1929–30 NHL season

The 1929–30 NHL season was the 13th season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The Montreal Canadiens upset the heavily favoured Boston Bruins two games to none for the Stanley Cup.
==League business==
The league instituted in the new rules the standard dimensions for ice hockey rinks, that of 200 feet (61 m) × 85 feet (26 m). The already-built Boston Garden 191 feet (58 m) × 88 feet (27 m) and the soon-to-be-open Chicago Stadium 188 feet (57 m) × 85 feet (26 m), which were smaller were exempt from the new rule.
To combat low scoring, the off-side rules were rewritten. Players were now allowed forward passing in the offensive zone, instead of only in the defensive and neutral zones. Players were now allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck. The only off-side rule left was that passing was not allowed from one zone to another. The changes led to abuse: players sat in front of the opposing net waiting for a pass. The rule was changed in mid-season and players were no longer allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck.
==Regular season==
Cooney Weiland of the Boston Bruins took advantage of the rule changes and smashed the old NHL scoring record with 73 points. Weiland and Tiny Thompson, who won the Vezina Trophy with a 2.23 goals against average, led the Bruins to a final season standings record of 38 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie. The Bruins set three impressive NHL records including most wins in the regular season (38), highest winning percentage (0.875), and most consecutive home ice wins (20).
The 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens and the 1944-45 Montreal Canadiens would tie the record for most wins in a season at 38. But the record remained unbroken for 21 years until March 11, 1951 when the 1950-51 Detroit Red Wings notched their 39th victory in a much longer 70-game season. The record for consecutive wins at home would stand for 82 years, being matched by the 1975–76 Philadelphia Flyers and finally surpassed on February 14, 2012 by the 2011–12 Detroit Red Wings. As of 2016 no team has ever broken the Bruins' single season winning percentage record of 0.875.
Conn Smythe brought up two outstanding forwards, Harvey "Busher" Jackson, and Charlie Conacher, and combined with Joe Primeau, the Kid Line was born. Conacher actually scored on his first shift in the NHL. Jackson got his nickname Busher from Tim Daly, the Toronto trainer, when asked by Daly to assist with some sticks. "I'm a hockey player, not a stickboy," Jackson told Daly, who replied, "Why you fresh young busher!" And it was Busher Jackson from that day on.
On January 7, 1930, Clint Benedict became the first goalie in NHL history to don a protective face mask. He did so for five games to protect a broken nose. The next time a mask made its way into the NHL was almost 30 years later when Jacques Plante wore one in a game on November 1, 1959.
Eddie Gerard resigned as manager-coach of the Montreal Maroons. He was replaced as manager by team president James Strachan. Dunc Munro was hired as coach and led the team to first place in the Canadian Division.
There was a well-founded rumour that Eddie Gerard would take the coaching reins of Ottawa from Newsy Lalonde when Lalonde was not well. Dave Gill filled in during his absence and the team did much better and made the playoffs. Gerard turned down the coaching job.
===Final standings===
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.
