Joe Malone

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Position Centre
Shoots Left
Nickname(s) Phantom Joe
Height
Weight
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
150 lb (68 kg/10 st 10 lb)
Pro clubs Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
Hamilton Tigers (NHL)
Quebec Bulldogs (NHL)
Quebec Bulldogs (NHA)
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born February 28, 1890(1890-02-28),
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Died May 15, 1969 (aged 79),
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Pro career 1910 – 1924
Hall of Fame, 1950

Maurice Joseph "Phantom Joe" Malone (born in Quebec City, Quebec, February 28, 1890May 15, 1969, Montreal, Quebec) was a professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey Association and National Hockey League. He was notable for his scoring feats and his clean play. He scored the second most career goals of any player in major hockey's first half-century.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Malone broke in at the age of nineteen for the Quebec Bulldogs of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association in the 1909 season, scoring eight goals in twelve games. The next season the NHA formed, but Quebec was left out of the loop, so he played for Waterloo in the Ontario Professional Hockey League. Rejoining Quebec in 1911, he was named the team captain and so served for the Bulldogs' seven NHA seasons. Centering linemates such as Eddie Oatman and Tommy Marks, he led the Bulldogs to the Stanley Cups in 1912 and 1913 -- rampaging for a career best nine goals in a Cup match against Sydney -- while recording remarkable scoring marks of 43 goals in twenty games in 1913 and 41 goals in 19 games in 1917.

When the NHL was founded in 1917, Quebec did not operate a team its first season and the teams players were disperesed amongst the other teams. Malone was claimed by the Montreal Canadiens. Playing on what was one of the most powerful forward lines of all time with Newsy Lalonde and Didier Pitre, Malone shifted to left wing to accommodate the great Lalonde, and was the NHL's first scoring leader, registering 44 goals in twenty games, a record total that would stand as the NHL's single season goal scoring mark until 1945 and a record per-game average that stands to this day. (If such an average was sustained over today's 82-game schedule, it would result in 180 goals, nearly double Wayne Gretzky's record of 92.) Malone scored at least one goal (and a total of 35 goals) in his first 14 NHL games to set the record for the longest goal-scoring streak to begin an NHL career. [1] This streak still stands as the second-longest goal-scoring streak in NHL history.

The season following Malone suffered an injured arm and missed most of the regular season, although he scored six goals in five games in the league final series against the Ottawa Senators; the lingering injury held him out of the ill-fated Cup finals against the Seattle Metropolitans.

Quebec revived its franchise in 1919 and Malone rejoined his club, once more leading the league in scoring with 39 goals, and setting a single game goal-scoring mark which still stands of seven against Toronto on January 31, 1920. However, the team was very weak on the ice -- its goaltender had the poorest goals against average the NHL would ever see (7.13 GAA)-- and recorded a 4-20 record on the season.

The team was relocated to Hamilton for the 1921 season. Despite missing the first four games of the season as well as the franchise's continued poor performance, Malone still finished fourth in league scoring with 28 goals. He finished fourth in scoring the following season as well.

After trading Lalonde the Canadiens traded for Malone in 1923, but at age 33 his skills vanished, and he scored only a single goal that season while generally playing as a substitute. He played nine games without scoring the next season, playing his last game on January 23 against his former mates in Hamilton, before retiring.

He finished his career with 343 goals and 32 recorded assists over fifteen professional seasons.

Malone was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950, and is also a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.[2]

He died of a heart attack May 15, 1969 in Montreal, Quebec.

In 1998, he was ranked number 39 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. The list was announced 74 years after his last game and 91 years after his professional debut, making him the earliest player on the list. [3]

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1907-08 Quebec Crescents QAHA -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1908-09 Quebec Bulldogs ECAHA 12 8 0 8 17 -- -- -- -- --
1909-10 Quebec Bulldogs CHA 2 5 0 5 3 -- -- -- -- --
1909-10 Waterloo Colts OPHL 12 10 0 10 16 -- -- -- -- --
1910-11 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 13 9 0 9 3 -- -- -- -- --
1911-12 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 18 21 0 21 0 2 5 0 5 0
1912-13 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 20 43 0 43 34 1 9 0 9 0
1913-14 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 17 24 4 28 20 -- -- -- -- --
1914-15 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 12 16 5 21 21 -- -- -- -- --
1915-16 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 24 25 10 35 21 6 4 1 5 0
1916-17 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 19 41 8 49 15 -- -- -- -- --
1917-18 Montreal Canadiens NHL 20 44 4 48 30 2 1 0 1 3
1918-19 Montreal Canadiens NHL 8 7 2 9 3 5 5 2 7 3
1919-20 Quebec Bulldogs NHL 24 39 10 49 12 -- -- -- -- --
1920-21 Hamilton Tigers NHL 20 28 9 37 6 -- -- -- -- --
1921-22 Hamilton Tigers NHL 24 24 7 31 4 -- -- -- -- --
1922-23 Montreal Canadiens NHL 20 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
1923-24 Montreal Canadiens NHL 10 0 0 0 0 -- -- -- -- --
NHA Totals 123 179 27 206 57 3 14 0 14 0
NHL Totals 126 143 32 175 57 9 6 2 8 6

[edit] Records

  • Most goals in one game (7), January 31, 1920 at Quebec. Final score: Quebec 10, Toronto 6.
  • Highest goals-per-game average, one season: 2.20 with Montreal, 1917-18 season (44 goals in 20 games).
  • Elected to Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950.
  • NHL scoring leader in 1918 and 1920.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pens' Malkin named NHL Rookie Of The Month for Oct..
  2. ^ Legends of Hockey (2007). Joe Malone Page. Legends of Hockey. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
  3. ^ Dryden, Steve (1997). The Top 100 NHL Players Of All Time. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Inc., 160. 
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Unknown
Quebec Bulldogs captains
1910-17, 1919-20
Succeeded by
Relocated as
Hamilton Tigers
Awards
Preceded by
None
NHL Scoring Champion
1918
Succeeded by
Newsy Lalonde
Preceded by
Newsy Lalonde
NHL Scoring Champion
1920
Succeeded by
Newsy Lalonde

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Malone, Maurice Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Joe, Phantom Joe
SHORT DESCRIPTION Ice Hockey Player
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Quebec City, Quebec
DATE OF DEATH May 15, 1969
PLACE OF DEATH Montreal, Quebec
Languages