The National Hockey League—Page 2

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Expansion

But as the war years faded, the NHL became a prime symbol of the confidence and free-spending ways of the Roaring Twenties. The Bulldogs moved to Hamilton to become the Tigers. In 1924, the NHL embraced American department-store mogul Charles Adams’ wish to have a Boston team in the League. The Bruins entered the League—along with the Montreal Maroons. Because of the competition between the NHL and professional teams from the West, players were going to the highest bidder, seriously putting stress on the ability of smaller clubs like Hamilton and Ottawa to keep up. The Tigers still went on to win the NHL regular-season title in 1925, paving the way for what is still considered to be the most shocking labour action in NHL history; the Tigers’ players demanded extra pay for the playoffs and went on strike to prove their point. Instead of negotiating with the players, Calder disqualified the Tigers from the playoffs. The loss of playoff revenue devastated the team, and a group of investors moved the team to New York City the next season. Hamilton was the first small-market Canadian team to be forced to move south to the United States, and Hamiltonians could only despair when they heard of crowds of over 17,000 going to see the New York Americans in action at Madison Square Garden.

Box-office success in Boston and New York brought more expansion plans. In 1926, the NHL had swelled to 10 teams, adding the likes of the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Pirates. That year, Western Canada Hockey League, the last competing major pro hockey circuit, folded—leaving the Cup in the sole possession of the NHL. The Cup final became the NHL championship.

Shrinking Revenues, Shrinking Leagues

The economic challenges faced by the Canadian teams when the American teams were added in the 1920s and 1930s were not dissimilar to the problems small-market franchises face today.

Fans in Ottawa rebelled when the large-market American clubs caused a spike in players’ wages. The Boston Bruins offered Eddie Shore an estimated $50,000—a royal sum at the time—to get him to move to America. Struggling at the gate when the American teams were added, the Senators first tried to sell their key players, including a 1930 $35,000 deal that saw Francis “King” Clancy move to the hated Toronto Maple Leafs. The team then took the 1931-32 season off in order to get their finances in order. But the Senators couldn’t keep up with the American franchises, which made hockey players the highest-paid pro athletes in the world. Eventually, the Senators would move south, just as the Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets would do six decades later. They became the St. Louis Eagles in 1934, struggled for a season, then folded.

In New York, Chicago, Boston and Detroit, hockey was not the fourth spot; the National Football League had yet to establish itself and the National Basketball Association would not be formed until after the Second World War. So, hockey stars were the celebrities that filled the sports pages. But soon the Great Depression caught up to the League. Gate receipts dropped in the mid-1930s, and by the time the Second World War began, the NHL was down to seven teams—the “Original Six” of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montréal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins along with the New York Americans. The Americans, their roster decimated by the war, folded in 1942.

At the end of the Second World War, the National Hockey League made its first contact with Alberta. The NHL brought its all-stars to the Wild Rose province. The Stanley Cup-champion Montréal Canadiens took on the All-Stars from the other five teams—Canadiens legends like goalie Bill Durnan and 50-goal scorer Maurice “Rocket” Richard faced the likes of Red Wings legend Ted Lindsay and all-time great Toronto goalie Turk Broda.

Heading into the 1950s, the NHL’s membership had stabilized with the Original Six, and that would not change until 1967.

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