1934–35 St. Louis Eagles season



The 1934–35 St. Louis Eagles season was the Eagles' only season in the NHL. The Ottawa Senators franchise relocated to St. Louis in the summer of 1934 due to financial losses in Ottawa. Despite good attendance at the St. Louis Arena, the Eagles would have financial problems, due to travel costs. The Eagles would take the Senators' spot in the Canadian Division, and would face numerous road trips to Montreal and Toronto throughout the season, despite being closer to Chicago and Detroit, who played in the American Division.

Pre-season
The Eagles held their training camp in Ottawa.

Regular Season
The Eagles opened the NHL season at home, in the segregated seating of the St. Louis Arena, against the Chicago Black Hawks on November 8, 1934. Howie Morenz made his debut for Chicago during the game and assisted on the game's first goal, by Johnny Gottselig. Earl Roche scored the Eagles first goal, assisted by Ralph "Scotty" Bowman but the Black Hawks triumphed 3-1.

The Eagles were led offensively by Carl Voss and his team leading 31 points, team captain Syd Howe would lead the club with 14 goals, despite being traded to the Detroit Red Wings late in the season, while Glen Brydson would finish 2nd in team scoring with 29 points. Joe Jerwa, acquired by the Boston Bruins, would lead the defense with 11 points in only 16 games in St. Louis.

Bill Beveridge would be the Eagles goaltender, winning 11 games with a 2.89 GAA and 3 shutouts.

The strain of so many long train rides showed early on. Midway through the season, new head coach and former Senators player Eddie Gerard was relieved of his duties after a 2–11–0 start and was replaced by Buck Boucher, who was the head coach of the Senators the previous season. Boucher would post a 9–20–6 record in 35 games. All told, the Eagles finished 11–31–6, dead last in the league with a winning percentage of .292.

After the season, the franchise owners asked permission to suspend operations for a year. Instead, the NHL bought the players' contracts for $40,000 and dispersed the players to the other NHL teams. The NHL took back the franchise, on the condition that if it were resold, the original franchisees would share in the proceeds.

The Montreal Maroons nearly relocated to St. Louis in 1938, but the NHL nixed the move. St. Louis would be without an NHL team until 1967, when the league expanded from 6 teams to 12, and the St. Louis Blues took the ice.

Playoffs

 * The Eagles did not qualify for the post season.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; 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

 * The Eagles did not win any awards this season.