January 1922 – One man becomes a machine

Headline – Punch Broadbent’s scoring streak

On December 24th, 1921, the Canadiens were in Ottawa to face the Senators. The game was an outright blowout, with the Sens ultimately taking the game by a score of 10-0. Ottawa’s sixth goal was scored by Punch Broadbent seven minutes into the third period. It’s significant, because he’s scored in every single game since.

This was Ottawa’s third game of the season. They’ve played 13 to date, and Punch has scored in all but the second game. That’s 11 straight, for those counting at home. There’s a word for that. That’s…uh…*checks notes*…ah here we are, really good.

Punch hasn’t scored like this since 1914-15, where he scored 24 goals in 20 games for the NHA’s Senators. After that season, he went to serve in the war, and came back for the 1918-19 season, and he’s been trying to regain that form ever since. Mission accomplished, it seems.

Will he ever stop scoring? I mean, he has to, eventually. Even Phantom Joe Malone went a game or two without scoring once in a blue moon. When that will happen, though? Who knows. It may take a while to surpass that record, though.

Game of the Month

1/21 – Tigers 7, Senators 6 (OT) – Any time you see a Senators Tigers game, you would ordinarily expect a blowout. The Senators are by far the best team in the league, and the Tigers have been, well, not that. So when the score turned 4-1 Ottawa late in the first period, no one batted an eyelash.

What was interesting was Tigers’ coach Percy Thompson did next. He pulled goalie Harry Lockhart and replaced him with Harry Mummery, a defenseman. A bold move, to say the least.

So when Joe Matte scored an early second period brace to bring the Tigers within one, momentum shifted in favor of Hamilton. Joe Malone scored his second of the game later in the period to level the score.

Frank Boucher scored to give the Sens back the lead, only to be matched by Goldie Prodgers minutes later. Midway through the third, Punch Broadbent scored his third of the game to give Ottawa a 6-5 lead. In the dying seconds of the game, Joe Malone shocked everyone by scoring and sending the game to overtime. Mickey Roach scored for the Tigers at the 8:33 mark in overtime, giving the Tigers an upset win.

So who are those guys?

The Cleghorn brothers as members of the
Renfrew Creamery Kings in 1910-11

Last month, we briefly spoke about Sprague Cleghorn, a veteran defenseman, being traded to his brother Odie’s team. It’s a nice story, but it’s not the first time the two played together.

Sprague, one year older than Odie, started his career with a local junior outfit in their hometown of Montreal. He then spent the next season on the New York Wanderers of the American Amateur Hockey League. It was there in 1909-10 that Odie joined Sprague as a teammate. The brothers each played the next season with the Renfrew Creamery Kings of the NHA, then 1911-17 with the Montreal Wanderers.

Each of the two remained with the Wanderers into the days of the NHL, but neither played a game due to injury. When the Wanderers’ arena burned down and the team folded, the two were split up, with Sprague going to Ottawa, and Odie to Montreal. They played there until this season, when a trade reunited the two.

Odie is a forward, and a fairly good one at that. He’s been a scorer for most of his career, but had an off-year in 1920-21. Sprague is a defenseman who can score a little also, but is more known for his physical play. Fans of his team would use words like “tough to play against” and “physical”, while others would use words like “violent”, or “assaulting”. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Power Rankings

1. Ottawa Senators (10-3-0, +30 Goal Differential)
   If not for that OT loss to the Tigers and a late Billy Stuart goal against Toronto, the Sens would have a 12-1-0 record. Lock them in for a playoff spot already.
2. Toronto St. Patricks (7-6-0, -5 GD)
   What we didn’t mention was just a week after that big upset win by Toronto, the Senators kicked the St. Pats’ teeth in, 7-2. You win some, you lose some. Or if you’re playing Ottawa, you win one, you lose most.
3. Montreal Canadiens (5-8-0, -15 GD)
   They scored 10 against Hamilton on the 14th, with eight of those goals scored by Cleghorns (four each). That’d be a better story if the rest of the team was any good.
4. Hamilton Tigers (4-9-0, -10 GD)
   That thrilling win against the Senators may well be the highlight of the Tigers’ season, because they can’t seem to string together any wins.