-25 The Forum And Two New Rivalries

When the defending Stanley Cup champion Canadiens took to the ice for the 1924-25 season, both the NHL and the Montreal hockey landscape had a very different look.

To suggest the business of hockey was booming would be an understatement, and the changes in the NHL perfectly reflected the growth of the game.

Since the NHL began eight seasons earlier in 1917-18, it had existed as a four team league that had struggled financially to get through the first World War unscathed. With strong teams in four cities now existing on financially solid ground, the NHL decided it was time to spread itself out.












There would be two new NHL franchises added this season, including a renewed Montreal rivalry, a new building, a longer schedule, and a long standing league doormat - the Hamilton Tigers - rejuvenated into a first place team.

THE FORUM OPENS

A new arena was contructed in Montreal, the Forum, and it was built to house the new Montreal team, and instant Canadiens rivals, the Maroons. In an odd and foreshadowing twist of fate, it would the Canadiens who played first in the Forum.

Sir Edward Beattie, president of the Canadian Pacific railway is cited as first having the idea to build the Forum in 1923, long before the Maroons were envisioned as possible tenants. A need for a new arena in the city of Montreal was created in the absence of the Jubilee and Westmount Arena fires in recent years.

William Northy, owner of the 4,300 seat Westmount that burned to the ground in 1918, and a builder with the Canadian Arena Company, was himself looking to build a new arena in the city. After the CAC successfully built the Arena Gardens in Toronto, Northey and Liberal Senator Donat Raymond began to develop plans for 12,500 seat capacity rink for the city of Montreal.
















Plans were scaled back due to financing questions during the Depression and a 9,300 seater was designed. After more money trouble, a backer by the name of H.L. Timmins financed the final project.

The historically significant site at the northeast corner of Atwater and St. Catherine St. West was chosen as the location as it had been home to an outdoor rink earlier in the 1900's, where future hockey legends Frank and Lester Patrick, and Art Ross learned their craft.

















At the time contruction began, the building on site was a roller skating rink named the Forum. Northey decided to keep the name.

At a cost of $1.5 million, contruction of the Forum began in the summer of 1924, and was finished in an incredible 159 days. The building would see two major upgrades in it's lifetime, one in the early 1950's and a second in 1968.

The Forum hosted it's first hockey game on November 29, 1924, and surprisingly, the Maroons were not the home team. Against the wails of both Forum and Maroons management, the Canadiens season opening contest against the Toronto St. Patricks was moved to the new building by the NHL - once again because the Mount Royal Arena couldn't produce ice on a natural surface so early in the season.

The Canadiens went on to beat the St. Patricks 7–1 in the opener, with Billy Boucher scoring a hat trick.

BRUINS BECOME FIRST U.S. BASED NHL TEAM

The NHL's other new franchise, the Boston Bruins, was the first granted outside of Canada.

In 1923, First National Stores grocery tycoon Charles Adams fell in love with the game of hockey, after wirnessing the Stanley Cup playoffs. He persisted in convincing NHL governors to grant him the first U.S. based franchise and the league decided it was time to explore American hockey markets.














Adams sought out the Ottawa Senators Art Ross as his manager, and Ross proceded to put his imprint on the club. Ross, on Adams advice, was directed to choose a nickname that portrayed an untamed animal displaying speed, agility, and cunning. The Bruins moniker he choose fit perfectly in line with colours of Adams chain of stores. Ross would remain on the Bruins front near 30 years, in every capacity from player to manager to four separate coaching stints.

More American franchises would in the Bruins wake, but few would have the rivalry with the Canadiens that the Bruins would enjoy, or regret, in years to come.

In this eighth season of NHL hockey, the league decided it would begin it's schedule earlier and expand it from 24 to 30 games. The additional games were gravy for the owners, but not all the players were as enthused.

TIGERS FINALLY SPROUT CLAWS

The improvement of the Hamilton Tigers can be traced to the previous season when owner Percy Thompson signed the Green brothers, Red and Shorty, from the Sudbury Wolves of the NOHA in November 1923. The brothers were placed on a line with emerging star Billy Burch.

