1930 - 31 NHL season The 1930 - 31 NHL season was the fourteenth season of the National Hockey League . Ten teams played 44 games each . The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks three games to two in a best - of - five Stanley Cup final for their second consecutive Cup win . Art Ross bitterly complained about the Stanley Cup final setup . His team had been vanquished in two consecutive games by the Montreal Canadiens in 1929 - 30 . As a result , the Board of Governors decided to make the final a best of five series . Regular season . The Great Depression was starting to take its toll on the NHL . In attempts to solve financial problems , the Pittsburgh Pirates moved to Philadelphia and became the Philadelphia Quakers , but there was nothing about the team to win games or fans . It was intended that the team stay in Philadelphia only until a new arena was built in Pittsburgh . The arena was never built , and the team folded after only one season in the new city . The Ottawa Senators were in a similar financial boat but instead of relocating , they sold their star asset and future Hall of Famer , King Clancy , to the Toronto Maple Leafs for $ 35 , 000 and two players . It hurt the team , and attendance declined all the more . However , after a very poor turnout to watch the Philadelphia Quakers , over 10 , 000 fans came to see the Montreal Canadiens beat Ottawa . Obviously the fans in Ottawa were being selective of who they came to see . Howie Morenz led the league in scoring and kept the turnstiles clicking at NHL rinks , despite the Depression . Dick Irvin started his career in coaching with Chicago and they finished second in the American Division . He resigned at season ' s end after having taken the Black Hawks to the finals . This season also saw the Detroit Cougars re - name themselves the Detroit Falcons . Final standings . " GP = Games Played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , Pts = Points , GF = Goals For , GA = Goals Against , PIM = Penalties In Minutes " < br > " Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold " Scoring leaders . " GP = Games Played , G = Goals , A = Assists , Pts = Points , PIM = Penalties In Minutes " Stanley Cup playoffs . On 26 March , during the second game of the best - of - five series between the Bruins and Canadiens , coach - GM Art Ross of Boston pulled his goalie for an extra attacker while down 1 - 0 with 40 seconds left in the final period . This marked the first time in NHL history that a goalie was pulled for an extra attacker . In the finals , the Chicago Black Hawks took an early two games to one lead in the newly expanded best - of - five Stanley Cup finals but the Montreal Canadiens came back and won the series three games to two for their second consecutive Stanley Cup win . Finals . Montreal Canadiens vs . Chicago Blackhawks " Montreal wins best - of - five series 3 - 2 . " Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1930 - 31 ( listed with their first team , asterisk ( * ) marks debut in playoffs ) : Last games . The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1930 - 31 ( listed with their last team ) :