1933-34 NHL season

The 1933-34 NHL season was the 17th season of the National Hockey League. Nine teams each played 48 games. The Chicago Black Hawks were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Detroit Red Wings three games to one.

Training Camps

• Boston Bruins: Quebec City, Quebec
• Chicago Black Hawks: Champaign, Illinois
• Detroit Red Wings: Detroit, Michigan
• Montreal Canadiens: Kingston, Ontario
• Montreal Maroons: Montreal, Quebec
• New York Americans: Oshawa, Ontario
• New York Rangers: Montreal, Quebec
• Ottawa Senators: Ottawa, Ontario
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Kitchener, Ontario

Regular Season

The Ottawa Senators, having enough problems, now had to deal with holdout Cooney Weiland. He was sold to Detroit, strengthening the Red Wings. The Senators continued to lose, but won a few games when they signed an amateur named Max Kaminsky to centre the Roche brothers Desse and Earl. A defenceman, Ralph "Scotty" Bowman, gave Ottawa fans a little to cheer about. But the handwriting was on the wall, and in the last game to be played in Ottawa for many years, the Senators let the New York Americans use goaltender Alex Connell when Roy Worters was hurt. He helped the Americans beat his club.

A major goaltender swap occurred as Lorne Chabot was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for George Hainsworth. The Canadiens also loaned Wilf Cude to Detroit and he led the Red Wings to first place. Chabot didn't do badly either, leading the Canadian Division in goaltending, helping the goal-strapped Canadiens to second place. Aurel Joliat of the Canadiens won the Hart Memorial Trophy.

Shore-Bailey Incident - December 12, 1933

Aftermath of the Bailey-Shore incident.

The December 12, 1933 game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs was filled with violence. Just before the 13:00 mark of the second period, Eddie Shore was rushing the puck into the Leafs zone when he was checked by Red Horner into the boards, hitting his head. Horner retrieved the puck and rushed up the ice so Ace Bailey hung back to cover for Horner. Dazed and angry, Shore mistook Bailey for Horner and hit Bailey low from behind. Bailey fell backwards and his head hit the ice, fracturing it and sending him into convulsions. Red Horner then punched Shore who fell backwards, hitting his head on the ice, knocking him out. Both received game misconducts and Shore had to be carried off the ice by his teammates where 18 stitches were required to Shore's head. Bailey's life hung in the balance but he survived after two surgeries. The first all-star game was held on February 14, 1934 to benefit Bailey which Shore participated in. He apologized and Bailey forgave Shore. Shore was suspended for 16 games and wore a helmet for the rest of his career.

Shore carried from the ice with #10 Joe Lamb, #15 Art Chapman.

Shore and Bailey on March 6, 1934 at Boston.

Ace Bailey Benefit All-Star Game

On February 14, 1934, the first NHL All-Star Game, albeit an unofficial one, was held to benefit Ace Bailey. The game itself was proposed by Walter Gilhooley, the sports editor of the Journal in Montreal. This proposal would become a reality on January 24, 1934, in a meeting of the NHL's Board of Governors in 1934.

The NHL's first All-Star Game was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on February 14, 1934, during which Bailey's #6 uniform was retired by the Leafs. It was the first number to be retired in the NHL. The game saw the Leafs battle against an All-Star team made of players from the other seven teams, which the Leafs won 7-3. One of the more memorable moments before the game was when Bailey presented Shore with his All-Star jersey, showing to the public that Bailey had clearly forgiven him for his actions. Bailey also presented a trophy to NHL President Frank Calder before a game in the hope that the trophy would go to the winner of an annual All-Star Game for the benefit of injured players.

Toronto Maple Leafs (7)

All-Stars (3)

George Hainsworth, goal, Red Horner, defense, Alex Levinsky, defense, Hap Day, defense, Andy Blair, centre, King Clancy, defense, Baldy Cotton, left wing, Charlie Conacher, right wing, Joe Primeau, centre, Harvey Jackson, left wing, Hec Kilrea, left wing, Bill Thoms, centre, Ken Doraty, right wing, Charlie Sands, right wing, Buzz Boll, left wing

Charlie Gardiner, goal, (Chicago) Eddie Shore, defense, (Boston) Frank Finnigan, right wing, (Ottawa) Aurel Joliat, left wing (Canadiens) Herbie Lewis, left wing, (Detroit) Ching Johnson, defense, (Rangers) Lionel Conacher, defense, (Chicago) Nels Stewart, centre, (Boston) Hooley Smith, centre, (Maroons) Normie Himes, centre, (Americans) Red Dutton, defense, (Americans) Larry Aurie, right wing, (Detroit) Bill Cook, right wing, (Rangers) Howie Morenz, centre, (Canadiens) Al Shields, defense, (Ottawa) Jimmy Ward, right wing, (Maroons)

Source: Podnieks, Andrew (2000). The NHL All-Star Game: 50 years of the great tradition. Toronto: HarperCollins, pp. 5-10. ISBN 000200058X. 

