1929-30 NHL season

The 1929-30 NHL season was the thirteenth season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The Montreal Canadiens upset the heavily favoured Boston Bruins two games to none in the 1930 Stanley Cup Finals.

Regular Season

To combat low scoring, 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. The rule was changed again mid-season in December 1929, and players were no longer allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck. Hence the birth of the modern-day offside rule.

Eddie Shore's wife attends to his wound, November 25, 1929.

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. Shore played 58 minutes of the game, despite high sticks from Seibert that resulted in a deep cut over his eye, 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.

Conn Smythe brought up two outstanding forwards, Harvey Jackson and Charlie Conacher, and combined with Joe Primeau, the Kid Line was born. Conacher actually scored on his first shift in the NHL. Jackson got his nickname Busher from Tim Daly, the Toronto trainer, when asked by Daly to assist with some sticks. "I'm a hockey player, not a stickboy," Jackson told Daly, who replied, "Why you fresh young busher!" And it was Busher Jackson from that day on.

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.

Clint Benedict became the first NHL to wear a mask, February 20, 1930.

Eddie Gerard resigned as manager-coach of the Montreal Maroons. He was replaced as manager by team president James Strachan. Dunc Munro was hired as coach and led the team to first place in the Canadian Division.

This was the last NHL season for goalie Clint Benedict. During the January 7, 1930 game against the Montreal Canadiens, a Howie Morenz shot broke Benedict's nose and cheekbone, knocking him unconscious. Benedict returned to the line-up on February 20, 1930, wearing a leather face mask. He held the New York Americans to a 3-3 tie, becoming the first goalie in NHL history to wear facial protection in a game. Benedict played five more games with the mask but again suffered a nose injury, during the 6-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on March 4, 1930. Flat Walsh came on in relief and it was Benedict's last NHL game.

Lionel Hitchman's jaw protector, March 18, 1930.

There was a well-founded rumour that Eddie Gerard would take the coaching reins of Ottawa from Newsy Lalonde when Lalonde was not well. Dave Gill filled in during his absence and the team did much better and made the playoffs. Gerard turned down the coaching job.

During the second period of the March 1, 1930 game versus the Ottawa Senators, 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.

Cooney Weiland of the Boston Bruins took advantage of the rule changes and smashed the old NHL scoring record with 73 points. Weiland and Tiny Thompson, who won the Vezina Trophy with a 2.23 goals against average, led the Bruins to a final season standings record of 38 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie — an .875 winning percentage, an NHL record as of 2020.

Final Standings

Canadian Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Maroons	44	23	16	5	141	114	51
Montreal Canadiens	44	21	14	9	142	114	51
Ottawa Senators	44	21	15	8	138	118	50
Toronto Maple Leafs	44	17	21	6	116	124	40
New York Americans	44	14	25	5	113	161	33

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.

American Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Boston Bruins	44	38	5	1	179	98	77
Chicago Black Hawks	44	21	18	5	117	111	47
New York Rangers	44	17	17	10	136	143	44
Detroit Cougars	44	14	24	6	117	133	34
Pittsburgh Pirates	44	5	36	3	102	185	13

Scoring Leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

PLAYER	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Cooney Weiland	Boston Bruins	44	43	30	73	27
Frank Boucher	New York Rangers	42	26	36	62	16
Dit Clapper	Boston Bruins	44	41	20	61	48
Bill Cook	New York Rangers	44	29	30	59	56
Hec Kilrea	Ottawa Senators	44	36	22	58	23

Leading Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	W	L	T	Mins	GA	SO	GAA
Tiny Thompson	Boston Bruins	44	38	5	1	2680	98	3	2.19
Flat Walsh	Montreal Maroons	30	16	10	4	1897	74	2	2.34
George Hainsworth	Montreal Canadiens	42	20	13	9	2680	108	4	2.42
Charlie Gardiner	Chicago Black Hawks	44	21	16	9	2750	111	3	2.42
Alex Connell	Ottawa Senators	44	21	15	8	2780	118	3	2.55

Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Boston 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 the Montreal 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.

Playoff Bracket

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

C1

Montreal Maroons

1

A1

Boston Bruins

3

A1

Boston Bruins

0

C2

Montreal Canadiens

2

C2

Montreal Canadiens

3G

A2

Chicago Black Hawks

2G

C2

Montreal Canadiens

2

A3

New York Rangers

0

C3

Ottawa Senators

3G

A3

New York Rangers

6G

Boston Bruins 3, Montreal Maroons 1

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.

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 opponents.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	March 20	Boston Bruins	2–1 (3OT)	Montreal Maroons	1–0
2	March 22	Boston Bruins	4–2	Montreal Maroons	2–0
3	March 25	Montreal Maroons	1–0 (2OT)	Boston Bruins	1-2
4	March 27	Montreal Maroons	1-5	Boston Bruins	1-3

NHL Awards

1929-30 NHL awards
O'Brien Trophy:	Montreal Maroons
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Boston Bruins
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Nels Stewart, Montreal Maroons
Lady Byng Trophy:	Frank Boucher, New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy:	Tiny Thompson, Boston Bruins

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1929-30 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Tom Cook, Chicago Black Hawks
• Ebbie Goodfellow, Detroit Cougars
• Syd Howe, Ottawa Senators
• Busher Jackson, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Charlie Conacher, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last Games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1929-30 (listed with their last team):

• Mickey MacKay, Boston Bruins
• Jimmy Herberts, Detroit Cougars
• Clint Benedict, Montreal Maroons
• Frank Nighbor, Toronto Maple Leafs

Gallery

Hawks Johnny Gottselig rounds the net past Maroons Flat Walsh on December 12, 1929.

Bruins and Maroons line up for the anthems in 1930.

Bruins and Rangers in 1929-30 season action.

See Also

• List of Stanley Cup champions

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com