Of Near Brushes With Habness, And The Canadiens Working On The Railroad

Hockey and the railways have a strong connection and have played an important part in uniting Canada. From the famous locomotive works in Stratford, Kingston and Montreal, to the railway hubs in Manitoba and the Maritimes, as well as in the numerous smaller towns that sprouted up along the tracks, many railroad workers have donned their skates to play for their local teams.

The Montreal Canadiens of 1909, and today's Les Habitants share a connection with the railway industry. During the time of the club's inception one hundred years ago, it wasn't uncommon that several of the team's players found full time or off season employment working on the rails. As train travel began connecting Canada's distant parts in the day, railway stations often had their own teams of players.

Today in Montreal, the Bell Centre sits directly against La Gare Windsor, which was originally built to serve as both the transcontinental terminal of the Canadian Pacific Railway and also as its company headquarters. Since VIA Rail consolidated its operations at Gare Centrale in the 1980s, Windsor Station has seen only commuter trains. These have been pushed far back from the station by the construction of the Bell on the site of the original trainsheds. Parts of the original station, including its surprisingly modernist skylit hall, are still maintained for public use.

So, why you might ask, am I writing about trains on a Canadiens blog?

That's a damn good question too!

Pardon the obvious bad pun, but I got sidetracked. I started out looking up the career of a former NHL player online, and links led me to learn about what this player had done for a living after retirement. As the player in question was a railway employee, it led to my discovering of how train travel and its industry tied into early Canadiens history. Some posts just happen this way, I guess.

This story get its start while my wife and I are standing in line at Metropolis in Montreal this past Grey Cup Sunday, waiting in the queue to see former Soundgarden and Audioslave lead singer Chris Cornell in concert.

Perhaps because I often wear Montreal Canadiens colours when I am out and about, I often get asked the silliest of questions, such as, "Nice hoodie, are you a fan?"

Of course I inform that yes, I am in fact a Habs empassioned nutcase with a blog, no less. It speeds up the conversation, and it helps to separate the casuals from the diehards of Habs fandom real quick.

My wife Joanne is the big fan of all things Cornell. She goes nutso in a similar compulsion as I do with the Canadiens and Springsteen. Me, I just like the Soundgarden stuff Cornell did best, and love my wife more than enough, to brave the chilling cold and make a great time of it. It wasn't difficult! My better half was more than determined to have our asses freeze off in a lineup all in the name of getting the best general admission seats in the house - which we did. Along the way, we met some equally die hard fans, and inevitably, with me in my Habs hoodie, the hockey subject came up.

After a few brief questions, one young woman whom we hung around at the backstage door with prior to the show's start and are now standing in line with informs me that her grandfather once played in the NHL.

"No way?", I ask, "With Montreal?"

"Yes, he played a season with Montreal, and then he went to New Jersey."

Now my brain is reeling, right. The young lady is at the most in her late twenties, but my guess is she can't be no more than 21 or 22. I'm calculating as I speak, while eliminating that Stephane Richer or Claude Lemieux or Rollie the Goalie can't possible have a 20 something grandchild.

I'm messed!

"What was his name?"

After a minute's struggle, she recalls the name - Maurice Croghan.

"He died before I was born. I never met him, but he played for the Maroons."

"Oh, okay, not the Canadiens then. It was the Jersey thing that threw me off. If he played for the Maroons, he could not have played for the Devils of course."

"No, I don't know who he played with in New Jersey, my family just told me he went there after playing for the Maroons in 1935."

In '35, then his name is on the Stanley Cup!", I exclaimed, to her confusion.

"I'm not sure, I'd have to ask."

I told her quickly that the name Maurice Croghan rang a bell, and that I was familiar with the history of the Maroons franchise. If indeed he played in that season, his name would be ingraved on the Cup. I told her I would look it up once I arrived home.

"Do an internet search in a couple of weeks, and you might find somthing at my site", I suggested.

The young lady, whose name I dumbly never asked for, changed the conversation flow from there, and we began talking about where we were from and what we did for a living.

She informed me that she was from the eastern townships of Quebec, in a place familiar to me - Cowansville, Quebec. I made a mental note of it, once I got into researching just who was Maurice Croghan.

As it turns out, Croghan was actually Montreal Canadiens property for a season, upon the disolution of the Maroons after the club's final 1937-38 campaign. In looking up the player, I came upon the interesting connection to the railway industry.

A brief resume of Croghan's short NHL stint reads as such: The defenseman who went by the name Moe in the day, wore number 16 and played in 16 games for the Maroons in 1937-38. Moe Croghan was termed a sturdy defensive rearguard in his day, and counted no goals or assists in his short NHL time. Upon the Maroons franchise going out of business, he became property of the Canadiens, playing in some exhibition games prior to the start of the 1938-39 season - in possibly the Habs most dismal era on record.


















Croghan was born November 19, 1914 in Montreal, and played junior and senior hockey in his hometown until joining the Quebec Aces in 1936. Croghan's talent were on display that season, as the Aces ventured all the way to the Allen Cup, and after his successful run he was signed on by the Maroons.

