The 1930–31 NHL season was the fourteenth season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks three games to two in a best-of-five Stanley Cup final for their second Cup win in a row.
Art Ross bitterly complained about the Stanley Cup final setup. His team had been beaten in two games in a row by the Montreal Canadiens in 1929–30. As a result, the Board of Governors decided to make the final a best of five series.
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
On 26 March, during the second game of the best-of-five series between the Bruins and Canadiens, Art Ross of Boston pulled his goaltender for an extra player while down 1–0 with 40 seconds left in the final period. This marked the first time in NHL history that a goalie was pulled for an extra attacker.
In the finals, the Chicago Black Hawks took an early two games to one lead in the newly expanded best-of-five Stanley Cup finals but the Montreal Canadiens came back and won the series three games to two for their second consecutive Stanley Cup win.
Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Montreal wins best-of-five series 3–2.
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1930–31 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1930–31 (listed with their last team):