# 1922–23 NHL season

The 1922–23 NHL season was the sixth season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Four teams played 24 games each. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens for the NHL championship, and then defeated Vancouver and Edmonton to win the Stanley Cup.

## Regular season

At the start of the season, Newsy Lalonde found himself moving west as the Montreal Canadiens traded him to the Saskatoon Sheiks of the Western Canada Hockey League for a rising young star named Aurel Joliat. Joliat would help the Canadiens win the second playoff spot over the St. Patricks. Joliat scored two goals in his first game with the Canadiens, but Babe Dye had five goals in the Toronto St. Patricks' 7–2 win. Joliat finished with 12 goals and 21 points in 24 games.
The Canadiens sent Bert Corbeau and Edmond Bouchard to Hamilton in exchange for Joe Malone, now in the twilight of his great career.
On January 31, 1923, the Montreal Canadiens and Hamilton Tigers played the first penalty-free game in NHL history, a 5–4 Montreal victory.
On February 14, 1923, CFCA, the radio station of the Toronto Daily Star, broadcast the third period of the Senators-St. Patricks game in Toronto. This was the first radio broadcast of an NHL game. The broadcaster has not been identified, but it may have been Norman Albert who broadcast the Midland-North Toronto game February 8 from the Toronto Arena.
On February 17, 1923, Cy Denneny of Ottawa scored his 143rd goal, surpassing Joe Malone as the all-time goal-scoring leader as the Ottawa Senators shut out the Montreal Canadiens 2–0.

### Standings

National Hockey League :
| | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
| 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 | 110 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

## Playoffs

This was the second year in which the Stanley Cup playoffs involved three leagues. The previous year saw all three second place teams win their respective leagues. This year, it was all the first place teams. The NHL total goals playoffs for the O'Brien Cup were won by the Ottawa Senators 3 goals to 2. The Pacific Coast Hockey Association abandoned its seven-man hockey in favour of the six-man rules used in the NHL and the Western Canada Hockey League. This allowed the PCHA and the WCHL to play interleague games. Despite playing interleague games, the two separate leagues kept their own standings. The newly renamed Vancouver Maroons won the PCHA championship and the Edmonton Eskimos won the WCHL championship.

### NHL Championship

* Ottawa won the series on total goals 3-2

### Stanley Cup playoffs

The Stanley Cup playoffs were played in Vancouver. There, the WCHL champions received the privilege of battling the winner between Ottawa and Vancouver. In the end, Ottawa prevailed over both Western opponents to win their eighth Stanley Cup (third as a member of the NHL). Injuries had thinned the Senators line-up, and after seeing the gritty show put on by the undermanned Senators, Vancouver head coach Frank Patrick called them the greatest team he had ever seen.
* Ottawa won the series 3-1

### Stanley Cup Finals

* Ottawa won the series 2-0

### NHL Playoff scoring leader

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Punch Broadbent | Ottawa Senators | 8 | 6 | 1 | 7 |

## Awards

O'Brien Cup — Ottawa Senators

## Player statistics
### Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; PIM = Penalties in minutes; Pts = Points
| Name | Team | GP | G | A | PIM | Pts |
| Babe Dye | Toronto St. Patricks | 22 | 26 | 11 | 19 | 37 |
| Cy Denneny | Ottawa Senators | 24 | 23 | 11 | 28 | 34 |
| Billy Boucher | Montreal Canadiens | 24 | 24 | 7 | 55 | 31 |
| Jack Adams | Toronto St. Patricks | 23 | 19 | 9 | 42 | 28 |
| Mickey Roach | Hamilton Tigers | 24 | 17 | 10 | 8 | 27 |
| Odie Cleghorn | Montreal Canadiens | 24 | 19 | 6 | 18 | 25 |
| George Boucher | Ottawa Senators | 24 | 14 | 9 | 58 | 23 |
| Reg Noble | Toronto St. Patricks | 24 | 12 | 11 | 47 | 23 |
| Cully Wilson | Hamilton Tigers | 23 | 16 | 5 | 46 | 21 |
| Aurel Joliat | Montreal Canadiens | 24 | 12 | 9 | 37 | 21 |
Source: NHL

### Leading goaltenders

GP = Games Played, GA = Goals Against, Mins = Minutes played, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average
| Name | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Clint Benedict | Ottawa Senators | 24 | 1486 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 54 | 4 | 2.18 |
| Georges Vezina | Montreal Canadiens | 24 | 1488 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 61 | 2 | 2.46 |
| John Ross Roach | Toronto St. Patricks | 24 | 1469 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 88 | 1 | 3.59 |
| Jake Forbes | Hamilton Tigers | 24 | 1470 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 110 | 0 | 4.49 |
Source: NHL

## Coaches

* Hamilton Tigers: Art Ross
* Montreal Canadiens: Leo Dandurand
* Ottawa Senators: Pete Green
* Toronto St. Patricks: George O'Donoghue

## Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1922–23 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
* Billy Burch, Hamilton Tigers
* Aurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens
* Lionel Hitchman, Ottawa Senators

## Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1922–23 (listed with their last team):
* Didier Pitre, Montreal Canadiens
* Eddie Gerard, Ottawa Senators
* Harry Cameron, Toronto St. Patricks

## Free agency

| Date | Players | Team |
| January 30, 1923 | Billy Burch | Hamilton Tigers |
| February 23, 1923 | Lionel Hitchman | Ottawa Senators |

## Transactions

| May 27, 1922 | To Hamilton Tigers Jake Forbes | To Toronto St. Patrickscash |
| October 1, 1922 | To Hamilton TigersBert Corbeau | To Montreal Canadiens cash |
| December 22, 1922 | To Montreal CanadiensJoe Malone | To Hamilton Tigers Edmond Bouchard |