There's no accounting of Croghan playing with a New Jersey based club around this time, but he wasn't far off in stints with the Habs affiliated Providence Reds and Springfield Indians, where he split his 1938-39 season. From 1939 to 1941, he played with the Montreal Victorias of the MCHL and the Montreal Royals of the QSHL.

After his retirement from the game, the native Montrealer relocated to Sherbrooke, Quebec, taking on a job with the Canadian National Railway as a locomotive engineer.

At age 64, Croghan passed away of a heart attack on February 7, 1979, and he is burried in Lac Brome, Quebec. In his obituary seen here, his birth name may have been "Morris" and not "Maurice", as the Lost Hockey website states a photo contribution from a Moe Croghan Jr, and this obit lists a Morris as one of his children. He was survived at the time by his wife, nee Lillian Hartley, and two daughters, Sandra Nicholson and Linda Mailloux.













That was all the detail I could find on Croghan's hockey career and life away from the game. From searching the net, I was led to site called Hockey Railroaders, that featured a more detailed account of how some former Montreal Canadiens players made a living away from the rink.

From the early 1900's, up until World War II in the 1940's, several Canadiens players, as well as other NHLer's worked on the railroad across Canada. Aurel Joliat, Maurice Richard, Dickie Moore, Marcel Dheere, Herb Gardner, Sam Pollock, Joe Cattarinich, Lorne Chabot, Len Grosvenor, Harry Mummery, and Howie Morenz all spent a good deal of their youth and playing days learning a trade that would provide income to them once away from the rinks in summer.

During WWII, the Canadian Pacific Railway reorganized its entire shop systen for the war. Wartime shop production signaled the end of the Great Depression and offered jobs to many of its laid off CPR employees.

The Canadiens original goalie in the 1909-10 season, Jos Cattarinich, was a brakeman with CPR when he met and befriended Leo Dandurand. The pair would go on to own and manage the Canadiens for several seasons, as well as partnering in the tobacco business and horse racing endeavors.

Mummery who played for both the Canadiens and Toronto Blueshirts in 1917, was employed by the CNR as a locomotive engineer. Also working as a fireman during the season, Mummery brought his rail eating ritual to both the firehouse and the arena dressing room. A large man at 250 pounds, Mummery set up pot bellied stoves in both workplaces, cooking large steaks in them with the help of a freshly hosed shovel, a practice he took to while riding the rails and cooking his meat in the steam engine's fire box.

Morenz followed his father and uncle, apprenticing as a machinist with Stratford's Grand Trunk Railway in 1919. The Canadiens future star played for three teams in different levels in the city, one of which was operated by GTR. In one incident, Morenz had dropped a metal block on his foot, causing it to swell badly - not bad enough to cause him to miss that night's game however. After the contest, Morenz's skate boot literally needed to be cut off to remove his swollen foot from it.

Morenz was always proud of his trade, and oftenmentioned that he was a machinist by profession. Two years later, Morenz and his GTR team played a game against the Montreal CNR shops at the Mount Royal Arena. The GTR team led by Morenz steamrolled the CNR's, and Howie scored 9 goals. The performance caught the attention of the Canadiens director Cecil Hart, who then made it a point to sign Morenz.






















Before his NHL career got going, goaltender Lorne Chabot worked full time with the CPR in Brandon, Manitoba while playing senior hockey with the Wheat Kings in 1921. A age 16, Chabot had enlisted in the army. Unaware of his age, he was stationed in France, driving an ammunition wagon with the Royal Canadian Field Artillery. He was soon found out and sent home.

Former Canadiens defenseman Herb Gardiner got a late start in professional hockey due to his committments to the war and the railroad. Gardiner had quit playing senior hockey at age 18 to work for the CPR as a surveyor. After serving three years with the Canadian Army, Gardiner rejoined the CPR while playing with the Calgary Tigers in the WCHL. In losing to the Canadiens in the 1924 Cup final, Gardiner made the Habs acquaintance and was signed by them two seasons later.

Len Grosvenor, who toiled with the Canadiens in 1932, worked his entire life, in and around hockey, on the railroad.

























Onesime Richard, the father of Maurice, worked as a carpenter for 40 years with the CPR. Each morning he would board the train in Bordeaux and catch a ride to the Angus shop, where he would build freight cars. Maurice joined him in 1942 while playing for the Canadiens Seniors, earning up to $40 a week working as a machinest for the Munitions Department. The future Rocket was on leave a great deal at this time due to his burgeoning hockey career, and did not resign his position with CPR until after his 50 goal season.

Following his retirement from hockey in 1938, Aurel Joliat went on to work for CNR in Ottawa as an agent. He was also later employed as a coach and with the Quebec Liquor Commission.




















St. Boniface's Marcel Dheere joined the Canadiens in a trade on Christmas day, 1940 and also found work at the time with Montreal RCAF and Montreal Canada Car. Dheere played hockey at several levels including the Canadiens over the next few seasons before leaving the city. He served in the military in 1944-45, and the strong connections he made while in Montreal set him up for employment with the railway as a switchman for the next 30 years.

After high school graduation in 1943, Sam Pollock was a junior clerk with the railway for a few years, while also working in hockey and baseball. He left the railway for good in 1946 to coach and scout in the Canadiens organization. Three years later, Pollock signed Dickie Moore, a CPR alumni, to a Montreal Junior Canadiens contract on the word of Frank Selke.

