1924–25 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1924–25 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 16th season and eighth as a member of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Canadiens once again made it to the Stanley Cup Finals but lost to the Victoria Cougars.

1924–25 Montreal Canadiens
League3rd NHL
1924–25 record17–11–0
Goals for93
Goals against56
Team information
General managerLeo Dandurand
CoachLeo Dandurand
CaptainSprague Cleghorn
ArenaMontreal Forum, Mount Royal Arena
Team leaders
GoalsAurel Joliat (29)
AssistsBill Boucher (13)
PointsAurel Joliat (40)
Penalty minutesBill Boucher (92)
WinsGeorges Vezina (17)
Goals against averageGeorges Vezina (1.81)

Regular season

This was the first season for the Montreal Maroons and Boston Bruins – the first American NHL team. The Montreal Forum, was built to house the Maroons. However, it was the Canadiens who played in it first. The season started earlier, on November 29, and because the Mount Royal Arena couldn't produce ice, it was decided to move a game against the Toronto St. Patricks to the Forum. The Canadiens beat the St. Patricks 7–1, as Billy Boucher scored a hat trick before 8000 fans.[1] To facilitate the change in venue, the Canadiens paid the Mount Royal Arena CA$1,000 (equivalent to $15,733 in 2021) to play at the Forum.[2]

The Canadiens improved their scoring, scoring 93 goals in 30 games, giving up 56. Georges Vezina led the league in goals against average of 1.9 per game. All six team's starting goalie had a GAA under 4. Aurel Joliat led the Canadiens on offence, scoring 29 goals.


Final standings

National Hockey League
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Hamilton Tigers3019101906039
Toronto St. Patricks3019110908438
Montreal Canadiens3017112935636
Ottawa Senators3017121836635
Montreal Maroons309192456520
Boston Bruins3062404911912

[3]

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.

Record vs. opponents

1924–25 NHL Records [4]
Team BOS HAM MTL MTM OTT TOR
Boston 1–52–43–30–60–6
Hamilton 5–13–34–23–2–14–2
M. Canadiens 4–23–34–0–23–33–3
M. Maroons 3–32–40–4–22–42–4
Ottawa 6–02–3–13–34–22–4
Toronto 6–02–43–34–24–2

Schedule and results

Regular season results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WNovember 29, 19247–1Toronto St. Patricks (1924–25)1–0–0
2LDecember 3, 19241–2@ Ottawa Senators (1924–25)1–1–0
3WDecember 8, 19244–3@ Boston Bruins (1924–25)2–1–0
4WDecember 10, 19245–0Montreal Maroons (1924–25)3–1–0
5WDecember 13, 19246–2Hamilton Tigers (1924–25)4–1–0
6WDecember 17, 19245–2@ Toronto St. Patricks (1924–25)5–1–0
7WDecember 20, 19243–2Ottawa Senators (1924–25)6–1–0
8WDecember 25, 19245–0Boston Bruins (1924–25)7–1–0
9TDecember 27, 19241–1 OT@ Montreal Maroons (1924–25)7–1–1
10LJanuary 1, 19252–4@ Hamilton Tigers (1924–25)7–2–1
11WJanuary 3, 19253–1@ Toronto St. Patricks (1924–25)8–2–1
12LJanuary 7, 19250–2Ottawa Senators (1924–25)8–3–1
13LJanuary 10, 19252–3Boston Bruins (1924–25)8–4–1
14TJanuary 14, 19251–1 OT@ Montreal Maroons (1924–25)8–4–2
15LJanuary 17, 19252–4@ Hamilton Tigers (1924–25)8–5–2
16LJanuary 21, 19252–4Toronto St. Patricks (1924–25)8–6–2
17WJanuary 24, 19253–2@ Ottawa Senators (1924–25)9–6–2
18WJanuary 27, 19254–0@ Boston Bruins (1924–25)10–6–2
19WJanuary 31, 19255–0Montreal Maroons (1924–25)11–6–2
20LFebruary 4, 19250–3Hamilton Tigers (1924–25)11–7–2
21LFebruary 7, 19254–5@ Toronto St. Patricks (1924–25)11–8–2
22WFebruary 11, 192510–3Ottawa Senators (1924–25)12–8–2
23WFebruary 14, 19255–1Boston Bruins (1924–25)13–8–2
24WFebruary 18, 19251–0@ Montreal Maroons (1924–25)14–8–2
25WFebruary 21, 19252–1@ Hamilton Tigers (1924–25)15–8–2
26LFebruary 25, 19251–3Toronto St. Patricks (1924–25)15–9–2
27LFebruary 28, 19250–1@ Ottawa Senators (1924–25)15–10–2
28LMarch 3, 19252–3@ Boston Bruins (1924–25)15–11–2
29WMarch 7, 19253–1Montreal Maroons (1924–25)16–11–2
30WMarch 9, 19254–1Hamilton Tigers (1924–25)17–11–2

Playoffs

NHL Championship

The third seed Montreal Canadiens played against the second seed Toronto St. Patricks in a total goals series. The winner of that series was to go on and play the first seed team, the Hamilton Tigers. But it was not to happen that way. During the total goals series, the Hamilton players demanded CA$200 (equivalent to $3,112 in 2021) each for the extra six games played during the regular season and the league threatened to suspend the players and the team. Last-ditch efforts to reach a compromise failed and the Tigers were suspended. It was suggested that the Ottawa Senators be included in the playoffs, but St. Patricks manager Charlie Querrie and Canadiens' coach Leo Dandurand cited a fourth-place finish didn't qualify Ottawa a playoff berth and it was decided that Montreal and Toronto had played for the league title. NHL president Frank Calder announced that the Canadiens played home games at the Forum, but Leo Dandurand said that they would be played at Mount Royal Arena unless it were necessary to move to the Forum, citing home games were home games, and the Canadiens played better in front of their own fans. Calder backed down from his stand. Montreal won the series against Toronto and was awarded the Prince of Wales Trophy and earned the right to play for the Stanley Cup.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto St. Patricks

Date Team Score Team Score Notes
March 11Montreal Canadiens3Toronto St. Patricks2
March 13Montreal Canadiens2Toronto St. Patricks0

Montreal wins total goals series 5 goals to 2

Finals

Over in the Western Canada Hockey League, the third place Victoria Cougars won their league championship and would face the Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup championship. Victoria easily beat Montreal three games to one out-scoring the Canadiens 16 to 8. Games one, three and four of the series were played at the Patrick Arena in Oak Bay, a suburb municipality of Victoria, British Columbia; game two was played at the larger Denman Arena in Vancouver.[5] This marks the first, and last, time since the inception of the NHL (1917) that a non-NHL team won the Stanley Cup. As a foot-note, the Seattle Metropolitans could have claimed the Stanley Cup during the flu cancelled season of 1919, but chose not to as a display of good-sportsmanship.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Victoria Cougars

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
March 21Montreal Canadiens2Victoria Cougars5
March 23Montreal Canadiens1Victoria Cougars3
March 27Montreal Canadiens4Victoria Cougars2
March 30Montreal Canadiens1Victoria Cougars6

Victoria Cougars win best-of-five series 3 games to 1 for the Stanley Cup

Awards and records

Transactions

References

  • Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol.1 1893–1926 inc. National Hockey League. pp. 465–485.
  • Ross, J. Andrew (2015). Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3383-9.
  1. Coleman(1966), pg.468
  2. Ross 2015, p. 116.
  3. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  4. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  5. "First Game Saturday". Montreal Gazette. March 19, 1925. p. 14. Retrieved September 5, 2014.

See also

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