Canadian Division 	GP	W 	L 	T	Pts	GF 	GA 	PIM
Montreal Maroons 	44	23	16	5	51 	141	114	651
Montreal Canadiens 	44	21	14	9	51 	142	114	600
Ottawa Senators 	44	21	15	8	50 	138	118	536
Toronto Maple Leafs	44	17	21	6	40 	116	124	613
New York Americans 	44	14	25	5	33 	113	161	372
American Division 	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA 	PIM
Boston Bruins 	44	38	5 	1 	77 	179	98 	449
Chicago Black Hawks	44	21	18	5 	47 	117	111	573
New York Rangers 	44	17	17	10	44 	136	143	445
Detroit Cougars 	44	14	24	6 	34 	117	133	474
Pittsburgh Pirates 	44	5 	36	3 	13 	102	185	384
==Playoffs==
===First round===
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 20	Boston Bruins 	2 	Montreal Maroons	1 	3OT
March 22	Boston Bruins 	4 	Montreal Maroons	2 	
March 25	Montreal Maroons	1 	Boston Bruins 	0 	2OT
March 27	Montreal Maroons	1 	Boston Bruins 	5 	
Boston wins best-of-five series 3–1. Boston advanced to the final.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 23	Montreal Canadiens 	1 	Chicago Black Hawks	0 	
March 26	Chicago Black Hawks	2 	Montreal Canadiens 	2 	2OT
Montreal wins two-game, total goals series 3–2
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 20	New York Rangers	1 	Ottawa Senators 	1 	
March 23	Ottawa Senators 	2 	New York Rangers	5 	
New York wins two-game, total goals series 6–3
===Second round===
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 28	New York Rangers 	1 	Montreal Canadiens	2 	4OT
March 30	Montreal Canadiens	2 	New York Rangers 	0 	
Montreal wins best-of-three series 2–0
===Finals===
After defeating the Montreal Maroons and after having not lost consecutive games all season, the Boston Bruins were swept by the Montreal Canadiens two games to none in a best-of-three series. The first game saw Boston play way below its usual form. The Canadiens then won the Stanley Cup with a 4–3 victory in game two. The Canadiens went 5–0–1 in the playoffs, making them one of the few Stanley Cup-winning teams in history to not lose a game in the playoffs.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 28	Montreal Canadiens	3 	Boston Bruins 	0 	
March 29	Boston Bruins 	3 	Montreal Canadiens	4 	
Montreal wins best-of-three series 2–0
==Awards==
1929–30 NHL awards 	1929–30 NHL awards
O'Brien Cup:(Canadian Division champion) 	Montreal Maroons
Prince of Wales Trophy:(American Division champion)	Boston Bruins
Hart Trophy:(Most valuable player) 	Nels Stewart, Montreal Maroons
Lady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) 	Frank Boucher, New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy:(Fewest goals allowed) 	Tiny Thompson, Boston Bruins
==Player statistics==
===Scoring leaders===
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
PLAYER 	TEAM 	GP	G 	A 	PTS	PIM
Cooney Weiland	Boston Bruins 	44	43	30	73 	27
Frank Boucher 	New York Rangers 	42	26	36	62 	16
Dit Clapper 	Boston Bruins 	44	41	20	61 	48
Bill Cook 	New York Rangers 	44	29	30	59 	56
Hec Kilrea 	Ottawa Senators 	44	36	22	58 	23
Nels Stewart 	Montreal Maroons 	44	39	16	55 	81
Howie Morenz 	Montreal Canadiens	44	40	10	50 	72
Norman Himes 	New York Americans	44	22	28	50 	15
Joe Lamb 	Ottawa Senators 	44	29	20	49 	119
Dutch Gainor 	Boston Bruins 	43	18	31	49 	39
Source: NHL.
===Leading goaltenders===
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average
Player 	Team 	GP	W 	L 	T	Mins	GA 	SO	GAA
Tiny Thompson 	Boston Bruins 	44	38	5 	1	2680	98 	3 	2.19
Flat Walsh 	Montreal Maroons 	30	16	10	4	1897	74 	2 	2.34
George Hainsworth	Montreal Canadiens 	42	20	13	9	2680	108	4 	2.42
Charlie Gardiner 	Chicago Black Hawks	44	21	16	9	2750	111	3 	2.42
Alex Connell 	Ottawa Senators 	44	21	15	8	2780	118	3 	2.55
Source: NHL.
==Team Photos==
29-30BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
29-30Chibh.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
29-30DetCou.jpg|Detroit Cougars
29-30MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
29-30MtlMar.jpg|Montreal Maroons
29-30NYA.jpg|New York Americans
29-30NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
29-30OttSen.jpg|Ottawa Senators
29-30PitPir.jpg|Pittsburgh Pirates
29-30TorML.jpg|Toronto Maple Leafs
==References==
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==External links==
*Hockey Database
Category:1929 in ice hockey
Category:1930 in ice hockey