1929–30 Boston Bruins season



The 1929–30 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 6th season in the NHL. The Bruins finished 1st in the NHL and won their third Prince of Wales Trophy. In defending its American Division title for the second straight season, the Bruins took advantage of new rules and its powerhouse lineup to record the best single season winning percentage in NHL history, .875, a record which still stands. However, the club failed to defend its Stanley Cup title, losing in the 1930 Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Canadiens 2 games to 0.

Off-season
Art Ross claimed Marty Barry from the New York Americans in the 1929 intra-league draft. One of the greatest steals in NHL history, Barry would led the Bruins in scoring for three seasons and do the same for the Detroit Red Wings while winning two Stanley Cups. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965.

Regular Season
To celebrate their Stanley Cup, woolen cardigans were made for the Bruins staff and players with "World's Champions" emblazoned on the front. Trainer Win Green, Art Ross and his children and the players wore these with pride for many years in the 1930's.

To combat low scoring as the previous season had the fewest goals per game recorded before or thereafter a major rule change was implemented. Players were now allowed forward passing in the offensive zone, instead of only in the defensive and neutral zones. This led to abuse, players sat in front of the opposing net waiting for a pass, and goals scored nearly tripled league-wide. The rule was changed again mid-season in December 1929, and players were no longer allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck, thus giving birth to the modern offside rule.

Boston took advantage of the new rule from its opening match, defeating Detroit 5-2 before a sellout crowd behind two goals from center Cooney Weiland. The team was noted in the press for its skill in dealing with the new infractions called for hanging back, recording many fewer penalties than the other teams in early season play.

The November 23, 1929 game against the Montreal Maroons was particularly violent. Superstar defenseman Eddie Shore battled the Maroons all night, particularly Babe Siebert who suffered a broken toe, bruised rib and black eye. Dave Trottier spat blood after a Shore butt-end to the chest. Shore played 58 minutes of the game, despite high sticks from Seibert that resulted in a deep cut over his eye and nose, three teeth knocked out and a concussion. The Bruins won 4-3 with Shore marking two assists. Shore went to hospital after the game and missed the return match against the Maroons on the 26th. Bruins' president Charles Adams presented Shore with a check for $500, purportedly $100 for each facial scar he received at the hands of the Maroons.

The Bruins went on a tear starting with a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on November 30, winning fourteen straight games through to a 4-3 win on January 9 also against Pittsburgh. This set a new league mark for consecutive wins that would last for 52 years until the New York Islanders broke it in 1982, and is still the third longest such streak in league history. The streak was broken by the New York Americans on January 12, the league's last place team at the time. The "Dynamite Line" of Cooney Weiland, Dit Clapper and Dutch Gainor was responsible for most of the team's goals to that point, and by the halfway mark of the season, the Bruins had a 20-3 record, nearly twice as many wins as any other team in the league.

During the December 12, 1929 game against the Ottawa Senators, Eddie Shore was fined $25 for coming off the bench to fight. Shore scored the winning goal as the Bruins beat the Senators 3-2. Rookie Marty Barry centered the second line and had an excellent freshman campaign. On Boxing Day 1926, trailing the New York Rangers 2-0, Barry scored on the power play and then tied the game up while the Bruins were shorthanded two men. The Bruins added two more goals, including another shorthanded goal by Cooney Weiland as they beat the Rangers 4-2.

In another unusual incident involving Shore, well known for his fighting ability, the Bruins' defenseman was challenged to a boxing match by baseball player Art Shires. While NHL President Frank Calder said that Shore's participation was up to Bruins' manager Art Ross to decide, baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis vetoed Shires' participation, and the match was never held.

The Bruins had yet another streak (broken by a Chicago Black Hawks overtime win on March 13) of seventeen games without a defeat, tying the then league record. By season's end, Weiland led the league in scoring (one goal shy of Joe Malone's 1918 record of 44), Dit Clapper had finished third, and Dutch Gainor ninth. The Dynamite Line scored 102 of the Bruins' league record 179 goals, as many as last-place Pittsburgh managed.

Among the many marks set by the Bruins in the 1930 season that remain NHL records was the longest home winning streak in a single season of twenty games, the fewest ties in an NHL season with 1 and the fewest losses in a season with 5. Their 0.875 winning percentage is the best in NHL history as of 2020.

During the second period of the March 1, 1930 game versus Ottawa, the Bruins Lionel Hitchman was hit in the jaw by an Eddie Shore shot, breaking it. Hitchman would return to action in the season finale four games later wearing a jaw protector and play the entire playoffs with the head gear. He'd finish as the runner-up for the Hart Memorial Trophy while goalie Tiny Thompson won the Vezina Trophy.

Game Log
A - Originally scheduled to be played at Pittsburgh, it was moved to Boston. B - Originally scheduled to be played at Pittsburgh on February 8, it was moved to Fort Erie, Ontario and the date changed.

Playoffs
As the American Division champions, Boston enjoyed a first round bye in the playoffs, and faced the Montreal Maroons, the Canadian Division champions, in the Semi-finals in a best-of-five series.

