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1923–24 NHL season
1923–24 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	December 15, 1923 – March 11, 1924
Number of games	24
Number of teams	4
Regular season
Season champions	Ottawa Senators
Season MVP	Frank Nighbor (Senators)
Top scorer	Cy Denneny (Senators)
O'Brien Cup
Champions	Montreal Canadiens
Runners-up	Ottawa Senators
NHL seasons
	← 1922–23 1924–25 →

The 1923–24 NHL season was the seventh season of the National Hockey League. Four teams each played 24 games. The league champions were the Montreal Canadiens, who defeated the first-place Ottawa Senators in the league playoff. The Canadiens then defeated the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) and Vancouver Maroons of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) to win their second Stanley Cup championship.

League business

At the NHL meeting of February 9, 1924, the NHL discussed plans for expansion into the United States.^[1] The same meeting saw the introduction of the new Hart Trophy, to be awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team.^[2]

After the suspensions of their own players by the Canadiens, in 1922–23. the NHL decided to take a further role in discipline, as it redefined match fouls, changed fines and adds presidential review for possible further punishment.^[3]

Arena changes

The Ottawa Senators moved from The Arena to the Ottawa Auditorium.

Regular season

A newcomer that would become the NHL's first drawing card, Howie Morenz, started his career with the Montreal Canadiens this year. Morenz scored the first goal of his career on December 27, 1923, in the inaugural NHL game at the new Ottawa Auditorium. It was the first of a career 270 goals.

The Hamilton Tigers added Billy Burch and the Green brothers, Shorty and Redvers (nicknamed Red) and now they had a team that could compete nicely with the rest of the league. On December 28, Shorty Green scored at 12:22 of overtime to give Hamilton its first ever road victory over the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa. However, the changes did not pay off this season. The Hamilton Tigers finished last for the fifth season in a row (counting one season as the Quebec Athletics).

The NHL held a mid-season meeting to consider Sprague Cleghorn's suspension. Ottawa claimed he was deliberately injuring opponents, citing a spearing incident against Cy Denneny. The league rejected the charges, and in a game against Ottawa shortly thereafter, Cleghorn charged Lionel Hitchman into the boards and earned a one-game suspension.^[4]

A game between Ottawa and the Canadiens was postponed due to a bizarre incident near the end of the season. On their way to Montreal, the Ottawa's train got snowbound near Hawkesbury, Ontario. The team was stuck all night and so Cy Denneny decided to scrounge around for some food, and somehow fell down a well. He was not injured. The game was postponed until the next night and Georges Vezina shut out the Senators 3–0.

Final standings

National Hockey League
	GP	W	L	Pts	GF	GA
Ottawa Senators	24	16	8	32	74	54
Montreal Canadiens	24	13	11	26	59	48
Toronto St. Patricks	24	10	14	20	59	85
Hamilton Tigers	24	9	15	18	63	68

^[5] Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

This was the last season that three leagues competed for the Stanley Cup as, after the season, the PCHA folded. Two of its teams, the Vancouver Maroons and Victoria Cougars, joined the WCHL for the 1924–25 WCHL season.

NHL Championship

The Montreal Canadiens had finished second overall in the NHL regular season standings but in the playoffs, they would upset the first-place Ottawa Senators.

March 8	Ottawa Senators		0–1	Montreal Canadiens	Mount Royal Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		5:00 - Howie Morenz (1)
No scoring		Third period		No scoring
Clint Benedict		Goalie stats		Georges Vezina

March 11	Montreal Canadiens		4–2	Ottawa Senators	Ottawa Auditorium	Recap
Howie Morenz (2) - 12:20		First period		13:20 - Cy Denneny (1)
Howie Morenz (3) - 3:30 Aurele Joliat (1) - 6:30 Billy Boucher (1) - 18:05		Second period		10:25 - pp - Cy Denneny (2)
No scoring		Third period		No scoring
Georges Vezina		Goalie stats		Clint Benedict

Montreal won the series on total goals 5-2

Stanley Cup playoffs

The second place Vancouver Maroons of the PCHA once again faced the first place Seattle Metropolitans and once again, Vancouver would come out on top winning the PCHA league championship. Meanwhile, in the Western Canada Hockey League, the Calgary Tigers won the regular season and the playoffs. The Canadiens owner, Leo Dandurand, wanted Calgary and Vancouver to face off against each other and then have the Canadiens play the winner for the Stanley Cup. Frank Patrick, the president of the PCHA, refused to go along with that idea.

Semi-final

Since Leo Dandurand's request to have Vancouver and Calgary face off first was denied, the first round match-up was the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Maroons. The Canadiens swept the best-of-three series two games to none. Game one was played under eastern rules. Game two was played under western rules.

