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| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | November 11, 1930 - April 14, 1931 |
| Number of games | 44 |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Boston Bruins |
| Season MVP | Howie Morenz (Montreal Canadiens) |
| Top scorer | Howie Morenz (Montreal Canadiens) |
| Canadian Division champions | Montreal Canadiens |
| American Division champions | Boston Bruins |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Stanley Cup champions | Montreal Canadiens |
| Runners-up | Chicago Black Hawks |
| NHL seasons | |
| ← 1929–30 | |
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 consecutive Cup win.
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Art Ross bitterly complained about the Stanley Cup final setup. His team had been vanquished in two consecutive games by the Montreal Canadiens in 1929–30. As a result, the Board of Governors decided to make the final a best-of-five series.
The Great Depression was starting to take its toll on the NHL. In attempts to solve financial problems, the Pittsburgh Pirates moved to Philadelphia and became the Philadelphia Quakers, but there was nothing about the team to win games or fans. It was intended that the team stay in Philadelphia only until a new arena was built in Pittsburgh. The arena was never built, and the team folded after only one season in the new city. The state of Pennsylvania would be without an NHL team until the league doubled in size 36 years later.
The Ottawa Senators were in a similar financial boat but instead of relocating, they sold a star asset and future Hall of Famer, King Clancy, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for $35,000 and two players. Even after the sale of Clancy, the Senators' owners put the team up for sale for $200,000, although no bids approached anywhere near that figure. The team would suspend operations before the start of the next season.[1]
The Detroit Cougars changed the team name to the Detroit Falcons.
Howie Morenz led the league in scoring.
Dick Irvin started his career in coaching with Chicago and they finished second in the American Division. He resigned at season's end after having taken the Black Hawks to the finals.
| 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 |
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 26 | 10 | 8 | 129 | 89 | 60 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 44 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 118 | 99 | 53 |
| Montreal Maroons | 44 | 20 | 18 | 6 | 105 | 106 | 46 |
| New York Americans | 44 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 76 | 74 | 46 |
| Ottawa Senators | 44 | 10 | 30 | 4 | 91 | 142 | 24 |
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.
On 26 March, during the second game of the best-of-five series between the Bruins and Canadiens, coach-GM Art Ross of Boston pulled his goalie for an extra attacker while down 1–0 with 40 seconds left in the final period. The attempt was unsuccessful. This marked the first time in Stanley Cup play that a goalie was pulled for an extra attacker.[2]
In the final series, 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.
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 three games to two.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Stanley Cup Final | |||||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||||
Howie Morenz won the Hart Trophy for the second time in his career. Frank Boucher won the Lady Byng for the fourth consecutive year. Roy Worters won the Vezina Trophy for the one and only time in his career.
| 1930–31 NHL awards | |
|---|---|
| O'Brien Cup: (Canadian Division champion) |
Montreal Canadiens |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (American Division champion) |
Boston Bruins |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: (Most valuable player) |
Howie Morenz, Montreal Canadiens |
| Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) |
Frank Boucher, New York Rangers |
| Vezina Trophy: (Most valuable goaltender) |
Roy Worters, New York Americans |
This was the first season that the NHL named its 'all-stars'. Although Roy Worters won the Vezina Trophy for "most valuable goaltender", Charlie Gardiner and Tiny Thompson were named to the all-star teams at the goaltender position.
Source: NHL.[3]
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 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1930–31 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
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):
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