Two other Wolves players, Alex McKinnon and Charlie Langlois were also added, and the players acquired from the Canadiens in the Joe Malone trade, Bert Corbeau and Edmond Bouchard, helped sturdy the team considerably. The final piece was the hiring of former Montreal Wanderers guru Jimmy Gardner as coach. The former NHA and NHL star transformed the once hapless Tigers into winners almost immediately.

CANADIENS SET TO DEFEND THEIR TITLE

Still recognizable within all this, were a very strong Canadiens squad that would have it's best regular season ever.

While the Canadiens altered the look of their red, white, and blue sweaters with a globe logo befitting their World Champion status, the men who wore them were for the most part an unchanged core group.

Back were Georges Vezina, the Cleghorn brothers, Sprague and Odie, their three young offensive stars - Morenz, Joliat, and Boucher, solid defenseman Sylvio Mantha and Billy Coutu, as well as coach Leo Dandurand. Not returning this season were Bill Cameron, who would be back in the NHL in two seasons time, and Bobby Boucher, who went on toplay with the Vancouver Maroons. Billy Bell and Joe Malone both retired from hockey.





















Despite having shared in the success in Montreal, only 61 days after his arrival, Boucher was traded to the WCHL Maroons on the very day the Habs were celebrating their Stanley Cup win. Team owner Leo Dandurand felt Bobby was too small a player, and traded him for prospect Charlie Cotch, who never appeared with the team.

The new faces on the Canadiens were mainly spares, part timers, and late season aquisitions and they included John Matz, a 33 year old center who had last played with the Saskatoon Crescents, and Fern Headley, a 23 year old defenseman who was on loan from the Bruins 13 games into the season. Dave Ritchie, who was previously acquired from Hamilton during the 1920-21 season, appeared in five games with the Canadiens after being signed as a free agent on January 28.

THE OTTAWA THREE COME AND GO

On November 17, three Ottawa area players from the OCHL were signed as free agents to brief tryout contracts, and they were Roland Lafleur and goaltender Eugene Decosse of the Ottawa Royal Canadians, and René Joliat, Aurel's brother, from the Ottawa New Edinburghs.

It is unclear exactly why Decosse and the relatively average fellow Ottawa players René Joliat and Roland Lafleur all got a chance with the Habs at the same time. The "Ottawa Three", as they were known at the time, all dressed for the team to open the season against the St. Patricks on November 29. Only Decosse did not play, as Vezina was in fine form, and backstopped the Habs to an easy 7-1 victory.

The very next day, the french language Ottawa newspaper Le Droit painted Decosse's return to Ottawa as a good thing, claiming the conditions offered by the Canadiens contract were not worth throwing ones future away. The paper did not elaborate on what those expectations were, but they were presumably equally unacceptable to René Joliat and René Lafleur, who also returned to the Ottawa area following their lone games in the NHL.

DANDURAND SEES DOLLAR SIGNS

Canadiens owner and manager Leo Dandurand, knew a thing or ten about how to make a cash register ring. As a horse racing afficianado and promoter extraorinaire, Dandurand had firm ideas upon his purchase of the Canadiens hockey club three seasons prior, on what endeavors could maximize his investment.

With Montreal being a hotbed of hockey madness, and recalling the interest and dollar generating fury of the Canadiens - Wanderers rivalry of years gone by, Dandurand put up no qualms when it came to sharing the city's territorial rights with a second NHL franchise. In fact, his asking price was so low, the demand almost seemed foolish.

Dandurand charged a mere $15,000 to allow a rival team to set up shop within the city limits, knowing full well that his bank account would benefit. He would later claim that it was no generous offer on his part to allow a second city team into the picture.

Once assured by the NHL governors that a second Montreal club would only be allowed to dress english speaking players, the offer took on the form as an investment into what would become a bitterly fought cash generating rivalry.

At the time, many followers of the game where surprised when Dandurand stepped forth to second the motion by Ottawa manager T.P. Gorman that a second NHL franchise be admitted for the city of Montreal.
















