| TEAM |
GP
Games played - Number of games the team has played
|
W
Wins - Games the team has won, either in regulation or in overtime
|
L
Losses - Games the team has lost in regulation
|
T
Ties - Games that have ended in a tie
|
PTS
Points - Team points, calculated from W, L, T, OTL and SOL; used to determine standings
|
GF
Goals for - Number of goals the team has scored
|
GA
Goals against - Number of goals scored against the team
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Senators | 24 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 29 | 77 | 54 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 28 | 73 | 61 |
| Toronto St.Patricks | 24 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 27 | 82 | 88 |
| Hamilton Tigers | 24 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 81 | 100 |
| # | SKATERS |
GP
Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice
|
G
Goals - Number of goals the player has scored
|
A
Assists - Number of goals the player has assisted in
|
PTS
Points - Scoring points, calculated as the sum of G and A
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Billy Boucher | 24 | 24 | 7 | 31 |
| 6 | Odie Cleghorn | 24 | 19 | 6 | 25 |
| 4 | Aurèle Joliat | 24 | 12 | 9 | 21 |
| 2 | Sprague Cleghorn | 24 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| 3 | Billy Coutu | 24 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| # | #1 GOALIE |
GP
Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice
|
RECORD
Record - Goalie record (W-L-T)
|
SO
Shutouts - Number of games where the goaltender has not allowed a goal
|
GAA
Goals against average - Mean goals-per-game scored on the goaltender
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georges Vézina | 24 | 13-9-2 | 2 | 2.46 |
| DATE | AWAY | HOME |
|---|
THE REGULAR SEASON
The 1922-23 NHL campaign began and ended in controversy for the Montreal Canadiens, but the season also brought an end to the team’s three-year playoff drought.
In a widely discussed move early in the fall, veteran Newsy Lalonde was shipped to Saskatoon of the Western Canada Hockey League, becoming the team’s player-coach. In exchange, Montreal received the professional rights to a promising young amateur named Aurel Joliat.
With the captaincy passing to the mercurial Sprague Cleghorn, the Canadiens scoring dipped in 1922-23, the team’s 73 goals trailing the other three NHL squads. Three players – Billy Boucher with 23, Odie Cleghorn (19) and rookie Aurele Joliat (13) accounted for over two thirds of the team’s offensive output. Didier Pitre, a key member of the team since its 1909-10 debut, retired at season’s end.
On the defensive side of things, captain Cleghorn and fellow tough guy Billy Coutu handled the bulk of the blue line responsibilities. Goaltender Georges Vezina registered his stingiest season between the pipes since Montreal joined the NHL, posting a 2.46 goals-against average as the Habs allowed over a half goal less per game than in the previous year.
A powerhouse in the familiar Mount Royal Arena where they lost only two of the dozen games they played, the Canadiens’ road record was almost exactly the reverse. Despite their road woes, they challenged for first place for most of the season, their 13-7-2 record leaving them in second spot, a single point behind the Ottawa Senators but in the postseason for the first time in four years.
THE PLAYOFFS
A powerhouse at home that had a difficult time winning on the road, the Canadiens reversed their regular season trend in the playoffs. Montreal dropped the first game of the two-game total point series, shutout 2-0 by the Ottawa Senators.
Team captain, Sprague Cleghorn, and veteran defenseman Billy Coutu spent the evening assaulting their opponents at every opportunity. Their excessive zeal earned them a sum of 29 minutes in penalty time and provoked calls that criminal charges be laid. The two were suspended for the second game, not by NHL president Frank Calder, but by Canadiens coach, GM and owner, Leo Dandurand, as disgusted as the rest of the hockey world by his players’ unsportsmanlike display.
Deprived of their blue line stalwarts – one of them the team’s captain – and playing before a decidedly hostile Ottawa crowd, the Canadiens rose to the challenge, taking a two-goal lead and giving the few fans who made the 90-mile journey to the nation’s capital hope that they might prevail.
Cy Denneny’s marker, Ottawa’s only goal, gave the Senators a 3-2 scoring edge and a trip west as the NHL’s Stanley Cup hopeful. They returned as champions for the third time in four years after defeating both the Vancouver Millionaires and the Edmonton Eskimos.
| NHL Finals - Ottawa Senators | ||||
| Date | AWAY | HOME | ||
| March 7th, 1923 | OTT 2 | MTL 0 | ||
| March 9th, 1923 | MTL 2 | OTT 1 | ||
| Ottawa won total-goals series 3-2 | ||||
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