1923–24 NHL season | |
---|---|
League | National Hockey League |
Sport | Ice hockey |
Duration | December 15, 1923 – March 11, 1924 |
Number of games | 24 |
Number of teams | 4 |
Regular season | |
Season champions | Ottawa Senators |
Season MVP | Frank Nighbor (Senators) |
Top scorer | Cy Denneny (Senators) |
O'Brien Cup | |
Champions | Montreal Canadiens |
Runners-up | Ottawa Senators |
The 1923–24 NHL season was the seventh season of the National Hockey League. Four teams each played 24 games. The league champions were the Montreal Canadiens, who defeated the first-place Ottawa Senators in the league playoff. The Canadiens then defeated the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) and Vancouver Maroons of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) to win their second Stanley Cup championship.
At the NHL meeting of February 9, 1924, the NHL discussed plans for expansion into the United States. The same meeting saw the introduction of the new Hart Trophy, to be awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team.
After the suspensions of their own players by the Canadiens, in 1922–23. The NHL decided to take a further role in discipline, as it redefined match fouls, changed fines and adds presidential review for possible further punishment.
A newcomer that would become the NHL's first drawing card, Howie Morenz, started his career with the Montreal Canadiens this year. Morenz scored the first goal of his career on December 27, 1923, in the inaugural NHL game at the new Ottawa Auditorium. It was the first of a career 270 goals.
The Hamilton Tigers added Billy Burch and the Green brothers, Shorty and Redvers (nicknamed Red) and now they had a team that could compete nicely with the rest of the league. On December 28, Shorty Green scored at 12:22 of overtime to give Hamilton its first ever road victory over the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa. However, the changes did not pay off this season. The Hamilton Tigers finished last for the fifth season in a row (counting one season as the Quebec Athletics).