Hope you enjoyed this little sidetrack - it was more to do than blogging about O'Byrne derailing!

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1928-29 Hainsworth The Human Wall

The NHL's twelfth season was one that belonged to the goaltenders, and with the puckstoppers outerworldy performance and prominance would come great changes to the game.

Despite the league making alterations to the on ice product over the years to allow for more offense, goalies adjusted to each move in time. It is perhaps a history lesson that teaches that goaltending, defensive systems and coaching always adapts to what offense counters.








In the 1928-29 season, Canadiens stopper George Hainsworth would register a mindboggling 22 shutouts in 44 games. In winning his third consecutive Vezina Trophy, Hainsworth allowed only 43 goals in the other 22 contests. In his final eight games of the regular season, he let in only 3 goals.

GOALIES RULE

It wasn't only Hainsworth, whose prowess stymied shooters. Goalies across the NHL were improving their numbers annually to the offensive detriment of the shooters fans were paying money to see.

New York Rangers goalie John Ross Roach and the Americans Roy Worters had 13 shutouts. Boston Bruins stopper Tiny Thompson has a dozen whitewashes. Maroons goalie Clint Benedict and the Leafs Lorne Chabot had 11 shutouts each. Detroit Cougars goalie Dolly Dobson had 10 and the Ottawa Senators Alex Connell had 7.

























The season's worst club, the last place Pittsburgh Pirates, owners of a dismal 7-29-8 record, allowed only 85 goals.

With 15 scoreless ties in the 1928-29 season, clearly, something needed to be done to open the game up. The NHL governors would gather at season's end to rectify the problem, hopefully once and for all, with rules changes designed to bring more flow to the game.

During the previous season, tie games had almost doubled, going from 18 to 37 amongst the league's 12 clubs. Perhaps it was due to restricting offensive rules, smarter play, or better coaching. It is quite possible that the NHL had evened out with less disparity between the stronger and weaker teams now that the league had all the best professional players.

Either way, it was parity at it's most boring time, and the tie games more than doubled, reaching a total of 94 in 1929.

Needless to say, there were no goal scoring records broken in 1929.

HAINSWORTH EARNS HIS STRIPES

Hainsworth, still with 9 shutouts more than the nearest competition and a goals against average of 0.92, would have a season that would live in infamy. Somehow, despite winning his third consecutive Vezina Trophy in three seasons, the Hart Trophy would go to the American's Worters, who carried his team to second place behind the Canadiens. Worters allowed 10 goals more than Hainsworth, but was viewed as being more valuable to his team, as the Americans squad hardly had the stud defenseman the Habs boasted in Mantha, Leduc, Burke, and Gardiner

After the death of Georges Vezina, the Canadiens club unofficially retired his jersey #1. Frenchy Lacroix and Herb Rheaume had both worn the number in the season of Vezina's passing, but Habs management deemed any goalie unworthy of the number thereafter. Starting in 1926-27, the number was worn by defenseman Herb Gardiner for two seasons. In 1928-29, the number went to Marty Burke. It was said that if a goalie were to become worthy of Vezina's number, only then would it be allowed onto a goalie's back.

The 33 year old Hainsworth meanwhile, had won three consecutive Vezina Trophy's while wearing numbers such as 2, 14, and 12 twice. With 49 shutouts in 132 regular season games, they finally deemed him worthy of the number starting in 1929-30. Oddly, Hainsworth never captured the Vezina Trophy while wearing his number.

GOAL SCORING TAKES A DIVE

Not surprisingly, in this stingiest of NHL season, only two players reached the 20 goal plateau. The Maroons Nels Stewart, a born sniper, hit for 21, but was passed by the Maple Leafs Ace Bailey, for netted one more.

The highest scoring Canadien, Howie Morenz, who had netted 33 a season ago, finished fourth in goals with 17.





















Curiously, the Cougars Carson Cooper, a player the Canadiens deemed expendable after only six games two seasons prior, was third with 18 goals.

While remaining the NHL's toughest team to score against, the Canadiens were no longer the league's biggest scoring threat. They managed a total of 71 goals, down a goal per game from their total of 116 a year prior. The distinction of highest scoring team went to the continuously improving Boston Bruins, who scored a hardly daunting 89 goals. The Maple Leafs, improved as well, notched 85. The Cougars and Rangers bested the Habs slightly, netting 72 goals each.

PUNCHLESS HABS KEEP PACE

Perhaps lost to the historical revision of this very particular season is the fact that the Canadiens lost only 7 of 44 contests, including only three games on the road. Despite their drop in goals scored, they still found a way to total the previous season's mark of 59 points and maintain their hold on first place in the Canadian Division.

While many NHL squads toyed annually with their lineups to find a winning team, the Canadiens under the guidance of Leo Dandurand and coaching of Cecil Hart, kept intact the core of a team that grew better and better with each passing season. Despite not having won the Stanley Cup since 1924, the management had faith in the club, due to it's consecutive first place finishes, that there was not a whole lot of tinkering that needing to be done to make the Habs a winner again.