In a little-known postscript to this game, Herbie Lewis and Larry Aurie of the Red Wings and Normie Himes and Red Dutton of the Americans had a game in New York City the next day. They took a flight from Buffalo that left at 7:30 AM and arrived at Newark airport around noon. This marked the first time that NHL players flew to an NHL game.

Final Standings

Canadian Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Toronto Maple Leafs	48	26	13	9	174	119	61
Montreal Canadiens	48	22	20	6	99	101	50
Montreal Maroons	48	19	18	11	117	122	49
New York Americans	48	15	23	10	104	132	40
Ottawa Senators	48	13	29	6	115	143	32

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
Detroit Red Wings	48	24	14	10	113	98	58
Chicago Black Hawks	48	20	17	11	88	83	51
New York Rangers	48	21	19	8	120	113	50
Boston Bruins	48	18	25	5	111	130	41

Scoring Leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Charlie Conacher	Toronto Maple Leafs	42	32	20	52	38
Joe Primeau	Toronto Maple Leafs	45	14	32	46	8
Frank Boucher	New York Rangers	48	14	30	44	4
Marty Barry	Boston Bruins	48	27	12	39	12
Cecil Dillon	New York Rangers	48	13	26	39	10

Leading Goaltenders

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

Player	Team	GP	Mins	GA	SO	GAA
Wilf Cude	Montreal, Detroit	30	1920	47	5	1.47
Charlie Gardiner	Chicago Black Hawks	48	3050	83	10	1.63
Roy Worters	New York Americans	36	2240	75	4	2.01
Lorne Chabot	Montreal Canadiens	47	2928	101	8	2.07
Andy Aitkenhead	New York Rangers	48	2990	76	7	2.27

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Playoff Bracket

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

C1

Toronto Maple Leafs

2

A1

Detroit Red Wings

3

A1

Detroit Red Wings

1

A2

Chicago Black Hawks

3

C2

Montreal Canadiens

3G

A2

Chicago Black Hawks

4G

A2

Chicago Black Hawks

6G

C3

Montreal Maroons

2G

C3

Montreal Maroons

2G

A3

New York Rangers

1G

Finals

see 1934 Stanley Cup Finals

The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings three games to one with the fourth game going into double overtime. After regulation time in the fourth game, Black Hawks star goaltender and two-time Vezina Trophy winner, Charlie Gardiner, left the game because he wasn't feeling well. He died two months later of a brain hemorrhage.

NHL Awards

1933-34 NHL Awards
O'Brien Trophy:	Toronto Maple Leafs
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Russ Blinco, Montreal Maroons
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Aurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Frank Boucher, New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy:	Charlie Gardiner, Chicago Black Hawks

All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Charlie Gardiner, Chicago Black Hawks	G	Roy Worters, New York Americans
King Clancy, Toronto Maple Leafs	D	Eddie Shore, Boston Bruins
Lionel Conacher, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Ching Johnson, New York Rangers
Frank Boucher, New York Rangers	C	Joe Primeau, Toronto Maple Leafs
Charlie Conacher, Toronto Maple Leafs	RW	Bill Cook, New York Rangers
Busher Jackson, Toronto Maple Leafs	LW	Aurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens
Lester Patrick, New York Rangers	Coach	Dick Irvin, Toronto Maple Leafs

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1933-34 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Russ Blinco, Montreal Maroons
• Herb Cain, Montreal Maroons
• Lorne Carr, New York Rangers
• Flash Hollett, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last Games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1933-34 (listed with their last team):

• Lionel Hitchman, Boston Bruins
• Percy Galbraith, Boston Bruins
• Charlie Gardiner, Chicago Black Hawks
• Clarence Abel, Chicago Black Hawks
• George Hay, Detroit Red Wings
• Ace Bailey, Toronto Maple Leafs

Gallery

Earl Seibert, Doug Brennan, Ching Johnson, Jean Pusie, Ott Heller in 1933.

On January 28, 1934, Eddie Shore plays in his first game after the Bailey suspension. The Rangers Bun Cook scores on Tiny Thompson while Nels Stewart sprawls in the crease.

Andy Aitkenhead, Howie Morenz, Duke Dukowski, February 6, 1934.

Joe Primeau, Ace Bailey and Howie Morenz, opening face-off of the Ace Bailey Benefit All-Star Game, February 14, 1934.

Hockey Night in Canada Ad 1933

Ad for Dominion-wide broadcast of NHL game

Video

Highlights of the February 22, 1934 game between the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings, won by the Rangers 3-1. Rangers second goal by #8 Cecil Dillon, assisted by #4 Vic Ripley on Detroit's Wilf Cude is shown. Rangers goalie Andy Aitkenhead plays with a hat.

An Ice Hockey Battle (1934)

See Also

• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• List of Stanley Cup champions

References

• Hockeydb.com 1933-34 season
• NHL.com
• HickokSports.com