1934–35 Boston Bruins season



The 1934–35 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 11th season in the NHL. The Bruins finished first in the American Division and won their sixth Prince of Wales Trophy. They lost in the Semi-finals to the Toronto Maple Leafs 3 games to 1.

Pre-season
The Bruins held their training camp in Quebec City, Quebec.

They played a four game series against the Montreal Canadiens in eastern Canada:


 * Monday, October 28 Bruins 2 Canadiens 1 @ Saint John
 * Wednesday, October 31 Canadiens 3 Bruins 2 @ Moncton
 * Friday, November 2 Bruins 2 Canadiens 1 @ Halifax
 * Sunday, November 4 Bruins 5 Canadiens 3 @ Quebec City

Although official Bruins records list Dit Clapper as the team's captain for the season, Nels Stewart was appointed to lead the team as reported in the Boston Globe and a number of other newspapers.

Regular Season
The Bruins returned to form in 1934-35 after seeing Eddie Shore miss 18 games due to a contract hold-out and a suspension for the Ace Bailey incident. He led the team in assists and had the lowest penalty minutes of his career. His playmaking was a major reason for the Bruins finishing first in the American Division and returning to the playoffs. He was awarded his second Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's MVP.

Seasons of 20 goals or more by Marty Barry, Nels Stewart and Dit Clapper drove the offense but secondary scoring from newly acquired Charlie Sands and Max Kaminsky made the Bruins difficult to defend against. Bert McInenly performed well on defense replacing the retired Lionel Hitchman and goalie Tiny Thompson was his stellar self, earning a Second Team All Star berth. The home opener on November 17, 1934 versus the St. Louis Eagles saw all Bruins defensemen wear helmets. They'd continue to do so for the remainder of the season. Leighton "Happy" Emms started the season with the Bruins but was traded to the New York Americans after playing 11 games. He'd become the Bruins general manager prior to the 1965-66 season.

During the third period of the December 11, 1934 match versus the Americans, Nels Stewart and Lloyd Klein were given match penalties for a stick-swinging fight. Stewart received a 1 game suspension while Klein was assessed 3 games. The Bruins also had the first penalty shot in their history in this game. Eddie Shore missed on Roy Worters and then later in the game, Dit Clapper also missed on a penalty shot. The Bruins still defeated the Americans 4-3.

The Bruins held a hockey clinic for children at Newton Pond in December 1934 in which the players signed autographs and gave the kids hockey instruction. See Gallery below.

The February 12, 1935 game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs was a 4-4 tie at the end of regulation. Toronto's Regis Kelly scored in the 10 minute overtime, which was not sudden death. The Leafs Hap Day took a penalty at 6:58 mark and Boston responded with power plays goals (penalties didn't end if a goal was scored) by Max Kaminsky and Dit Clapper to send the home town crowd home happy with a 6-5 win.

Toronto Maple Leafs 3, Boston Bruins 1
In a repeat of two years before, the league's two best teams met in the second round of the playoffs, both teams having received byes in the first round. Although two games went into overtime, the Maple Leafs had an easier time beating the Bruins than in the 1933 playoffs and held them to just two goals in the series.

Game 1 at the Boston Garden was a close checking affair with the only goal scored by Dit Clapper at 13:26 of the second OT period giving the Bruins their only win of the series and Tiny Thompson the shutout. Clapper injured his knee in this game which would hamper him the rest of the series.

Game 2 in Boston was scoreless through the first two periods but near the end of the second period, Tiny Thompson's face was badly cut by the skate of Bill Thoms. He returned in the third period swathed in bandages but goals from Charlie Conacher and Busher Jackson carried the Leafs to a 2-0 victory and tied the series 1-1.

Game 3 at Maple Leaf Gardens saw Dit Clapper play with a knee brace and miss the last half of the game. The Leafs score goals in each period by Bill Thoms, Nick Metz and Busher Jackson and won 3-0. George Hainsworth posted his second shutout of the series.

Game 4 at Toronto saw Clapper out of the line-up. The Bruins took the lead for the first time in the series on a first period goal by Jack Beattie. With a little over two minutes left in the game, the Leafs Baldy Cotton scored with the Bruins Babe Siebert in the box, but the goal was disallowed as Cotton was in the crease. Cotton got into an argument with Tiny Thompson and a fight broke out, with Thompson's face still bandaged, a bench-clearing brawl broke out. Siebert left the penalty box to join in and when order was restored, the Leafs had a 4 on 3 power play. At 18:11, "Pep" Kelly tied it up with a sharp angle shot that went in off Thompson's skate. Kelly then took a late penalty and overtime started with the teams playing 3 men aside. In overtime, once Kelly's penalty was served, he jumped out of the box, retrieved the puck behind the Bruins net, wheeled out front and scored at 1:36 to win the series for Toronto. The Leafs would lose the 1935 Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Maroons.

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

 * Prince of Wales Trophy: Boston Bruins (6th win)
 * Hart Memorial Trophy: Eddie Shore (2nd win)
 * Eddie Shore, Defence, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Dit Clapper, Right Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
 * Tiny Thompson, Goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star

Transactions

 * Purchase Charlie Sands from the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 12, 1934.
 * Trade Joe Lamb to the Montreal Canadiens for Johnny Gagnon on October 2, 1934.
 * Trade George Patterson to the Detroit Red Wings for Gene Carrigan on October 10, 1934.
 * Trade Percy Jackson to the New York Rangers for Jean Pusie on October 10, 1934.
 * Sell Harry Oliver and Alex Smith to the New York Americans on October 17, 1934.
 * Purchase Art Giroux from the Canadiens on October 18, 1934.
 * Trade Tommy Filmore to the Canadiens for Gordon Savage on November 5, 1934.
 * Purchase Percy Jackson from the Rangers on November 18, 1934.
 * Return Gordon Savage to the Canadiens and purchase Jack Portland for $10,000 on December 2, 1934.
 * Purchase Joe Lamb from the Canadiens and then trade him to the St. Louis Eagles for Max Kaminsky and Des Roche on December 4, 1934.
 * Sell Des Roche to the Canadiens on December 8, 1934.
 * Sell Hap Emms and trade Obs Heximer to the Americans for Walter Jackson on December 14, 1934.
 * Purchase Paul Haynes from the Montreal Maroons on December 28, 1934.
 * Sell Johnny Gagnon to the Canadiens on January 9, 1935. Gagnon played three games for the Bruins after the trade and reported to Montreal on January 17, 1935.
 * Trade Frank Jerwa to the Americans for Gerry Shannon on January 18, 1935.

Farm Teams

 * Boston Bruin Cubs, Canadian American Hockey League (league champions)

Trivia

 * The first penalty shot in Bruins history occurred during the December 11, 1934 game versus the New York Americans. Eddie Shore missed on Roy Worters in the Bruins 4-3 win.
 * During the January 15, 1935 game at the Boston Garden versus the St. Louis Eagles, an ice-making problem caused a patch with no ice to appear at the east end of the rink. A rubber mat was placed over the patch and the teams switched ends every 10 minutes. The Bruins won 5-3.
 * No Bruins recorded a hat trick this season.