GARDINER LENT TO BLACKHAWKS

Prior to the start of training camp, the Canadiens temporarily parted ways with Hart Trophy winner from two seasons back, Herb Gardiner. On August 27, it was decided that the old stalwart no longer fit the team's future plans, and he was conditionally loaned to the Blackhawks for the season to act solely as their coach.

The condition in the deal was that if Chicago were then to employ Gardiner as a player, then the Canadiens could use their right to recall him, which they did on February 12, after he'd appreared in 13 games with Chicago. He would play the final 7 regular season games, and three more in the playoffs as a Canadien before being dealt to Boston for cash in the spring.



FOUR NEW CANADIENS

Few players from the team that dropped an overtime loss to the Maroons in 1927-28 would not return this season. Replacing the likes of Léo Lafrance, Charles Langlois and Gizzy Hart were Gerry Carson, Armand Mondou, Arthur Lesieur, and George Mantha.





















Lesieur, a 21 year old rearguard who was signed as a free agent on October 30. After appearing in 15 games with Montreal, he was loaned to the Blackhawks for the remainder of the season, as compensation for the recall of Gardiner. Lesieur would remain Canadiens property until 1940, during which time he became well aquainted with the train tracks between Providence and Montreal.

Gerry Carson appeared in 26 games for the Canadiens, but was loaned to the Rangers for the remainder of the season on February 15. He would return to the club thereafter, drifting between Providence and the big club for five seasons.

Mondou, a 23 year old left winger from Yamaska, Quebec, made the team at camp as a free agent, and would remain associated with the club beyond a decade.

ANOTHER BROTHER ACT

George Mantha was the brother of Sylvio. A winger, a six years his sibling's junior at 20, he would have the longest association with the team of all this season's newcomers. A solid defensive forward who never reached high goal totals, the younger Mantha was a sound team citizen who would never see another NHL sweater by the time his big league career ended in 1941.

The younger Mantha was a versatile addition, as he could perform on both defence and left wing. A fine puck handler with and sharp shooter, he would help most on the power play and in the transition game regardless of position played. Born in Lachine, Quebec, Mantha played junior with the Montreal Victorias and senior with the city's Bell Telephone squad before joining the Canadiens for 21 games this season. Starting next season, Mantha would be a regular in the Canadiens lineup.

THE MILLIONAIRES FAN CLUB

For quite a few years now, an assembling of Canadiens fans known as "The Millionaires" had been taking their place in the high priced fifty cent seat area close to the ice. The name had been giving to the group partly in mocking derision from other fans, as "The Millionaires" tended to be die hards who knew how to get behind the team big time. Not only did they have the tendancy to stand for the duration of the games and cheer loudly, but they also were heavily involved with the team, basically becoming it's first unofficial fan club.

Numbering close to 2,000 by some estimations in the day, "The Millionaires" would band together, figuratively and financially, to honour the Canadiens team and its individual members. Gathering at a local St. Denis street pub for group meetings, they would organize various events ranging from player appreciation nights to parade's downtown, when the Canadiens would defeat the Maroons. They treated players on the Habs with gifts and occasional cash bonuses and at one time it was felt that "The Millionaires" club had the ears of not only the media's influence, but the team's management as well when it came to player moves.




HABS PLAYERS GRAB ENDORSEMENT DOLLARS

While it could not be compared to the latter day hockey fever that grips the city of Montreal, the Canadiens stars were often in demand for all sorts of off ice promotions. After the NHL stepped in to forbid players such as Morenz and Joliat from ghostwriting NHL editorials in the local papers, local businesses jumped forth to offer the stars a little extra cash with promotional ads for their companies. Morenz and Joliat would soon be seen modelling garments such as taillored three piece suits, hats, and overcoats. Nothing was said by the league concerning Pit Lepine's endorsements of Buckingham cigarettes.



























Lepine's signature would soon adorn bottles of Froz - Ex, and Joliat added to his income via the promotion of Bee Hive Honey, a company that would in time become very involved in the promotion of the NHL game.

MORENZ, PROTECTED STAR, NOT FOR SALE

Morenz was pure gold for the Canadiens and the league, and both the NHL and it's players understood his worth in filling arenas wherever he played. Once, while playing a game at Madison Square Graden against the Rangers, New York coach Lester Patrick informed his players to go easy on Morenz, who was appearing despite favoring a leg injury. Should the Canadiens return to MSG without Morenz in future games, the rink would be half full and good money would go missing

With Howie Morenz's continued popularity across the league came the inevitable rumours that the Canadiens were perenially about to sell him off for cash. The Boston Bruins were said to make regular inquiries and offers for Morenz, and it was continuously written about in the Toronto media that the Maple Leafs were upping their offer from time to time.













Offers began at $25,000 for his services, but there was never truth to the Morenz trade speculation, as far as the Canadiens management were concerned. Runours hit a feverish pitch when it became known that the New York Americans had offered $50,000 for Morenz. Habs managers Létourneau and Dandurand needed to go on record to quash any thought of it by stating that Morenz was not for sale - nor for silver, nor for gold.