The Maroons $15,000 fee later became the source of controversy when several NHL factions claimed that the money was destined for league pockets, as was the Bruins fee. Dandurand sternly disagreed, claiming successfully that it had previously been agreed to that the fee was payment for allowing the Maroons onto the Canadiens turf. From this point on, Dandurand made certain the minutes of NHL meetings were written down and signed by all parties.

CECIL HART GETS MAROONED

The Canadiens man for all purposes, Cecil Hart, who had made the winning bid for Dandurand, Cattarinich and Letourneau when they purchased the team from the Kennedy family, and who had signed Howie Morenz one season prior, was tabbed as the man to be in charge of the Maroons. Hart's loyalties are divided when it comes to parting ways with the Canadiens, but he remains on good terms with the Canadiens team.

The Maroons owners however, fail to relinquish the desired complete control of the team's players to Hart, and disagreements ensue to the point where he is let go by the organization on February 9. Not long after, he is rehired by the Canadiens as a scout once more, and along with Morenz, he would scour the Ontario side of the border for hockey talent.

The new Forum was also of a concern to the Canadiens, as the home of the Maroons held close to 10,000 seats. The building had owners of the Mount Royal Arena worried about losing the Canadiens as tenants, and they offered Dandurand and company $50,000 to purchase the club. The offer was refused.

The first Canadiens and Maroons contest took place at the Mount Royal on Wednesday, December 10, and was won 5-0 by the Canadiens in front of 5,000 fans. The teams met again 17 days later and played to a 1-1 draw at the Forum before 11,000 spectators. The tie ended a Canadiens six games winning streak and left them with a 7-1-1 record to start the season.

SPRAGUE BEING SPRAGUE

Sprague Cleghorn continued to be a sideshow, much to the detriment of Dandurand. On January 24, Cleghorn kept up his one man war against the Ottawa Senators by getting involved in a fiery battle with the George Boucher. After the Ottawa player levelled a Montreal player into the boards, Cleghorn was helping him up when he was clocked by a Boucher roundhouse. Cleghorn retaliated and pled innocent, but was still suspended along with Boucher for the incidents that followed.

Late in the season, on February 28, the Canadiens were in Ottawa for a game against the Senators, when both players and fans felt what was explained away as an explosion at the time. In Montreal, as the Maroons hosted Hamilton, a similar sensation was felt. What occured, was an earthquake centered in Charlevoix, Quebec near the Saguenay River. It shook all the way to Ottawa, scattering fans temporarily in both buildings. While Billy Boucher and the Senators Ed Gorman were exchanging fists in the penalty box area, scribes in the press box above were gripping their typewriters so that they would not drop onto spectator's heads down below. The quake did not shake the Canadiens, who lost the game 1-0.

BRUTE CLEGHORN INSPIRES THE LADY BYNG

The NHL introduced another new award in 1924-25, the Lady Byng trophy, named in honour of Marie Evelyn Moreton, the wife of the Viscount Byng of Vimy, a Vimy Ridge war hero who was the Governor General of Canada from 1921 to 1926. Lady Byng, who was an avid hockey fan, decided to donate the trophy to the NHL in 1925.

The Governor General's wife was said to quite appauled by players the likes of Sprague Cleghorn and sought to reward cleaner play with her donation to the game.

Lady Byng decided the trophy's first winner would be the Ottawa Senator's Frank Nighbor. Late in the season she invited Nighbor to Rideau Hall, showed him the trophy, and asked him if the NHL would accept it as an award for its most gentlemanly player. When Nighbor said he thought it would, Lady Byng, much to Nighbor's surprise, awarded him the trophy.

CANADIENS SET TEAM RECORDS

The Canadiens finished the season with a record of 17-11-2 and their 36 points placed them third in the NHL. Hamilton led with 39, followed closely by Toronto with 38.



























Joliat, Morenz, and Boucher finished third, fourth, and seventh, respectively in the scoring race. Morenz's 30 goals were bested only by Toronto's Babe Dye with 38.

The Canadiens as a team scored 93 goals, the most in this season, while also allowing the least, with 56 in 30 games. The 38 year old Georges Vezina was again the best goaltender in the league, with a miniscule 1.81 goals against average and 5 shutouts.
























