1934-35
Toronto and Detroit highlight the off-season as the Red Wings dealt goaltenders Alec Cornell and Lorne Chabot to the Leafs in exchange for 22 year winger Syd Howe and goalie Red Spooner. It marks a return to Toronto for the now 33 year old Chabot, who won back to back Vezina Trophy's and Cups with the Leafs in the first two seasons of the sim. The move was necessitated because the Leafs dealt Moe Roberts, who won the Vezina this past season and played every game in net for Toronto, to Boston in exchange for a pair of veteran forwards in George Hay and Hib Milks.
A couple of notable retirements as 35 year old defenseman Red Dutton and 30 year old winger Frank Finnigan decided to hang up the blades. Finnigan played most of his 393 NHL games with Ottawa but won 3 straight Stanley Cups with Toronto to close out his career. He had 11 goals last season to give him 119 for his career. Dutton played the past 4 seasons with the New York Americans after starting his career in Montreal with the Maroons. He had 30 goals and 126 points in 361 games.
Rookies to watch this season include 21 year old Toe Blake who will debut with the Montreal Maroons and 20 year old goaltender Turk Broda, who joins the Red Wings. While the two are associated with the Canadiens and Leafs respectively, they are assigned to the organization they first began their careers with. For Blake that was the Maroons where he played 8 playoff games in 1934-35 before being acquired by the Habs, while Broda was a Red Wings farmhand in real life before being picked up by Conn Smythe's club.
The other notable change this season is the end of the Ottawa Senators franchise as after going 2-91-3 over two seasons the club moved to St Louis where it will be known as the Eagles.
Bad news for the Montreal Canadiens as Howie Morenz suffers a knee injury during the preseason and the reigning scoring champion will miss the first half of the campaign.
In early November Toronto defenseman King Clancy became the first player in NHL history to appear in 500 regular season games. Late in the season Aurel Joliat of the Canadiens would also reach the 500 mark.
The Montreal Canadiens parted ways with 39 year old goaltender George Hainsworth, dealing him to the Rangers in late November. Hainsworth appeared in 5 games this season for the Habs, posting a 1-2-2 record and a 3.74 GAA. In 447 career games he is 232-142-72 with a 1.99 GAA.
Toronto's Charlie Conacher shattered the record books by scoring a league best 35 goals and 74 points to win the Art Ross Trophy for the second time in his career. The Leafs would once again finish first in the Canadian Division with the Montreal Maroons again claiming the second playoff berth. The Rangers and Bruins were once again the class of the American Division with New York taking top spot after the Bruins were without defensemen Eddie Shore and Lionel Hitchman for extended periods.
Code:
AMERICAN DIVISION GP W L T PTS
NY Rangers 48 29 17 2 60
Boston Bruins 48 25 21 2 52
Chicago Black Hawks 48 20 25 3 43
Detroit Falcons 48 21 27 0 42
CANADIAN DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 37 9 2 76
Montreal Maroons 48 28 17 3 59
Montreal Canadiens 48 24 21 3 51
NY Americans 48 21 25 2 44
St Louis Eagles 48 2 45 1 5
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Charlie Conacher TOR 48 35 39 74
Bun Cook NYR 48 28 28 56
Paul Haynes MM 48 20 36 56
Joe Primeau TOR 48 13 43 56
Busher Jackson TOR 42 18 34 52
Frank Boucher NYR 46 10 42 52
In what is becoming a rite of spring the Toronto Maple Leafs again knocked off the Rangers and Bruins to capture their 4th straight Stanley Cup. Toronto eliminated New York 4 straight before knocking off Boston in 6. The Bruins advance to the finals with a thrilling 7 game series that saw each of the final 3 games need overtime to determine a winner. Charlie Conacher won his first Conn Smythe Award as playoff MVP after scoring 14 points in 10 playoff games. Boston's Dit Clapper led all playoff scorers with 9 goals and 15 points but he did play 3 more games than Conacher.
Here are the other award winners:
VEZINA: John Ross Roach of the Rangers (28-13-4, 2.02 GAA)
NORRIS: Babe Siebert of Montreal Maroons (48GP 13-24-37)
CALDER: Sweeney Schriner of NY Americans (48 GP 19-18-37)
HART: Charlie Conacher Toronto (48GP 35-39-74)
ART ROSS: Charlie Conacher Toronto (48GP 35-39-74)
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G John Ross Roach NY Rangers Normie Smith Mon Maroons
D Babe Siebert Mon Maroons Ching Johnson NY Rangers
D King Clancy Toronto Earl Siebert NY Rangers
C Paul Haynes Mon Maroons Joe Primeau Toronto
LW Bun Cook NY Rangers Busher Jackson Toronto
RW Charlie Conacher Toronto Dit Clapper Boston