CANADIENS GET REVENGE ON MAROONS

The Canadiens avenged their final playoff game loss to the Maroons from last season by going undefeated in 6 games against their Forum rivals. With four wins and two ties, the Canadiens were also outdrawing the Maroons home game crowds on a steady basis.

While the Canadiens packed them in at the Forum, the NHL's biggest crowd to date was for the Bruins upon the opening of the Boston Gardens. A record 17,000 paid attendance on Tuesday, November showed up to see the Habs down the Bruins 1-0.

HABS ON RADIO

The Canadiens first radio broadcast took place on December 22 in a home game against Ottawa. Local station CJAD broadcast the game in english. Commentators Arthur Dupont and future Hockey Hall of Fame scribe and Montreal Herald writer Elmer Ferguson brought the game's action into living rooms from the third period on, so as to not disuade folks from attending the game.

SENATORS SINKING

Longtime Canadiens rivals, the Ottawa Senators, had hit hard times. Ottawa's financial troubles continued and they temporarily filled their coffers by selling off star Punch Broadbent to the Americans. Their situation had gotten so desperate, that at one time there were whispers the team was being looked at by interests in Chicago. While Senators owner Frank Ahearn dispelled such talk, he did openly admit the troubles and fessed up that the team was available to the highest bidder. They would finish in fourth place, an non factor in a league they helped found.

NEW PLAYOFF FORMAT

The NHL revised it's playoff format to match the first place teams against each other in a best of five series for the NHL championship.

The second place Canadian and American Division teams would face each in one round, while the third place finishers would meet in another two game total goals series. The winners would then meet in a best of three series to determine a semi final winner. The victor would the go against the winner of the division leaders in a best of three series for the Cup.

It was an odd way to determine a Stanley Cup champion, and perhaps unfairly, one of the two best teams in the game would be bumped from the playoffs sooner rather than later.

BRUINS SURPRISE CANADIENS

While the Canadiens had hit their stride during the season with a 16 game undefeated streak, the Bruins were also hot with a 15 game roll without having lost. Montreal's record from January 12 to February 21 was 9 wins and 7 ties through 16 games. The Bruins started their two weeks earlier, and did not lose in the month of January, going 13-0-2. Through the final 30 games of the season, the Habs had lost only twice.

The Canadiens had met the Bruins four times during the regular season, and held a 2-1-1 edge. Even though Montreal had shut out Boston twice - in their first and last meetings - the Bruins had finished only two points back of Montreal overall.

The series began with two games in Boston, which would be followed by three in Montreal. In Boston, Bruins goalie Tiny Thompson shut the Canadiens down in back to back 1-0 wins. The Canadiens season ended on Forum ice on March 23, as the Bruins edged Montreal 3-2 for a series sweep.

Another very good season had ended in disappointment. The Canadiens likely did not know what had hit them.

The Bruins meanwhile, had to wait for 5 days while the other rounds played out. The defending Cup champion Rangers won their two game total goals series with the Americans while the Maple Leafs ousted the Cougars. The Rangers quickly dispatched Toronto by scores of 1-0 and 2-1 in overtime.

The 1929 Cup final was the first time two American franchises were pitted against each other. The Bruins beat the defending champ Rangers in two straight. The Bruins George Owen, became the first NHL'er to permanently don a helmet for protective purposes rather than for prior injury reasons.

Looking forward to the 1929-30 season, the Habs were confident to again be among the NHL elite. Perhaps some tinkering that would allow their offense to become unleashed would put them over the top.

1927-28 Howie Morenz, Hockey's First True Superstar

After one full season as a 10 team NHL, it was evident that the scope of professional hockey had never looked brighter. Business was good for the league, especially in the United States where several new franchises had established themselves rather quickly. With the NHL heading into it's 11th season, it's days of meagre beginnings as a four team league focused mainly in eastern Canada were long gone. There were now 6 U.S. franchises among the group, and fans in these newer cities invited into the NHL seemed to take to the sport rather rabidly.

There were still underlying issues for the league in evolving the sport, but it's main concerns were all about building strong allegiances with fans in each NHL city. There was a certain amount of parity among the teams, with up to six or seven strong clubs displaying a high calibre of hockey prowess.

HOCKEY NEEDED A HERO

Perhaps what the game needed most to continue growing, was it's own version of a Babe Ruth - some larger than life figure to bring the game and its excitement to new heights. A household name, that when folks heard it, immediately associated to the sport of hockey. A player whose exploits would rise above the norm, capture imaginations, and propulse the sport into a greater sphere of appreciation, was beckoning.

While it may be difficult to imagine a highlight reel hero emerging years before the invention of the televison, NHL hockey needed such a player in the days when newspaper headlines, radio broadcasts, and word of mouth were all that were available to help spread word of this great game of hockey.

With the disapppearance of the WHL, it was without doubt that the present NHL grouped the best professional hockey players in the world. Frank Boucher, and brothers Bill and Bun Cook filled the seats in Madison Square Garden. In Boston, defenseman Eddie Shore was something to witness, and the Bruins were an always exciting squad with the likes of Cooney Weiland, Dit Clapper, and Harry Oliver. The Montreal Maroons brought in Hooley Smith, and he anchored the infamous and very offensive "S" line with Nels Stewart and Babe Siebert. Other hockey stars were sprinkled throughout the NHL.