In the six contests with the cross town rival Maroons, the Canadiens held a 4-0-2 edge. The NHL's two newest teams, the Maroons and Bruins, finished fifth and sixth in their initial NHL campaings.

With a 3-2-1 record against the Toronto, the Canadiens were all set for the two game total goals series against the St. Patricks. Implemented under the NHL's new playoff format, the second and third place teams would battle for the right to take on the first place squad for the O'Brien Cup. The winner of that series would then move on to challenge the WCHL champions for the Stanley Cup.

TIGERS PLAYERS REVOLT

The Canadiens were about to begin the series when it was learned that the first place Tigers players were revolting against the terms of their contracts. The players demanded to their owner, Percy Thompson, that they would not participate in the NHL finals unless they received an additional $200 each for the extra six games played that year. Under their contracts the Tigers players were to receive the same amount of money no matter how many games they played from December 1, 1924 to March 31, 1925.

Upset at having to play an additional 6 games in the schedule for no extra pay, the Hamilton players went on strike figuring they had NHL President Frank Calder over a barrel.

Calder was furious, stating that the Tigers players would be fined or suspended if they did not play in the final series, but the players stated that they would rather retire than be taken advantage of.

The Canadiens meanwhile, had won the first playoff game on March 11 in Montreal by a score of 3-2. They travelled to Toronto for the second game and learned that a tie game would be all that was needed to achieve the Stanley Cup finals.

On March 13, the day of the final game of the semi final between Toronto and the Canadiens, the Tigers Red Green met with president Calder and attempted to iron out an agreement to no avail. There was little negotiating, as Green told that the players stood firm.

All Tigers players were then suspended by the NHL and fined $200 each, and their season and playoffs cancelled. Calder declared that the winner of the Canadiens / St. Patricks series would then advance to the Stanley Cup challenge.

That evening the Canadiens shut out the St. Patricks 2-0, and they were off to the Stanley Cup finals for a second season running.

WESTERN HOCKEY MERGED INTO ONE LEAGUE

Western league hockey had undergone its share of changes as well in 1924. Prior to the start of the season, the PCHA folded and two of its best teams, the Vancouver Maroons and the Victoria Cougars, joined the WCHL. This meant that after three seasons of having three leagues compete for the Stanley Cup, the final would once again have only two competing teams.
















The Cougars followed much the same path to the final as did Montreal. They were also a third place finisher, and they topled the Calgary Tigers and Newsy Lalonde's Saskatoon Crescents to earn their way into the final.

CANADIENS LEAVE STANLEY BEHIND

The Canadiens were perhaps a little overconfident as the left for Victoria, and purposely did not bring the Stanley Cup with them, assured it would still be theirs upon their return.

The games were played at the Victoria Arena in this best of five series were the first broadcast on radio, and it was Dr. Clem Davies who called the play by play.
The series began on March 21, and the Canadiens dropped game one by a 5-2 score. In a supersticious move prior to the start of the game, the Cougars players hurried to leave the pre-game warmup first for good luck. The trick worked well for them again in game two, as they put the Canadiens in a hole with a 3-1 win.

INNOVATIVE PATRICK DUPES CANADIENS

Montreal, as did most of the NHL teams, still used its six best players for the majority of the game, substituting them as they each tired. Cougars manager Lester Patrick, perhaps hockey's greatest visionary, employed two lines in constant rotation during games. His reasoning was that even fresh second tier players had more to give energy wise over the course of a game that the tired players the opposition would counter with.

For game three, the Canadiens thought they would pull the Cougars trick of leaving the warmup first. It likely had no bearing on the final score, but the stunt seemed to work, as they Canadiens went on to win 4-2.

The Canadiens backs were again against the wall on March 30, and Victoria handed them a firm 6-1 routing. There would be no Stanley Cup in Montreal this season.

Montreal scored eight goals in the series, with all of them coming from their top line of Morenz, Boucher and Joliat. Victoria countered with a more balanced attack with eight different skaters combining for 16 goals. There was something to be learned from Lester Patrick's method.




















The next day, on April 1, the mayor of Victoria hosted a banquet for the team without the Stanley Cup being present. It would be mailed by the Canadiens organization to the Cougars upon their return to Montreal.

