1930–31 Boston Bruins season

1930–31 Boston Bruins · NHL
Prince of Wales Trophy Winners
American Division Champions
Division	1st American
1930–31 record	28–10–6
Goals for	143 (1st)
Goals against	90 (5th)
General Manager	Art Ross
Coach	Art Ross
Captain	Lionel Hitchman
Arena	Boston Garden
Team Leaders
Goals	Cooney Weiland (25)
Assists	Eddie Shore (16)
Points	Cooney Weiland (38)
Penalties in minutes	Eddie Shore (105)
Wins	Tiny Thompson (28)
Goals against average	Tiny Thompson (2.05)
← Seasons →
1929–30	1931–32

The 1930–31 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 7th season in the NHL. The Bruins finished 1st in the NHL and won their fourth Prince of Wales Trophy. They lost in the Semi-finals to the Montreal Canadiens 3 games to 2.

Regular Season

1930-31 would be the last year for the "Dynamite Line" of Clapper, Weiland and Gainor.

The Bruins continued where they left off from their record-breaking 1929-30 season and again led the league in scoring and finished first. The "Dynamite Line" of Dit Clapper, Cooney Weiland and Dutch Gainor continued to power the offense, although Gainor's play declined and he was traded in the off season. Marty Barry continued to blossom and would become the Bruins preeminent scorer of the early 1930's.

Eddie Shore continued his outstanding play, was runner-up for the Hart Memorial Trophy and a First Team All-Star.

Highlights of the season included December in which the Bruins only lost once and a Christmas home game against the Philadelphia Quakers who they drubbed 8-0 powered by a Dit Clapper hat trick. The Quakers came into the game with a 1-13-1 record and were not in a holiday mood. Down 7-0 in the third period, two separate brawls sent policemen onto the ice in a bid to restore order. Six players were ejected - Clapper, Eddie Shore, George Owen for the Bruins and Gerry Lowrey, Hib Milks and Allan Shields for the Quakers. They were also fined $15 each.

Final Standings

American Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Boston Bruins	44	28	10	6	143	90	62
Chicago Black Hawks	44	24	17	3	108	78	51
New York Rangers	44	19	16	9	106	87	47
Detroit Falcons	44	16	21	7	102	105	39
Philadelphia Quakers	44	4	36	4	76	184	12