Professional hockey was indeed still in it's infancy in the late 1920's. It was a time when, after the first World War, innocence gripped onto collective consciences, and dreams of prosperity and wealth were firm realities within reach for all. Sport may have had it's appeal as a distraction from a normal way of life then, as now. Hockey, as all sports have always been and always will be, was just another invitation to dream of a better way of living.

THE FLYING FRENCHMAN MYSTIQUE

The Montreal Canadiens in all of this, had long gripped it's own city in a passion for the game. In truth, the passion for the game of hockey in Montreal was actually older than the Canadiens themselves. Long before the Canadiens had a history, the city of Montreal had a winning history in the game of hockey.

It is perhaps blurred in history as to why, but early on a certain level of excellence was demanded of Montreal hockeyers. In Ottawa, hockey championships were won almost as often, but the winning didn't seem to carry with it the same mystique, reverance or appreciation.





















Maybe it all had to do with the perception of the "Flying Frenchman" as the game's earliest masters. In an era when myth carried slightly more weight than fact, a romantic curiosity had built up among fans of the game concerning the Montreal Canadiens team. In fact, because of this myth, and because of the romantic curiosity of hockey fans, the Canadiens team became a drawing card to the game beyond the borders of Montreal. It started to become quite apparent when fans began showing up in larger numbers in visiting arenas for games in which the local team would face these "Flying Frenchmen".

It was a perception that did not take hold in Ottawa or Toronto per se, but in the American cities in this era. Names such as Lalonde, Joliat, Morenz, and Vezina sounded more foreign than O' Brian, Smith, and McDonald did. To separate fact from myth, only goalie Vezina and Lalonde were french fluent, as Joliat and Morenz were born in Ottawa and Stratford, Ontario respectively and were of Swiss ancestry. Beyond these barely bilingual early stars of the team fastly becoming known as "Les Habitants", the makeup of the early editions of "Les Canadiens" were mostly home bred and born, french speaking Quebecers.

MARKETING THE MYTH

It all draws back to the creation of the Montreal Canadiens club in the 1909 NHA, whereupon initial team owner Abrose O' Brien thought it a smart move financially to capitalize on the language rivalry possiblitity in Montreal when establishing the Canadiens as a rival team to the english fanbase inherant in countering both the Montreal Wanderers and Montreal Shamrocks teams. Little did O' Brien know, or for that matter, successive owners George Kendall and the Leo Dandurand group, that they would take part in the perpetrating of a myth that would forge the identity of the team for up to one hundred years.

History would show, that about this time, Dandurand would begin to catch on to the "Flying Frenchman" mystique south of the border. Smart promoter that he was, he was cautious and cunning in how to make a good buck from it.

During the 1928 hockey playoffs, the Montreal daily "La Patrie" published a popular column where Morenz gave his impressions on the teams involved and the play of his team, the Montreal Canadiens. Interestingly, Morenz did not write in French and the columns were ghostwritten by Charles Mayer, sportswriter for the newspaper.

MORENZ HOCKEY'S FIRST SUPERSTAR

Dandurand would never do a thing to dispell the myth or dampen the curiosity when it came to the NHL's first superstar.

Howie Morenz, in hindsight, accomplished a great deal more than his numbers suggest. His achievements, in view of the game of hockey as a whole, are more meaningful in league terms than they are in Montreal Canadiens terms, historically speaking. Much of what Morenz would soon accomplish had more to do with style and pizzaz than simple numbers and statistics could ever explain.
















Breaking records, making headlines, and gathering crowds were but a fraction of the spectacle Morenz and the Canadiens would deliver starting in 1927. It was the launching of a brand that would become known as firewagon hockey - a no holds barred offensive assault based on speed and the ability of execution. As the rules of the primitive game of hockey would open up, and evolve to accept and promote it's speed versus physicality aspect, Morenz was at the forefront of the discovery as to just how exciting a game of hockey could be.

The combination of Howie Morenz's speed, style, and skill, the "Flying Frenchman" mystique, records being shattered, and the popularity of hockey in new markets, helped create exactly what the NHL needed in 1927.

And a superstar was born.

Howie filled arenas like no one had before. His blazing speed electrified crowds wherever he played. A few years prior, when an exhibition game had been held in Boston to see if hockey could work there, Charles F. Adams applied for a franchise in Boston. When Tex Rickard watched Howie in action, he got Big Bill Dwyer to get a New York franchise and insisted that Howie and the Montreal Canadiens be the opponent in the New York Americans first home game. From there, Boston and New York were sold on hockey. Capacity crowds greeted Howie and the Canadiens when they played in NHL cities.

On the Canadiens, Morenz teamed with Aurel Joliat on the left - hardly a slauch himself - and Arthur Gagné on the right, to form the NHL's highest scoring line. They scored 33, 28, and 20 goals respectively, for a total of 81. They finished first, second, and sixth in NHL scoring, and the Canadiens set a new NHL high of 116 goals.

Morenz set a new points record with 51 and assists by a center with 18.