With a host of changes still to come on the hockey horizon, this series would mark the closing of an era and the dawning of a new one. The Victoria Cougars would become the last non NHL team to win the Stanley Cup.

1923-24 With Morenz Comes A Second Cup

After a span of several seasons in which the Canadiens roster saw hardly any changes, a youth movement of sorts, begun in 1922, had a dramatic effect on the team's fortunes for the 1923-24 campaign. The addition of younger and highly skilled talent, mixed in with the core of savvy veterans that remained, proved to be just the recipe to get the Canadiens over the hump.

In recent seasons, the Canadiens hockey club appeared to be as strong as those teams who went on to claim the Stanley Cup prize. For a variety of reasons, the team always fell slightly short of their goal. Often it was the case of the team either starting out strong and ending meekly, or vice versa. In the end, the Canadiens it seemed, were forever a win or a goal short of greater achievements.

THE FRENCH MYTH CONTINUES

Since the club's inception in the 1909-10 season, team ownership - be it Ambrose O' Brien, George Kendall Kennedy, or more recently, the Leo Dandurand group - held steadfastly to the notion that the Montreal Canadiens hockey club be comprised mainly of french speaking players from the local area. It has always been the team credo of sorts, and it worked well to form an allegiance between the team and it's fans. This was especially apparent, and successful, during the years in which the Montreal Wanderers were the Canadiens fiercest rivals.

Slowly over time, the grip on french speaking players was lessened, and players from the Ottawa region, the whole of Ontario, and as far away as the western provinces, began infiltrating the team's ranks. It was never seen as a diluting of an ideal, but merely an intelligent means of survival for the club.




















Through the era's of the three successive owners, several mainstays remained on the roster. Newsy Lalonde had spent a dozen seasons in a Canadiens uniform. Didier Piter lasted an additional season. Goalie Georges Vezina, still in peak form, was about to begin his thirteenth season with the Canadiens. Others, such as defensemen Jack Laviolette and Louis Berlinguette, also enjoyed long tenures with the club. The purposes of solidifying a francophone fan base had long been met. With no english geared rival team within the city limits, it began to make solid sense that the Canadiens simply align the best possible players, regardless of origin.

Perhaps certain changes signified a breach with past methods of good business for the club, but from this point on, the Canadiens were prepared to seek talent from wherever it came, while keeping close watch on local prospects. It was an intelligent and forward move, that would quickly enable the Canadiens to enjoy their most prosperous seasons yet.

Manager Dandurand, knowing full well that the Canadiens mythical frenchman were selling tickets at home and on the road, was not about to let anyone in on the fact that newcomers Joliat and Morenz were both of Swiss descent. Nevertheless, a Flying Frenchmen identity had already forged into the minds of fans and rivals alike, and little would deviate hockey fans perception of the club as such.

OUT WITH THE OLD

In parting ways with Lalonde prior to the beginning of the 1922-23 season, and with Pitre and Berlinguette gone at season's end, a shift towards a younger team was signified with the arrival of Aurel Joliat and Billy Boucher in the previous campaign.

For the 1923-24 season, the Canadiens would add a defenseman named Sylvio Mantha from the Montreal Nationale, and a sleek centerman from Stratford, Ontario named Howie Morenz, who would both impact the club tremendously and share long tenures as Canadiens.


















Both were 21 years of age, and added to the 22 year old Joliat and the 24 year old Boucher, the Canadiens were a great deal more youthful than in preceding seasons. Billy's brother, Bobby, also joined the team. At 19 years old, he was almost half the age of the Canadiens eldest citizen, goalie Georges Vezina, who would turn 37 in the course of the season.

Save for 27 year old spare Billy Campbell, the remaining players on the Canadiens were all 30 and over, and included Billy Coutu at 31, Billy Bell and Odie Cleghorn at 32, brother Sprague and Joe Malone, both 33.

MORENZ ALMOST SLIPPED LOOSE

It took all of Canadiens manager Leo Dandurand's powers of persuassion to get Morenz into a Montreal uniform. The player known as the "Mitchell Meteor" and later, the "Stratford Streak" was highly coveted by several professional organizations, among them Toronto, Saskatoon, Hamilton and Victoria.