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against

Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	November 11, 1930	1–0	New York Americans (1930–31)	1–0–0
2	W	November 18, 1930	5–2	Montreal Canadiens (1930–31)	2–0–0
3	L	November 20, 1930	0–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1930–31)	2–1–0
4	T	November 23, 1930	2–2 OT	@ Detroit Falcons (1930–31)	2–1–1
5	L	November 25, 1930	3–4 OT	Chicago Black Hawks (1930–31)	2–2–1
6	W	November 27, 1930	2–1	Ottawa Senators (1930–31)	3–2–1
7	L	November 29, 1930	2–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1930–31)	3–3–1
8	W	December 2, 1930	3–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1930–31)	4–3–1
9	W	December 6, 1930	4–3	@ Philadelphia Quakers (1930–31)	5–3–1
10	W	December 9, 1930	2–1	Montreal Maroons (1930–31)	6–3–1
11	L	December 11, 1930	1–2	@ New York Americans (1930–31)	6–4–1
12	W	December 13, 1930	7–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1930–31)	7–4–1
13	W	December 16, 1930	3–2	Detroit Falcons (1930–31)	8–4–1
14	W	December 18, 1930	4–2	@ New York Rangers (1930–31)	9–4–1
15	T	December 20, 1930	2–2 OT	New York Rangers (1930–31)	9–4–2
16	W	December 25, 1930	8–0	Philadelphia Quakers (1930–31)	10–4–2
17	W	December 30, 1930	7–3	Ottawa Senators (1930–31)	11–4–2
18	W	January 1, 1931	4–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (1930–31)	12–4–2
19	L	January 3, 1931	3–5	@ Montreal Maroons (1930–31)	12–5–2
20	W	January 6, 1931	5–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1930–31)	13–5–2
21	W	January 8, 1931	3–1	@ Ottawa Senators (1930–31)	14–5–2
22	W	January 11, 1931	4–1	@ Detroit Falcons (1930–31)	15–5–2
23	T	January 13, 1931	2–2 OT	New York Rangers (1930–31)	15–5–3
24	L	January 15, 1931	0–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1930–31)	15–6–3
25	W	January 20, 1931	4–2	Ottawa Senators (1930–31)	16–6–3
26	L	January 22, 1931	1–2	@ New York Americans (1930–31)	16–7–3
27	W	January 24, 1931	4–2	@ Philadelphia Quakers (1930–31)	17–7–3
28	T	January 27, 1931	3–3 OT	Philadelphia Quakers (1930–31)	17–7–4
29	W	January 29, 1931	4–3	@ New York Rangers (1930–31)	18–7–4
30	W	February 3, 1931	7–2	Detroit Falcons (1930–31)	19–7–4
31	W	February 7, 1931	2–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1930–31)	20–7–4
32	W	February 10, 1931	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1930–31)	21–7–4
33	W	February 14, 1931	4–2	@ Montreal Maroons (1930–31)	22–7–4
34	W	February 17, 1931	2–0	New York Americans (1930–31)	23–7–4
35	T	February 19, 1931	1–1 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1930–31)	23–7–5
36	L	February 21, 1931	2–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1930–31)	23–8–5
37	W	February 24, 1931	5–1	@ Philadelphia Quakers (1930–31)	24–8–5
38	W	March 3, 1931	4–1	New York Rangers (1930–31)	25–8–5
39	W	March 7, 1931	7–2	Philadelphia Quakers (1930–31)	26–8–5
40	T	March 10, 1931	3–3 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1930–31)	26–8–6
41	L	March 12, 1931	2–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1930–31)	26–9–6
42	L	March 15, 1931	2–5 OT	@ Detroit Falcons (1930–31)	26–10–6
43	W	March 17, 1931	4–2	Detroit Falcons (1930–31)	27–10–6
44	W	March 21, 1931	3–1	Montreal Maroons (1930–31)	28–10–6

Playoffs

Montreal Canadiens 3, Boston Bruins 2

The league's two best teams met in the second round of the playoffs, both teams having received byes in the first round. The series was extremely close with three of the five games being decided in overtime.

Game 1 in Boston saw the Bruins behind 4-1 entering the third period. A three goal comeback sent the game into overtime where Cooney Weiland scored his second goal of the game to win it for the Bruins.

Game 2 in Boston was a close checking affair with the only goal scored by Georges Mantha in the first period. Early in the third period, Habs goalie George Hainsworth was cut on the forehead with a skate, stopping the game for 8 minutes while he was tended to in the locker room. With 4 minutes left in the game, George Owen was given a major penalty for an infraction against Howie Morenz. This resulted in a shower of debris being thrown on the ice, stopping the game for 15 minutes while it was cleaned up. With a minute to go, for the first time in NHL history, coach Art Ross pulled goalie Tiny Thompson in a failed attempt to tie the game.

Game 3 saw the series shift to Montreal for the remainder of the games played. Down 3-1 entering the third period, the Bruins again mounted a third period comeback to tie it up on goals by Cooney Weiland and Marty Barry. However, Georges Mantha scored the winner in overtime.

Game 4 saw the Bruins build a three goal lead entering the third period including Weiland's fourth goal of the series. A goal by the Canadiens' Nick Wasnie wasn't enough as the Bruins tied the series.

Game 5 followed the pattern of game 1 and 3 in which the Bruins fell behind entering the third period. Two goals from series scoring leader Weiland tied the game up but Wildor Larochelle scored at 19:00 of the first OT and the Habs took the series 3-2. Cooney Weiland led all playoff scorers with 9 points.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	March 24	Montreal Canadiens	4-5 (OT)	Boston Bruins	0-1
2	March 26	Montreal Canadiens	1-0	Boston Bruins	1-1
3	March 28	Boston Bruins	3-4 (OT)	Montreal Canadiens	1-2
4	March 30	Boston Bruins	3-1	Montreal Canadiens	2-2
5	April 1	Boston Bruins	2-3 (OT)	Montreal Canadiens	2-3