March 18	Vancouver Maroons		2–3	Montreal Canadiens	Mount Royal Arena	Recap
Helge Bostrom (1) - 5:10		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		1:00 - Sprague Cleghorn (1) 18:00 - Aurele Joliat (2)
Joe Matte (1) - 7:00		Third period		8:00 - Billy Boucher (2)
Hugh Lehman		Goalie stats		Georges Vezina

March 20	Vancouver Maroons		1–2	Montreal Canadiens	Mount Royal Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
Frank Boucher (1) - 15:00		Third period		5:00 - Billy Boucher (3) 14:00 - Billy Boucher (4)
Hugh Lehman		Goalie stats		Georges Vezina

Montreal won the series 2-0

Finals

After sweeping Vancouver, Montreal's next opponent was the Calgary Tigers. Montreal swept them too in a best-of-three series. Howie Morenz scored a hat trick in game one and another goal in the game two, which was transferred to Ottawa because of the slushy ice at Mount Royal Arena. Morenz was body-checked by Cully Wilson of Calgary and suffered a chipped collarbone. 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.

March 22	Calgary Tigers		1–6	Montreal Canadiens	Mount Royal Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period		19:10 – Howie Morenz (4)
Herb Gardiner (1) – 19:30		Second period		00:40 – Howie Morenz (5) 11:20 – Billy Boucher (5) 15:55 – Howie Morenz (6)
No scoring		Third period		03:40 – Aurele Joliat (3) 04:50 – Sprague Cleghorn (2)
Charlie Reid		Goalie stats		Georges Vezina

March 25	Calgary Tigers		0–3	Montreal Canadiens	Ottawa Auditorium	Recap
No scoring		First period		04:55 – Howie Morenz (7)
No scoring		Second period		No scoring
No scoring		Third period		03:30 – Billy Boucher (6) 13:50 – Aurele Joliat (4)
Charlie Reid		Goalie stats		Georges Vezina

Montreal won series 2–0

Playoff scoring leader

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Howie Morenz	Montreal Canadiens	6	7	3	10

Awards

The league introduced its first individual award, the Hart Trophy, to the player judged to be "the most valuable player" to their team.^[3]

1923–24 NHL awards
Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player)	Frank Nighbor, Ottawa Senators
O'Brien Cup: (League champion)	Montreal Canadiens
Prince of Wales Trophy: (League champion)	Montreal Canadiens

Note: The Prince of Wales Trophy was not in existence yet in 1924. The 1923–24 Canadiens were engraved onto the trophy in 1925–26.^[6]

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Cy Denneny	Ottawa Senators	21	22	2	24
Billy Boucher	Montreal Canadiens	23	16	6	22
Aurel Joliat	Montreal Canadiens	24	15	5	20
Babe Dye	Toronto St. Patricks	19	17	2	19
George Boucher	Ottawa Senators	21	14	5	19
Billy Burch	Hamilton Tigers	24	16	2	18
Jack Adams	Toronto St. Patricks	22	13	3	16
Howie Morenz	Montreal Canadiens	24	13	3	16
King Clancy	Ottawa Senators	24	8	8	16
Reg Noble	Toronto St. Patricks	23	12	3	14

Source: NHL.^[7]

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played, GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average

Name	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Georges Vezina	Montreal Canadiens	24	1459	13	11	48	3	1.97
Clint Benedict	Ottawa Senators	22	1356	15	7	45	3	1.99
Jake Forbes	Hamilton Tigers	24	1483	9	15	68	1	2.75
John Ross Roach	Toronto St. Patricks	23	1380	10	13	80	1	3.48
Sammy Hebert	Ottawa Senators	2	120	1	1	9	0	4.50

Source: NHL^[8]

Coaches

Hamilton Tigers: Percy Lesueur and Ken Randall
Montreal Canadiens: Leo Dandurand
Ottawa Senators: Tommy Gorman
Toronto St. Patricks: Charles Querrie

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1923–24 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Red Green, Hamilton Tigers
Shorty Green, Hamilton Tigers
Howie Morenz, Montreal Canadiens
Sylvio Mantha, Montreal Canadiens
Frank Finnigan, Ottawa Senators

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1923–24 (listed with their last team):

Joe Malone, Montreal Canadiens
Jack Darragh, Ottawa Senators
Amos Arbour, Toronto St. Patricks

Free agency

Date	Players	Team
September 30, 1923	Howie Morenz	Montreal Canadiens
December 3, 1923	Sylvio Mantha	Montreal Canadiens
February 21, 1924	Frank Finnigan	Ottawa Senators

Transactions

December 14, 1923	To Toronto St. Patricks Amos Arbour Bert Corbeau George Carey	To Hamilton Tigers Ken Randall Rights to Corbett Denneny cash
December 18, 1923	To Ottawa Senators Leth Graham	To Hamilton Tigers cash
January 16, 1924	To Hamilton Tigers Ganton Scott	To Toronto St. Patricks cash

References

Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol.1 1893–1926 inc. National Hockey League. pp. 441–464.
Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1.

Notes

^ McFarlane 1973, p. 34.
^ Coleman 1966, pp. 443–444.
^ ^a ^b Fischler 2003, p. 54.
^ Fischler 2003, p. 55.
^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
^ McCarthy, Dave, ed. (2008). The National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2009. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 241. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
^ Dinger 2011, p. 146.
^ "1923–24 Regular Season – Goalie Season Stats Leaders". NHL. Retrieved December 4, 2011.