Ernest Sauvé, who was affiliated with Hart and the Canadiens through several sources, had officiated a game involving Morenz's Stratford CNR team and the Point St. Charles machine shop squad at the Mount Royal Arena one Saturday in April of 1923. After Morenz put in a 9 goal performance in one game, Sauvé was on the phone to Dandurand, and he dispatched to Hart to Stratford to speak with Morenz's family and he came away with his signature on a contract.

After weeks passed, Morenz and his family had a change of heart in regards to his willingness to turn pro, and he sent a telegram to the Canadiens explaining his wish to remain in Stratford where a secure living awaited him. It seems the player was being influenced by the local senior team that he played for, and by his personal entourage, and he stated in his note that he had doubts about having what was needed to be a pro player. He had signed a $1,600 contract, and he was asking Dandurand to please tear it up.

Dandurand replied in the negative, and Morenz then countered with a a second hand written letter that stated:

"Dear Sir, I am enclosing a cheque and contract to play hockey with your club. Owing to several reasons, of which family and work are the most to consider, I find it impossible to leave Stratford. I am sorry if I caused you expense and inconvenience, and trust you will accept the returned contract in a sportsmanlike way. Yours truly, Howarth Morenz."

The Morenz note was dated August 10, but not postmarked until the 23rd, which told the savvy Dandurand that there was hesitation and uncertainty in the player's actions. Dandurand was no fool, and he knew a scheme when he saw one coming. He promptly phoned the player at home, and told him that there would be a railway ticket at the Stratford station for him to come to Montreal the next day to discuss matters.

The two met the following day and Morenz was steadfast about not joining the Canadiens or any other pro team for that matter. He allowed that he was getting good money on the side to play senior hockey in Stratford, and combined with his work in a car shop, it was a larger sum that his pro deal. When Dandurand countered that a contract was a contract, and business was business, the debt ridden Morenz broke down. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he confessed that he felt he was not good enough to play pro, and that Dandurand would be sorry he forced him into it, and depriving his family of his livelyhood in the process. Dandurand almost fell for it.

Morenz showed up for the 1923 training camp and immediately made a strong impression. The team veterans made it especially rough on the new greenhorn, and players such as Vezina and Sprague Cleghorn came away convinced Morenz would be a star in the league.

In his third game of the season, on December 27, as Ottawa inaugurated their new the Auditorium, Morenz scored his first of a career 270 goals on December 27, 1923.

MANTHA, THE NEWEST MAINSTAY

Sylvio Mantha was a product of the local Montreal hockey scene, and the Canadiens were aquainted with his play when he was brought into camp as a forward. He would soon be converted into a defenseman and would succeed Cleghorn as the Canadiens best rearguard for years to come.

Born and raised in the St. Henri end of Montreal, Mantha his reputation as a right winger with the Notre Dame de Grace juniors in 1918-19. In successive campaigns, Mantha appeared on clubs from Verdun to Montreal in the local junior leagues. Guided and groomed by such local hockey notaries as Arthur Therrien, Mantha became the "can't miss kid" by the time he signed on with the Canadiens in December of this season. As Sprague Cleghorn and Billy Coutu's time in Montreal winded down, Mantha was ready to assume the position of the Canadiens all purpose defenseman.

MALONE SEES THE END

Joe Malone, one of the most illustrious of early NHL'ers, began his 15th pro season, which would turn out to be his fourth and final one as a Montreal Canadien.

The hockey legend who held the single season goal scoring mark with 44 in the 1917-18 season with Montreal was at a crossroads. Appearing in 20 games for Montreal one year prior, he managed but one goal, and was slowed by a throat infection for the majority of the season.

Malone returned in 1923-24, set to prove himself, but ended up with a front row seat in witnessing the birth of a legendary career.

