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.
==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 Canadiens 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. Joliat finished with 12 goals and 21 points in 24 games.
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 14, 1923, CFCA, the radio station of the Toronto Star, broadcast the third period of the Senators-St. Patricks game in Toronto. This was the first radio broadcast of an NHL game. The broadcaster has not been identified, but it may have been Norman Albert who broadcast the Midland-North Toronto game February 8 from the Toronto Arena.
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
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
National Hockey League	GP	W 	L 	T	Pts	GF	GA 	PIM
Ottawa Senators 	24	14	9 	1	29 	77	54 	188
Montreal Canadiens 	24	13	9 	2	28 	73	61 	174
Toronto St. Patricks 	24	13	10	1	27 	82	88 	200
Hamilton Tigers 	24	6 	18	0	12 	81	100	182
==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 Cup were won by the Ottawa Senators 3 goals to 2, despite the dirty play of several Montreal Canadiens players. (citation needed) 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
Date 	Team 	Score	Team 	Score	Notes
March 7	Montreal Canadiens	0 	Ottawa Senators 	2 	
March 9	Ottawa Senators 	1 	Montreal Canadiens	2 	
Ottawa wins total goals series three goals to two.
===Stanley Cup playoffs===
The Stanley Cup playoffs were played 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
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 16	Ottawa Senators	1 	Vancouver Maroons	0 	
March 19	Ottawa Senators	1 	Vancouver Maroons	4 	
March 23	Ottawa Senators	3 	Vancouver Maroons	2 	
March 26	Ottawa Senators	5 	Vancouver Maroons	1 	
Ottawa wins best-of-five series three games to one.
===Stanley Cup Finals===
Ottawa Senators vs. Edmonton Eskimos
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 29	Ottawa Senators	2 	Edmonton Eskimos	1 	(OT)
March 31	Ottawa Senators	1 	Edmonton Eskimos	0 	
Ottawa wins best-of-three series two games to none for the Stanley Cup.
===NHL Playoff scoring leader===
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Player 	Team 	GP	G	A	Pts
Punch Broadbent	Ottawa Senators	8 	6	1	7
==Awards==
O'Brien Cup — Ottawa Senators
==Player statistics==
===Scoring leaders===
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; PIM = Penalties in minutes; Pts = Points
Name 	Team 	 	 	 	 	
Babe Dye 	Toronto St. Patricks	22	26	11	19	37
Cy Denneny 	Ottawa Senators 	24	23	11	28	34
Billy Boucher 	Montreal Canadiens 	24	24	7 	55	31
Jack Adams 	Toronto St. Patricks	23	19	9 	42	28
Mickey Roach 	Hamilton Tigers 	24	17	10	8 	27
Odie Cleghorn 	Montreal Canadiens 	24	19	6 	18	25
George Boucher	Ottawa Senators 	24	14	9 	58	23
Reg Noble 	Toronto St. Patricks	24	12	11	47	23
Cully Wilson 	Hamilton Tigers 	23	16	5 	46	21
Aurel Joliat 	Montreal Canadiens 	24	12	9 	37	21
Source: NHL
===Leading goaltenders===
GP = Games Played, GA = Goals Against, Mins = Minutes played, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average
Name 	Team 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Clint Benedict 	Ottawa Senators 	24	1486	14	9 	1	54 	4	2.18
Georges Vézina 	Montreal Canadiens 	24	1488	13	9 	2	61 	2	2.46
John Ross Roach	Toronto St. Patricks	24	1469	13	10	1	88 	1	3.59
Jake Forbes 	Hamilton Tigers 	24	1470	6 	18	0	110	0	4.49
Source: NHL
==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):
*Billy Burch, Hamilton Tigers
*Aurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens
*Lionel Hitchman, Ottawa Senators
==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):
*Didier Pitre, Montreal Canadiens
*Eddie Gerard, Ottawa Senators
*Harry Cameron, Toronto St. Patricks
==Team Photos==
1922-23MtlCdns.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
22-23OttSen.jpg|Ottawa Senators
22-23TorSP.jpg|Toronto St. Patricks
==See also==
*List of Stanley Cup champions
*Pacific Coast Hockey Association
*Western Canada Hockey League
*List of pre-NHL seasons
==References==
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;Notes
==External links==
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* NHL.com
Category:1922 in ice hockey
Category:1923 in ice hockey