Headline – Split season format removed
Over the summer, the NHL decided to remove the split season format from use, and use a simpler system where the top two teams at season’s end compete in a playoff series to determine the NHL representative in the Stanley Cup Final.
This seems like it could be a reaction to Ottawa’s 1919-20 success, where they eliminated the need for a playoff series by winning both halves of the season. They were well on their way to repeating that trick in 1920-21, but a massive seven game losing streak put a pin in all that. Not that that stopped them from shutting out the St. Pats in the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup again, anyway.
Now, we are guaranteed a playoff series, which is good for league finances who will now get those two potential sellout gates after the season is gone. It’s also bad news for teams who fall out of the race early in the season. Technically, despite winning just three games in the first half, the Hamilton Tigers were right back on even footing with everyone else once the second half started. Now, that safety net is gone.
Speaking of those Tigers, the other big news is that the four teams that started last season are starting this season in the same cities, under the same owners, in the same rinks. That’s a first for a league that’s been struggling with stability in the early going. That can only be described as great news. Once the league can establish strong roots in their four cities, perhaps a few years down the road they can expand to new cities and grow the league even more. Maybe they could even cross the border south and add a team in the United States. It’s worked out west with Seattle, after all.
Trade Grades
Last season, the NHL decided to try and split up Ottawa’s Super Six by transferring player rights from a couple of their players to lesser teams in the league. One such player was Sprague Cleghorn, a grizzled veteran with skill and experience, who was moved to Toronto. He refused to sign for a month, then organized a release so he could go back to Ottawa.
Well, it happened again. The NHL transferred Cleghorn’s rights to Hamilton in an effort to make them more competitive. It turns out, Cleghorn won’t play a game for the Tigers, as he was shipped to Montreal for Amos Arbour and Harry Mummery.
The Canadiens are getting more than just the nice story of the Cleghorn brothers teaming up together, but also a grizzled veteran who can serve as a backbone defensively. As one of the Super Six in 1919-20, he was on par with Eddie Gerard and Georges Boucher in terms of defensive point shares, and that team is one of the best defensive teams hockey has ever seen.
The Tigers are getting two guys who can score. Arbour has scored 36 goals in the last two seasons, and Mummery has long been one of the top scoring defensemen in the league. Last season, the Tigers finished dead last in offense, so this could help them upgrade that. They were also in dead last defensively, and this may not help in that regard that much, but scoring is important!
To give this trade some grades, Montreal gets an A- for shoring up their defense, the Tigers get a B- for addressing an issue that wasn’t as pressing as their main problem from last year.
Game of the Month
12/21 – St. Patricks 5, Senators 4 – Both these teams had won their season opener, and were feeling good about their chances in the first Ottawa/Toronto matchup since last year’s playoffs.
The scoring didn’t take long to open. At the 7:20 mark, Eddie Gerard broke the ice and put the home Sens up 1-0. 2:30 later, Babe Dye tied the score for the St. Pats. Ken Randall scored a few minutes later to give the St. Pats the lead, then Dye scored again with just :15 to go before the period ended to give Toronto a 3-1 lead.
Ottawa charged back to take a 4-3 lead by the time the second was six minutes old, with goals by Cy Denneny and Eddie Gerard twice to complete his hat trick. Cy’s brother Corb tied the score for Toronto just seconds after Gerard’s third. After 26 minutes of play, the teams were tied 4-4 in what looked like an offensive shootout.
All of the sudden, the game changed. The two teams played clean, defensive hockey for the remainder of the second, and the entire third. The only blemish on either side was Babe Dye completing a hat trick of his own at 7:05 of the third period. The St. Pats ended up holding on by that 5-4 margin for their second win of the season.
Power Rankings
- Ottawa Senators (4-1-0, +15 Goal Differential)
Good thing for Ottawa, that was their only loss so far this season. In fact, just three days later, the Sens blew the doors off the Canadiens, 10-0. - Toronto St. Patricks (3-2-0, +1 GD)
After falling behind 3-1 to the Tigers on 12/28, and in danger of losing to them twice in a week, the St. Pats climbed out of the hole with three third period goals. Not bad. - Montreal Canadiens (2-3-0, -10 GD)
The Habs have Odie Cleghorn to thank for their New Year’s Eve win against Toronto, who scored a natural hat trick to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 win. Outside of their blowout loss against Ottawa, they’ve been remarkably mediocre. - Hamilton Tigers (1-4-0, -6 GD)
Speaking of mediocre, the whole try and outscore your defensive mistakes isn’t working out for the Tigers. Who knew that defense wins hockey games?
First Line Rover 