"I took a look at a new kid in our training camp at Grimsby, Ontario and knew right then I was ready for the easy chair. He was Howie Morenz. In practice he moved past me so fast I thought I was standing still. I knew it was time to quit. Besides I was bothered by a throat ailment. I didn't want to grow old on the Canadiens bench. I had a good job as a tool maker. So I said goodbye. I didn't stay long enough in 1923-24 to get a goal. Morenz had taken over."*

Malone would dress for 10 games with Montreal, and after a game on January 23, he called it quits. The Canadiens would later have a "Joe Malone Night" to honour his career and achievements. He was presented with a gold watch, which was quite the expensive gift in the day. Canadiens team president Alphonse David stated that Malone deserved a gift suitable for a world champion.

COLD IN HOT WEATHER, HOT IN COLD WEATHER

The Canadiens had several false starts to their season when unusually warm temperatures forced the cancellation of games at the Mount Royal Arena, as artificial ice was not made at the Canadiens home. They would also run into similar problems at the end of the season.


















Perhaps because of scheduling conflicts and added youth to the team, Montreal started the season flatfooted, winning only four of its first 13 games. Owners Cattarinich and Létourneau decided to shake up the troops by offering a $1000 bonus to all players should the team qualify for the post season. Being that the team was in last place and needed to finish in the top two to accomplish this feat, it would take a great string of victories in the season's final 11 contests.

To the surprise of many, the Canadiens went on to win 9 of those final 11 games, finishing a solid second, six points behind the Ottawa Senators and six ahead of the Toronto St. Patricks. They were in the playoffs, and a good grand richer for their efforts.

CLEGHORN GOES BALLISTIC - THE SEQUEL

Sprague Cleghorn continued to be his viscious self, and the NHL brought forth a cummulative list of his deeds in mid season, in order to consider a suspension for the Canadiens battling blueliner. After citing a spearing incident against Ottawa's Cy Denneny, the league rejected all charges against him. A few games later, Cleghorn rammed the Senators Lionel Hitchman into the boards from behind, and was forced to sit out a game for his deed.

The slow changing of the guard on defense over the course of the last three seasons, and the youth injection upfront were evident in the team's final statistics for the season. Despite finishing only two games above .500 with an 13-11 record, goalie Georges Vezina, solid as ever, allowed the least goals against, with 48 in 24 games. This was crucial to their success, as the team also managed a league low 59 goals for, with Bobby Boucher, Joliat, and Morenz contributing 16, 15, and 13 respectively. The eight remaining Canadiens accounted for the other 15 goals scored.

Vezina, who had yet to miss a game in 15 seasons, owned the league's best goals against average for the fifth time in his career, and the team's committment to defense would continue to pay further dividends.

SENS GET DUMPED, OH WELL

The Senators finished with the NHL's best record at 16-8, despite a bizarre incident near the season's end. Montreal fans hung around Mount Royal for hours before hearing the news as to why Ottawa were so late for the contest. On their way to the game with the Canadiens, the Senators train was snowbound near Hawkesbury, Ontario, and they were stuck all night causing the one day postponement. Ottawa's Cy Denneny, a native of Cornwall, decided to scrounge around for some food, and somehow fell down a well. Fortunately, he escaped injury. The next night, Vezina and the Canadiens shut out the Senators 3–0.

In the playoffs, the second place Canadiens would upset the Senators in a two game total goals series to become the first winner of the new Prince Of Wales Trophy. The trophy took the place of the O'Brien Trophy, which was retired but later brought back and awarded to Canadian Division teams starting in 1927-28. This season saw the introduction of another new trophy into the NHL, the Hart Trophy, donated by Cecil Hart's father, Dr. David Hart, was to be awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team.

After the Canadiens took care of the Senators with a 1-0 win in Montreal and a 4-2 win in Ottawa, they went on to challenge the winners of the PCHA and the WCHL for the Stanley Cup. This would be the last season in which three leagues would compete for the Cup as the PCHA folded prior to the start of ther next season.

DANDURAND BACKS OFF

Canadiens owner Dandurand initially wanted the Calgary Tigers and Vancouver Maroons to face off against each other and then have the Canadiens play the winner for the Cup, but Frank Patrick, the president of the PCHA, refused to go along with that idea. At first, Dandurand claimed that Calgary and Vancouver were inferior to his team, and he felt that they should face off against one another to determine a winner. Instead, Patrick proposed a compromise in which the host team's (Montreal) customary contribution towards the two other clubs travel expenses would be cut in half.

