1930–31 NHL season
The 1930–31 NHL season was the fourteenth season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks three games to two in a best-of-five Stanley Cup final for their second Cup win in a row.
Art Ross bitterly complained about the Stanley Cup final setup. His team had been beaten in two games in a row by the Montreal Canadiens in 1929–30. As a result, the Board of Governors decided to make the final a best of five series.
Regular season
Final standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
| Canadian Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 26 | 10 | 8 | 60 | 129 | 89 | 602 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 44 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 53 | 118 | 99 | 540 |
| Montreal Maroons | 44 | 20 | 18 | 6 | 46 | 105 | 106 | 568 |
| New York Americans | 44 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 46 | 76 | 74 | 495 |
| Ottawa Senators | 44 | 10 | 30 | 4 | 24 | 91 | 142 | 486 |
| American Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | 44 | 28 | 10 | 6 | 62 | 143 | 90 | 403 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 24 | 17 | 3 | 51 | 108 | 78 | 416 |
| New York Rangers | 44 | 19 | 16 | 9 | 47 | 106 | 87 | 514 |
| Detroit Falcons | 44 | 16 | 21 | 7 | 39 | 102 | 105 | 429 |
| Philadelphia Quakers | 44 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 12 | 76 | 184 | 477 |
Scoring leaders
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howie Morenz | Montreal Canadiens | 39 | 28 | 23 | 51 | 49 |
| Ebbie Goodfellow | Detroit Red Wings | 44 | 25 | 23 | 48 | 32 |
| Charlie Conacher | Toronto Maple Leafs | 37 | 31 | 12 | 43 | 78 |
| Bill Cook | New York Rangers | 43 | 30 | 12 | 42 | 39 |
| Ace Bailey | Toronto Maple Leafs | 40 | 23 | 19 | 42 | 46 |
| Joe Primeau | Toronto Maple Leafs | 38 | 9 | 32 | 41 | 18 |
| Nels Stewart | Montreal Maroons | 42 | 25 | 14 | 39 | 75 |
| Frank Boucher | New York Rangers | 44 | 12 | 27 | 39 | 20 |
| Cooney Weiland | Boston Bruins | 44 | 25 | 13 | 38 | 14 |
| Bun Cook | New York Rangers | 44 | 18 | 17 | 35 | 72 |
| Aurel Joliat | Montreal Canadiens | 43 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 73 |
Stanley Cup playoffs
On 26 March, during the second game of the best-of-five series between the Bruins and Canadiens, Art Ross of Boston pulled his goaltender for an extra player while down 1–0 with 40 seconds left in the final period. This marked the first time in NHL history that a goalie was pulled for an extra attacker.
In the finals, the Chicago Black Hawks took an early two games to one lead in the newly expanded best-of-five Stanley Cup finals but the Montreal Canadiens came back and won the series three games to two for their second consecutive Stanley Cup win.
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| C1 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | |||||||||||
| A1 | Boston Bruins | 2 | |||||||||||
| C1 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | |||||||||||
| A2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 | |||||||||||
| C2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3G | |||||||||||
| A2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4G | |||||||||||
| A2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3G | |||||||||||
| A3 | New York Rangers | 0G | |||||||||||
| C3 | Montreal Maroons | 1G | |||||||||||
| A3 | New York Rangers | 8G | |||||||||||
Finals
Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | Chicago Blackhawks | 1 | |
| April 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | Chicago Blackhawks | 2 | 2OT |
| April 9 | Chicago Blackhawks | 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | 3OT |
| April 11 | Chicago Blackhawks | 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | |
| April 14 | Chicago Blackhawks | 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 |
Montreal wins best-of-five series 3–2.
NHL awards
| 1930–31 NHL awards | |
|---|---|
| O'Brien Trophy: | Montreal Canadiens |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: | Boston Bruins |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: | Howie Morenz, Montreal Canadiens |
| Lady Byng Trophy: | Frank Boucher, New York Rangers |
| Vezina Trophy: | Roy Worters, New York Americans |
All-Star teams
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
|---|---|---|
| Charlie Gardiner, Chicago Black Hawks | G | Tiny Thompson, Boston Bruins |
| Eddie Shore, Boston Bruins | D | Sylvio Mantha, Montreal Canadiens |
| King Clancy, Toronto Maple Leafs | D | Ching Johnson, New York Rangers |
| Howie Morenz, Montreal Canadiens | C | Frank Boucher, New York Rangers |
| Bill Cook, New York Rangers | RW | Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins |
| Aurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens | LW | Bun Cook, New York Rangers |
| Lester Patrick, New York Rangers | Coach | Dick Irvin, Chicago Black Hawks |
First games
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1930–31 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
- Art Chapman, Boston Bruins
- Doc Romnes, Chicago Black Hawks
- John Sorrell, Detroit Falcons
- Johnny Gagnon, Montreal Canadiens
- Paul Haynes, Montreal Maroons
- Dave Kerr, Montreal Maroons
- Alex Levinsky, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Bob Gracie, Toronto Maple Leafs
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1930–31 (listed with their last team):
- Frank Fredrickson, Detroit Falcons
- Bert McCaffrey, Montreal Canadiens
- Joe Simpson, New York Americans
- Babe Dye, Toronto Maple Leafs