Along the course of Morenz's record setting season, a New York newspaper made light that the Americans team offered the Canadiens $50,000 for the services of their star, only to be rebuffed by Dandurand who claimed that their wasn't enough money on Wall St. to snag the Habs sniper.

Imagine, five seasons previous, a worried Morenz was unsure of his ability to turn pro.

In 1928, Morenz was a more than worthy Hart Trophy winner.

THE KENNEDY CUP

The family of former team owner George Kennedy, with the approval of the NHL, donate a trophy in his name to the Canadiens / Maroons rivalry. The Kennedy Cup, as it becomes known, will be awarded to the Montreal club winning the season series between the two teams. Should the teams number the same total of wins, goals scored would then decide the winner.

The trophy would be handed out 11 times, until the Maroons final season in 1937-38, and would be highly contested through many memorable battles. The trophy also becomes a point of pride among the english and french supporters of each team.

In total, the Canadiens would edge out the Maroons 6-5 in wins, with the sixth title coming amid much controversy. In 1937-38, it is decided that in the event of a tie involving season victories, the tie breaker would now be individual wins since the inception of the trophy rather than goals scored per season. After the Maroons won the first four games of the season, the Canadiens fight back to claim the final four. With both teams totalling the same number of goals, the ammended new tie breaker gives the Canadiens their sixth Kennedy Cup, with a narrow margin of 30 victories to the Maroons 29.

Each annual win the Habs is celebrated with great fanfare by the team's fans through the streets of downtown Montreal. A team fan club known as "The Millionaires" would go all out with banners and air horns, while parading the streets much to the displeasure of Maroons supporters.

"La Patrie" reports that the Canadiens players even received bonuses for winning, such as the $100 offered by Canadiens owner Louis Létourneau upon occasion.
With the popularity of the team and it's individual players came companies soliciting their services and good name for advertisements. One of the first was for Pit Lepine endorsing Buckingham Cigarettes, claiming that they did not cause itchiness in his throat.

CANADIENS SET NEW MARKS

In 1927-28, the Canadiens had as good a season as the year prior with a 26-11-7 record. On the surface there seemed to be traces of parity around the NHL, but the league had reduced the overtime period from 20 minutes to 10, and with it, the number of ties in the NHL rose from 18 to 37. Hence, the Canadiens won two games less, yet finished one point ahead of their previous best with 59.

The Canadiens returned with much the same team, and the results were status quo. Coach Cecil Hart and captain Sylvio Mantha remained and Marty Burke, Charles Langlois, George Patterson, and Leo Gaudreault were the new player additions to the squad. Not returning from 1926-27 were Arthur Gauthier, Peter Palangio and Carson Cooper.

Gaudreault was signed as a free agent on October 7, 1927 and would stick with the team for a decade, though his bigger contributions would come as a Providence Reds member. Defenceman and part time winger Charles Langlois played 32 games with the Canadiens in his only season with the team. Marty Burke was acquired on loan from the Pittsburgh Pirates on December 16, 1927 in exchange for Langlois over the balance of the season. Burke would sign on with the Canadiens and play five more seasons in a Montreal uniform.

Patterson arrived in time to play in 16 games for Montreal after being acquired from Toronto for cash on February 8, 1928.

It would mark the first ever transaction between the storied rivals and Patterson would be the first player to don both the Habs and Leafs sweaters. He would be sold to Boston a year later for a cash sum.

SENATORS BEGIN DOWNSLIDE

The Habs main competitiors in the Canadian Division were still the Senators and Maroons. While their cross town rivals were slightly improved upon the season, Ottawa were facing some issues that weakened the team. They were now by far the smallest market now in the league, were beginning to be affected by franchises in the U.S. Escalating salaries brought on by larger American crowds at games hardly made the Senators competitive. Part of the problem in Ottawa was that fans tended to only attend games with Canadian opponents such as the Canadiens, Maroons, and Maple Leafs. They were in financial trouble as a result and requested a bigger road receipt from the other teams.

To compensate for losses, they sold their star right wing Hooley Smith to the Montreal Maroons for $22,500 and the return of right winger Punch Broadbent, followed by the sale of defenceman Ed Gorman to Toronto. Despite Ottawa's financial difficulties, Alex Connell, Ottawa goalkeeper, set an all time record with six consecutive shutouts or a period of 460 minutes and 59 seconds without being scored on.

HABS ON FIRE IN FIRST HALF

With few alterations to their overall look, the Canadiens were early favorites to do very well within the Canadian Division, and they did not disappoint. Thanks in part to the limited 10 minute overtime, the Canadiens lost only once in their first 22 games.

A 6-1 opening night win against the New York Americans was followed up by a 1-1 with the Maroons four nights later. Next was a 4-0 blanking of the Pirates - Hainsworth's first of 13 shutouts. A long five day layoff preceded their first ever game in Detroit, as the Cougars matches were previously held on Canadian soil in Windsor, Onatrio, while awaiting completion of the Olympia Arena they now called home. Losing 2-0 to Detroit might have stung the Habs, as they embarked on a team record 18 game unbeaten streak.

