1922 - 23 NHL season The 1922 - 23 NHL season was the sixth season of the National Hockey League . 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 . League Business . This was the last season for the O ' Brien Trophy before its temporary retirement in favour of the Prince of Wales Trophy which would be introduced the following season . The O ' Brien Trophy , though , would come back for the 1927 - 28 NHL season . 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 Habs 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 . 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 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 . " Note : W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , GF = Goals For , GA = Goals Against , Pts = Points , 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 " Leading Goaltenders . " Note : GP = Games played ; MIN = Minutes played ; GA = Goals against ; SO = Shut outs ; AVG = Goals against average " Stanley Cup 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 Trophy were won by the Ottawa Senators 3 goals to 2 , despite the dirty play of several Montreal Canadiens players . 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 . " All dates are in 1923 " Montreal Canadiens vs . Ottawa Senators Ottawa wins total goals series 3 goals to 2 Finals . The Stanley Cup Finals this season were played out west , 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 Senators vs . Vancouver Maroons " Ottawa wins best - of - five series 3 games to 1 " Ottawa Senators vs . Edmonton Eskimos " Ottawa wins best - of - three series 2 games to 0 for the Stanley Cup " NHL Playoff Scoring Leader . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " NHL awards . O ' Brien Trophy — Ottawa Senators 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 ) : 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 ) :