Joe Malone Maurice Joseph " Phantom Joe " Malone ( born in Quebec City , Quebec , February 28 , 1890 – May 15 , 1969 , Montreal , Quebec ) was a professional centre who played in the National Hockey Association and National Hockey League . He was notable for his scoring feats and his clean play . He scored the second most career goals of any player in major hockey ' s first half - century . Playing career . Malone broke in at the age of nineteen for the Quebec Bulldogs of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association in the 1909 season , scoring eight goals in twelve games . The next season the NHA formed , but Quebec was left out of the loop , so he played for Waterloo in the Ontario Professional Hockey League . Rejoining Quebec in 1911 , he was named the team captain and so served for the Bulldogs ' seven NHA seasons . Centering linemates such as Eddie Oatman and Tommy Marks , he led the Bulldogs to the Stanley Cup s in 1912 and 1913 - - rampaging for a career best nine goals in a Cup match against Sydney - - while recording remarkable scoring marks of 43 goals in twenty games in 1913 . His brother Jeff Malone was also played for Quebec in 1913 when they won the Stanley Cup . In 1917 Joe scored 41 goals in 19 games for Quebec . When the NHL was founded in 1917 , Quebec did not operate a team its first season and the teams players were dispersed amongst the other teams . Malone was claimed by the Montreal Canadiens . Playing on what was one of the most powerful forward lines of all time with Newsy Lalonde and Didier Pitre , Malone shifted to left wing to accommodate the great Lalonde , and was the NHL ' s first scoring leader , registering 44 goals in twenty games , a record total that would stand as the NHL ' s single season goal scoring mark until 1945 and a record per - game average that stands to this day . . The season following Malone suffered an injured arm and missed most of the regular season , although he scored six goals in five games in the league final series against the Ottawa Senators ; the lingering injury held him out of the ill - fated Cup finals against the Seattle Metropolitans . Quebec revived its franchise in 1919 and Malone rejoined his club , once more leading the league in scoring with 39 goals , and setting a single game goal - scoring mark which still stands of seven against Toronto on January 31 , 1920 . However , the team was very weak on the ice - - its goaltender had the poorest goals against average the NHL would ever see ( 7 . 13 GAA ) - - and recorded a 4 - 20 record on the season . The team was relocated to Hamilton for the 1921 season . Despite missing the first four games of the season as well as the franchise ' s continued poor performance , Malone still finished fourth in league scoring with 28 goals . He finished fourth in scoring the following season as well . After trading Lalonde the Canadiens traded for Malone in 1923 , but at age 33 his skills vanished , and he scored only a single goal that season while generally playing as a substitute . He played nine games without scoring the next season , playing his last game on January 23 against his former mates in Hamilton , before retiring . The Canadiens did not include his name on the Cup in 1924 , because he did not play in the playoffs . However , he is credited by the NHL as winning his 3rd Stanley Cup that season . He finished his career with 343 goals and 32 recorded assists over fifteen professional seasons . Malone was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950 , and is also a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame . He died of a heart attack May 15 , 1969 in Montreal , Quebec . In 1998 , he was ranked number 39 on the List of 100 greatest hockey players by The Hockey News . The list was announced 74 years after his last game and 91 years after his professional debut , making him the earliest player on the list .