They won the next two games decisively, beating the Blackhawks 5-2 in Chicago before returning home to shutout the New York Americans 4-0. A 1-1 tie in Boston halted the shortlived winning streak, but a 2-1 overtime win against the Maple Leafs on December 8 started the machine rolling. They'd win their next five, against Rangers, Cougars, Maroons, Bruins and Hawks, before Pittsburgh slowed them slightly with a 2-2 on Christmas Eve. They tied the next game, a scoreless draw in Ottawa before stringing off seven consecutive wins from New Year's Eve until January 17.

With a first half record of 17-1-4 after 22 games, it was doubtful that anyone would catch the Canadiens, but with a strong finish, the Maroons gave the Habs a good run.
When the Maroons shutout the Canadiens 2-0 in their 22nd contest, the Habs rivals had an 11-8-3 record at midpoint.

LOSS OF LEPINE HURTS

In the Canadiens next fourteen games, they'd win but 3 and tie 4 times, while their Forum room mates went on a 13-6-3 tear down the stretch. The Habs had lost star center Pit Lepine at the 20 game mark, and simply were not the same team without him.

The two teams met on March 3, and the 3-2 overtime loss suffered by the Canadiens seemed to smarten them up. The 13 point gap at midseason was now but a three point spread, and the Canadiens could now feel the Maroons breathing down their necks. The Habs had eight games remaining, and they would go on to win six of them, including a 3-0 shutout of the Maroons one week after the overtime loss. The Maroons went 5-2 in their final seven to finish with 54 points, five back of the Canadiens.

The Canadiens were awarded the O'Brien Trophy, which had been reintroduced this season as the prize for winning the Canadian Division. The Prince of Wales Trophy was earned by the American Division leading Boston Bruins. Boston, thanks to the great play of Eddie Shore and goalie Hal Winkler - who tied Ottawa's Alex Connell for the lead in shutouts with 15 - finished first for the first time.






CANADIENS PLAYERS AMONG LEADERS

Goalie George Hainsworth, was proving to be more than just an able replacement for the legendary Vezina. He was becoming quite dominant, as shooters could not seem to solve him with any regualrity. After allowing on 67 goals against in 44 games in his first NHL season, Hainsworth bested that mark by allowing only 48 - good for a 1.05 goals against average. Incredibly, he would shrink both those stats a season later.




















While Hart Trophy winner Morenz kept spectators in every city on the edge of their seats, he was backed up by the NHL's most potent offense with 116 goals. After the 81 goals scored by the Morenz, Joliat, and Gagné trio, eight other regulars helped contribute 35 goals.

With Lepine's return imminant, a confident Canadiens team awaited the winner of the two game Maroons and Senators showdown.

The Maroons took on the third place Ottawa club that had finished four points behind them. They had a 2-3-1 record against the Senators during the regular season, but ended up sweeping the series with wins of 1-0 and 2-1.

A battle of Montreal, and a trip to the Stanley Cup final, would be fought out on the dual home ice of the Forum.

HABS AND MAROONS BATTLE IT OUT

The first contest, played before a divided sellout crowd provided no winner, ending in a 2-2 draw, with Art Gagné and Albert Leduc scoring for the Canadiens. With everything on the line three nights later on the same ice, overtime was needed to decide the game. Unsung hero Russell Oatman of the Maroons, gave the darker sweatered team the 1-0 win in the two game total goals series.

After getting off to such a strong start, the disappointment was bitter for the Canadiens. However, the team as a whole were just entering their prime, and there was no reason to believe they could not be a top team again the following season.

A RANGERS - MAROONS FINAL

In the American Division, the Rangers knocked off the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 in a rough semi-final series, and then beat Boston 5-2 to advance against the Maroons. The annual Barnum and Bailey circus knocked the Rangers out of the Madison Square Garden arena and into the Forum for the entire seris, even though Boston offered to host the Rangers games.

The Maroons won the opening game 2–0, with Nels Stewart and goaltender Clint Benedict the stars.

Drama took over in game two when Nels Stewart fired a shot that struck New York goalie Lorne Chabot in the eye. Unable to continue, the Rangers needed a replacement for Chabot but Maroons coach Eddie Girard denied them the use of Ottawa's Alex Connell or minor leaguer Hugh McCormick. Ranger coach Lester Patrick, in anger, decided to don the pads himself. The Rangers then pasted any Maroon who got near Patrick. Bill Cook scored, putting the Rangers ahead 1-0, but Stewart was not to be denied and tied the game. In overtime, Frank Boucher netted the winner for the Rangers and they carried Patrick, tears streaming down his eyes, off the ice.



























Joe "Red Light" Miller, the New York Americans goalie, was allowed to take Chabot's place in goal and he played well in a 2-0 loss in game three. Miller remained for the rest of the series, and Boucher starred again in game 4, as the Rangers won 1-0.

Miller suffered a similar fate to Chabot in game 5, but continued on despite an open gash. Controversy erupted and the crowd became hostile when official Mike Rodden disallowed a goal by the Maroon's Oatman. NHL president Frank Calder even became a target of some fan's wrath for not intervening. The Rangers, in only their second NHL season, held onto the 2-1 margin to become the second American team to win the Stanley Cup. They also became the first NHL American team to claim Lord Stanley's mug.