1933 – 34 NHL season The 1933 – 34 NHL season was the 17th season of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Nine teams each played 48 games . The Chicago Black Hawks were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Detroit Red Wings three games to one . Ace Bailey Benefit All - Star Game . On February 14 , 1934 , the first NHL All - Star Game , albeit an unofficial one , was held to benefit Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ace Bailey , who suffered a career - ending injury . On December 12 , 1933 , near the end of the second period of a game between the Leafs and the Boston Bruins in the Boston Garden , Bailey was tripped from behind by Bruins defenceman Eddie Shore , in retaliation for a check that Toronto defenceman King Clancy had delivered to Shore . Bailey was not the intended target of the check ; Shore wanted to hit Clancy instead . Bailey was badly hurt , unconscious and bleeding . The Leafs ' Red Horner took offence to the hit , and subsequently knocked out Shore with a punch . Shore was forgiven after the game when both players regained consciousness , with Bailey saying that it was " all part of the game . " However , Bailey would pass out and lapse into convulsions . Bailey was not expected to live after a single night in the hospital after suffering from severe hemorrhaging . It was made well - known that Shore would have been charged with manslaughter were Bailey to die . Fortunately , he gradually recovered , but his hockey career was over . For his actions , Shore received a 16 - game suspension , a third of the 48 - game schedule of the time , while Horner was suspended for the remainder of 1933 . The game itself was proposed by Walter Gilhooley , the sports editor of the " Journal " in Montreal . This proposal would become a reality on January 24 , 1934 , in a meeting of the NHL ' s Board of Governors in 1934 . The NHL ' s first All - Star Game was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto , during which Bailey ' s # 6 uniform was retired by the Leafs . It was the first number to be retired in the NHL . The game saw the Leafs battle against an All - Star team made of players from the other seven teams , which the Leafs won 7 – 3 . One of the more memorable moments before the game was when Bailey presented Shore with his All - Star jersey , showing to the public that Bailey had clearly forgiven him for his actions . Bailey also presented a trophy to NHL President Frank Calder before a game in the hope that the trophy would go to the winner of an annual All - Star Game for the benefit of injured players . Source : Regular season . The Ottawa Senators , having enough problems , now had to deal with holdout Cooney Weiland . He was sold to Detroit , strengthening the Red Wings . The Senators continued to lose , but won a few games when they signed an amateur named Max Kaminsky to centre the Roche brothers Desse and Earl . A defenceman , Ralph " Scotty " Bowman , gave Ottawa fans a little to cheer about . But the handwriting was on the wall , and in the last NHL game to be played in Ottawa for many years , the Senators let the New York Americans use goaltender Alex Connell when Roy Worters was hurt . He helped the Americans beat his club . A major trade was a swap of goaltenders as Lorne Chabot was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for George Hainsworth . The Canadiens also loaned Wilf Cude to Detroit and he led the Red Wings to first place . Chabot didn ' t do badly either , leading the Canadian Division in goaltending , helping the goal - strapped Canadiens to second place . Aurel Joliat of the Canadiens won the Hart Trophy . Final standings . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , PIM = Penalties in minutes " < br > " Note : Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold " Scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played , G = Goals , A = Assists , PTS = Points , PIM = Penalties in minutes " Playoffs . Finals . The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings three games to one with the fourth game going into double overtime . After regulation time in the fourth game , Black Hawks star goaltender and two - time Vezina Trophy winner , Charlie Gardiner , left the game because he wasn ' t feeling well . He died two months later of a brain hemorrhage . Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1933 – 34 ( 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 1933 – 34 ( listed with their last team ) :