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

#	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
7	Weiland, CooneyCooney Weiland	C	44	25	13	38	14
10	Barry, MartyMarty Barry	C	44	20	11	31	26
2	Shore, EddieEddie Shore	D	44	15	16	31	105
5	Clapper, DitDit Clapper	RW/D	43	22	8	30	50
9	Oliver, HarryHarry Oliver	RW	44	16	14	30	18
4	Owen, GeorgeGeorge Owen	D	38	12	13	25	33
16	Beattie, RedRed Beattie	LW	32	10	11	21	25
17	Chapman, ArtArt Chapman	C	44	7	7	14	22
8	Gainor, DutchDutch Gainor	C	35	8	3	11	14
11	Darragh, HaroldHarold Darragh	LW	25	2	4	6	4
12	Harris, HenryHenry Harris	RW	32	2	4	6	20
6	Galbraith, PercyPercy Galbraith	LW/D	43	2	3	5	28
14	Pratt, JackJack Pratt	C/D	32	2	0	2	36
3	Hitchman, LionelLionel Hitchman	D	41	0	2	2	40
16	Runge, PaulPaul Runge	C/LW	1	0	0	0	0
15	Hutton, BillBill Hutton	D/RW	9	0	0	0	2
11	Lyons, RonRon Lyons	LW	14	0	0	0	19
1	Thompson, TinyTiny Thompson	G	44	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Thompson, TinyTiny Thompson	2730	44	28	10	6	90	1.98	3
Team:	2730	44	28	10	6	90	1.98	3

Playoffs

Scoring

#	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
7	Weiland, CooneyCooney Weiland	C	5	6	3	9	2
5	Clapper, DitDit Clapper	RW/D	5	2	4	6	4
4	Owen, GeorgeGeorge Owen	D	5	2	3	5	13
2	Shore, EddieEddie Shore	D	5	2	1	3	24
10	Barry, MartyMarty Barry	C	5	1	1	2	4
17	Chapman, ArtArt Chapman	C	5	0	1	1	7
11	Darragh, HaroldHarold Darragh	LW	5	0	1	1	2
8	Gainor, DutchDutch Gainor	C	5	0	1	1	2
15	Beattie, RedRed Beattie	LW	4	0	0	0	0
9	Oliver, HarryHarry Oliver	RW	4	0	0	0	2
14	Pratt, JackJack Pratt	C/D	4	0	0	0	0
6	Galbraith, PercyPercy Galbraith	LW/D	5	0	0	0	6
3	Hitchman, LionelLionel Hitchman	D	5	0	0	0	0
16	Lyons, RonRon Lyons	LW	5	0	0	0	0
1	Thompson, TinyTiny Thompson	G	5	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Thompson, TinyTiny Thompson	343	5	2	3	13	2.27	0
Team:	343	5	2	3	13	2.27	0

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 (4th win)
• Hart Memorial Trophy: Eddie Shore, Runner-up
• 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

• Trade Harry Connor to the Ottawa Senators for Bill Hutton on October 16, 1930.
• Trade Ron Lyons, Bill Hutton and cash to the Philadelphia Quakers for Harold Darragh on December 8, 1930.
• Purchase Ron Lyons from Philadelphia on February 12, 1931.

Farm Teams

• Boston Tigers, Canadian American Hockey League

Trivia

• Cooney Weiland led all playoff scorers with 9 points.
• Bruins who recorded a hat trick this season include:
  • Dit Clapper during the 8-0 win over the Philadelphia Quakers on December 25, 1930.
  • Eddie Shore during the 5-1 win over Philadelphia on February 24, 1931.
  • Cooney Weiland during the 3-1 win over the Montreal Maroons on March 21, 1931.

Gallery

1930-31 Bruins alternate team picture.

Bruins forming a "B", 1930.

Bruins #5 Dit Clapper, #7 Cooney Weiland battle Leafs #4 Hap Day and goalie Lorne Chabot on March 10, 1931.

See Also

• 1930–31 NHL season