The 1929–30 NHL season was the thirteenth season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The Montreal Canadiens upset the heavily favoured Boston Bruins two games to none for the Stanley Cup.

Contents 1 Regular season 1.1 Final standings 1.2 Scoring leaders 1.3 Leading Goaltenders 2 Playoffs 2.1 Playoff bracket 2.2 Finals 3 NHL awards 4 Debuts 5 Last games 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Regular season

To combat low scoring, a major rule change was implemented. Players were now allowed forward passing in the offensive zone, instead of only in the defensive and neutral zones. This led to abuse: players sat in front of the opposing net waiting for a pass. The rule was changed again mid-season in December 1929, and players were no longer allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck. Hence the birth of the modern-day offside rule.

Cooney Weiland of the Boston Bruins took advantage of the rule changes and smashed the old NHL scoring record with 73 points. Weiland and Tiny Thompson, who won the Vezina Trophy with a 2.23 goals against average, led the Bruins to a final season standings record of 38 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie — an .875 winning percentage, an NHL record as of 2006^[update].

Conn Smythe brought up two outstanding forwards, Harvey Jackson, and Charlie Conacher, and combined with Joe Primeau, the Kid Line was born. Conacher actually scored on his first shift in the NHL. Jackson got his nickname Busher from Tim Daly, the Toronto trainer, when asked by Daly to assist with some sticks. "I'm a hockey player, not a stickboy," Jackson told Daly, who replied, "Why you fresh young busher!" And it was Busher Jackson from that day on.

On 7 January 1930, Clint Benedict became the first goalie in NHL history to don a protective face mask. He did so for five games to protect a broken nose. The next time a mask made its way into the NHL was almost 30 years later when Jacques Plante wore one in a game on 1 November 1959.

Eddie Gerard resigned as manager-coach of the Montreal Maroons. He was replaced as manager by team president James Strachan. Dunc Munro was hired as coach and led the team to first place in the Canadian Division.

There was a well-founded rumour that Eddie Gerard would take the coaching reins of Ottawa from Newsy Lalonde when Lalonde was not well. Dave Gill filled in during his absence and the team did much better and made the playoffs. Gerard turned down the coaching job.

[edit] Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Canadian Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Maroons	44	23	16	5	51	141	114	651
Montreal Canadiens	44	21	14	9	51	142	114	600
Ottawa Senators	44	21	15	8	50	138	118	536
Toronto Maple Leafs	44	17	21	6	40	116	124	613
New York Americans	44	14	25	5	33	113	161	372

American Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Boston Bruins	44	38	5	1	77	179	98	449
Chicago Black Hawks	44	21	18	5	47	117	111	573
New York Rangers	44	17	17	10	44	136	143	445
Detroit Cougars	44	14	24	6	34	117	133	474
Pittsburgh Pirates	44	5	36	3	13	102	185	384

[edit] Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

PLAYER	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Cooney Weiland	Boston Bruins	44	43	30	73	27
Frank Boucher	New York Rangers	42	26	36	62	16
Dit Clapper	Boston Bruins	44	41	20	61	48
Bill Cook	New York Rangers	44	29	30	59	56
Hec Kilrea	Ottawa Senators	44	36	22	58	23
Nels Stewart	Montreal Maroons	44	39	16	55	81
Howie Morenz	Montreal Canadiens	44	40	10	50	72
Norman Himes	New York Americans	44	22	28	50	15
Joe Lamb	Ottawa Senators	44	29	20	49	119
Dutch Gainor	Boston Bruins	43	18	31	49	39

[edit] Leading Goaltenders

[edit] Playoffs

[edit] Playoff bracket

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Stanley Cup Final

C1

Montreal Maroons

1

A1

Boston Bruins

3

C2

Montreal Canadiens

2

A1

Boston Bruins

0

C2

Montreal Canadiens

3G

A2

Chicago Black Hawks

2G

C2

Montreal Canadiens

2

A3

New York Rangers

0

C3

Ottawa Senators

3G

A3

New York Rangers

6G

[edit] Finals

After defeating the Montreal Maroons and after having not lost consecutive games all season, the Boston Bruins were swept by the Montreal Canadiens two games to none in a best-of-three series. The first game saw Boston play way below its usual form. The Canadiens then won the Cup with a 4–3 victory in game two. The Canadiens went 5–0–1 in the playoffs, making them one of the few Cup winning teams in history to not lose a game in the playoffs.

[edit] NHL awards

1929–30 NHL awards
O'Brien Cup:	Montreal Maroons
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Boston Bruins
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Nels Stewart, Montreal Maroons
Lady Byng Trophy:	Frank Boucher, New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy:	Tiny Thompson, Boston Bruins

[edit] Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1929–30 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Tom Cook, Chicago Black Hawks
• Ebbie Goodfellow, Detroit Cougars
• Syd Howe, Ottawa Senators
• Busher Jackson, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Charlie Conacher, Toronto Maple Leafs

[edit] Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1929–30 (listed with their last team):

• Mickey MacKay, Boston Bruins
• Jimmy Herberts, Detroit Cougars
• Clint Benedict, Montreal Maroons
• Frank Nighbor, Toronto Maple Leafs

[edit] See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1929 in sports
• 1930 in sports

[edit] References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

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