Boston Bruins 3, Montreal Maroons 1
The first game of the series was a grueling overtime match in which Bruins' coach Art Ross was noted for ceaseless criticism of the officiating and the ice condition, to the annoyance of the home crowd in Montreal, won on a Harry Oliver overtime goal at the 45 minute mark. The Bruins won the second match handily on two goals from Dit Clapper, partially due to an injury forcing Montreal star Babe Siebert out only a few minutes into the game, but with Siebert's return in the third game the match was much closer. Unusually, Montreal starter Buck Boucher broke a leg 24 minutes into overtime, and his replacement, little-used defenseman Archie Wilcox, scored the game winner at the 26 minute mark. Siebert did not dress for the final game, and the Bruins overwhelmed the Maroons to reach the Cup Finals, behind two goals from Marty Barry, earning the Bruins a rest while they waited for their next opponent.

Montreal Canadiens 2, Boston Bruins 0
The Bruins were heavily favored to retain the Stanley Cup, but were shocked in the first game of the best-of-three Finals by the play of Canadiens' goaltender George Hainsworth, who shut out the Bruins' powerful offense. In the second game, Montreal went out to a three-goal lead until Eddie Shore scored. Howie Morenz responded five minutes later and the Habs led 4-1 going into the third period. Goals by Percy Galbraith and Dit Clapper made it close but Montreal held on for the win. It was the first time all season long the Bruins had lost two games in a row, and the stunning defeat of the regular season champions in such a short series spurred the league to change the Cup Finals to a best-of-five series for subsequent years. Clapper led all playoff scorers with 4 goals while Marty Barry and Cooney Weiland tied for the points lead with 6 each.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records

 * Highest single season winning percentage: .875 (still stands)
 * Most wins: 38 (still a record for 50 game and less season)
 * Fewest losses: 5 (still stands)
 * Fewest ties: 1 (still stands)
 * Longest consecutive game winning streak: 14 (currently third all time)
 * Longest consecutive home game winning streak: 20 (still stands)
 * Most goals: 179 (still a record for 50 game and less season)
 * Most points by a player: 73, Cooney Weiland (broken in 1943–44 by the Bruins Herb Cain with 82 points)
 * Most goals by a forward line: Dynamite Line, 102 (Weiland, Clapper, Gainor)
 * Longest winning streak by a goaltender: 14 games, Tiny Thompson (still stands though twice tied)
 * Prince of Wales Trophy: Boston Bruins (3rd win)
 * Vezina Trophy (fewest goals allowed): Tiny Thompson (1st win)
 * NHL Scoring Leader: Cooney Weiland
 * NHL Goal Scoring Leader: Cooney Weiland
 * Hart Memorial Trophy: Lionel Hitchman, Runner-up

Note: Up through the 1930 season, the NHL did not select end-of-season All-Star Teams.

Transactions

 * Purchase Herb Gardiner, George Patterson and Art Gagne from the Montreal Canadiens on May 13, 1929.
 * Claim Marty Barry in the intra-league draft from the New York Americans, June 1929.
 * Trade Bill Hutton to the Ottawa Senators for Harry Connor on January 30, 1930.
 * Trade Bill Regan to the New York Rangers for Yip Foster and $15,000 on February 17, 1930.

Farm Teams

 * Boston Tigers, Canadian American Hockey League

Trivia

 * The Bruins proposed a rule making it mandatory for all players to wear a helmet. Voted on in late December 1929, all team representatives of the NHL Board of Governors voted it down, with exception of the Bruins and the Leafs who abstained.
 * Cooney Weiland scored 4 goals in the 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on February 25, 1930.
 * Firsts in Bruins history accomplished during this season include:
 * First 40 goal season by Cooney Weiland in a 3-2 OT loss to the Chicago Black Hawks on March 13, 1930. Dit Clapper followed suit by scoring the Bruins last 2 goals of the season for his 40th and 41st goals in a 9-2 rout of the New York Rangers on March 18, 1930.
 * First 14 game winning streak from December 3, 1929 to January 9, 1930.
 * First 17 game point streak from January 14 to March 11, 1930.
 * Bruins who recorded a hat trick this season include:
 * Dutch Gainor during the 6-5 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 16, 1929.
 * Cooney Weiland had a 4 goal game during the 7-0 win over Pittsburgh on February 25, 1930.
 * Weiland during the 4-3 win over Chicago on March 11, 1930.
 * Weiland during the 9-2 win over the Rangers on March 18, 1930.

Post-Season Exhibition
The Bruins played a three game series in Vancouver against the Pacific Coast Hockey League champion Vancouver Lions.


 * April 11 Vancouver 3 Boston 1
 * April 14 Boston 3 Vancouver 1
 * April 17 Boston 4 Vancouver 3

They then moved on to California, where they played the Oakland Sheiks, San Francisco Tigers, the Los Angeles Richfields of the California League and the Chicago Black Hawks.


 * April 21 Boston 6 @ San Francisco 5
 * April 22 Boston 3 @ Oakland 2
 * April 23 Boston 4 Chicago 2 @ San Francisco
 * April 25 Boston 5 @ Oakland 4
 * April 28 Boston 8 @ Los Angeles 3
 * May 1 Boston 4 Chicago 3 @ Los Angeles
 * May 3 Boston vs. Chicago @ Los Angeles?