When Dandurand realized that an additional series in Montreal translated into additional income whether or not Montreal won the Cup, he relented.

In order to generate the additional money, Calgary and Vancouver decided to play a three game series before heading to Montreal, with the loser having to face the Canadiens in the first round. Games were played in Vancouver, Calgary, and Winnipeg, with the Tigers coming back from a Game 1 loss to win the next two contests. Despite this additional series between the Tigers and the Maroons, Montreal still had to defeat both western teams in order to win the Cup.

The first two games against the Maroons were played at the Mount Royal Arena on March 18 and 20, and the Canadiens won both by scores of 3-2 and 2-1.

BOUCHER DOUBLE

Billy Boucher was the hero of the Vancouver series as he scored the game winning goals both games. In Game 2, Vancouver scored first on a goal by Billy's brother, Frank, but Billy responded with two goals of his own to give the Canadiens a 2-1 win and clinch the series.

After sweeping Vancouver, Montreal's next opponent were the Calgary Tigers and the Canadiens swept them as well in a best of three series. Howie Morenz was the star, scoring a hat trick in the first game on March 22, then another goal in the next game, which was transferred to Ottawa on march 25 because of the slushy ice at the Mount Royal. Morenz was levelled by Cully Wilson of Calgary and suffered a chipped collarbone, but it did little to slow Montreal down.

The Canadiens swept all three teams they faced during the playoffs en route to their first Stanley Cup since their 1916 Cup win as a member of the NHA. After the playoffs, a new ring was added to the Cup with the player's names engraved along with the following: "Canadiens of Montreal / World's Champions / Defeated / Ottawa Vancouver Calgary / Two Straight Games Each".

CANADIENS CASH IN

An article in La Presse at the time stated that the four playoff games brought in a total sum of $23,119.77 to the Canadiens organization. Each players share of the winnings was a handsome and much appreciated $603.92. Added into the $1000 promise per player that team owners paid up on the last game of the regular season, a good half of the Canadiens players practically doubled their annual salaries for the season.

The Canadiens were honoured after the win with a gala evening held in their presence at the University of Montreal. Once the night was over and much spirits were consumed, they were off to Dandurand's residence for a private victory party. The Dandurands home was at the top of Mount Royal, and along the way of the rocky road, a vehicle containing the Cleghorn brothers and Sylvio Mantha suffered a tire puncture.

SPRAGUE LOSES IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY
Team captain Sprague had been holding the Stanley Cup, and he deposited it at the roadside to fix the flat. Once they were back at the Dandurand residence hours later, the team owner's wife suggested that the punch she had made would best be served from the bowl. That was when the players realized they had left it on the roadside hours earlier.

Hurrying back to the scene of the flat tire, there was the Cup, still sitting atop the snowbank where it had been left hours earlier by the players.

After the Canadiens second Cup win, the engraving of names on Lord Stanley's gift to Canada became a solid and unbroken tradition. Lord Stanley encouraged each team to add a ring to the Cup to commemorate its victory. The 1907 Montreal Wanderers were the first to actually engrave the players names on the Cup, doing so on the flat surface inside the bowl. The Vancouver Millionaires followed in 1914-15.









Since 1924, the engravings have been an annual event, but there have been many uncorrected name misspellings and some illegitimate names on the Cup. One such occurance with the 1924 Canadiens happened when the name of spare forward Charles Fortier. The Rockland, Ontario born player who was a spare for the team, never appeared in game action for Montreal. Better known as an employee of Bell Canada for over 40 years, Fortier has without a doubt received the easiest NHL immortalization of all time.

The city of Montreal were caught up in a frenzy of delight over the Canadiens triumph, and threw the team a big bash following their win.


















*Malone knew it was time to retire when he literally saw the future of hockey in Montreal. In an article by Vern Degeer in the March 18, 1961 issue of The Hockey News. Thanks to Joe Pelletier at Hockey's Greatest Legend's for the quote.

*From Joe Pelletier's Habs Legends