1931 Stanley Cup Finals

Summary

The 1931 Stanley Cup Finals was played between the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Black Hawks, making their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance. The defending champions Canadiens, won the series to become the second NHL team to win back-to-back championships. Former player and now coach, Chicago's Dick Irvin, made his Finals coaching debut against the team he would later coach to three Stanley Cup titles.

1931 Stanley Cup Finals
12345 Total
Chicago Black Hawks 12320 2
Montreal Canadiens 21242 3
* indicates periods of overtime.
Location(s)Chicago: Chicago Stadium (1, 2)
Montreal: Forum (3–5)
Formatbest-of-five
CoachesChicago: Dick Irvin
Montreal: Cecil Hart
CaptainsChicago: Ty Arbour
Montreal: Sylvio Mantha
DatesApril 3–14, 1931
Series-winning goalJohnny Gagnon (9:59, second)
Hall of FamersBlack Hawks:
Charlie Gardiner (1945)
Canadiens:
George Hainsworth (1961)
Aurele Joliat (1947)
Sylvio Mantha (1960)
Howie Morenz (1945)
Coaches:
Dick Irvin (1958, player)
← 1930 Stanley Cup Finals 1932 →

Game summaries edit

Over 18,000 fans packed Chicago Stadium for game two to set a record for the largest attendance in hockey history to that time.[citation needed] The triple-overtime game three of the series was (at the time) the longest game in Stanley Cup Finals history, and today remains the fourth-longest game in Stanley Cup Finals history at 113:50.[citation needed]

Game five edit

For game five, Foster Hewitt came to Montreal to make the radio broadcast play-by-play and transmission lines carried his broadcast to radio stations across Canada Interest was so high that Montrealers in the thousands lined up for end zone and standing room tickets.[citation needed] Johnny Gagnon opened the scoring in the second period and Howie Morenz scored an insurance goal in the third period. It ended a nine-game goalless streak for Morenz.[1]


April 3 Montreal Canadiens 2–1 Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium Recap  
Georges Mantha (3) - 4:50 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
Pit Lepine (2) - 2:20 Third period 8:20 - Vic Ripley (2)
George Hainsworth Goalie stats Charlie Gardiner
April 5 Montreal Canadiens 1–2 2OT Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 11:45 - Stew Adams (2)
Nick Wasnie (3) - 12:10 Third period No scoring
No scoring Second overtime period 4:50 - Johnny Gottselig (2)
George Hainsworth Goalie stats Charlie Gardiner
April 9 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2 3OT Montreal Canadiens Montreal Forum Recap  
No scoring First period 5:15 - Johnny Gagnon (3)
No scoring Second period 7:29 - Georges Mantha (5)
Mush March (3) - 16:20
Stew Adams (3) - 17:07
Third period No scoring
Cy Wentworth (1) - 13:50 Third overtime period No scoring
Charlie Gardiner Goalie stats George Hainsworth
April 11 Chicago Black Hawks 2–4 Montreal Canadiens Montreal Forum Recap  
Johnny Gottselig (3) - 1:33
Ty Arbour (1) - 13:58
First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 4:34 - Johnny Gagnon (4)
No scoring Third period 4:25 - Johnny Gagnon (5)
10:55 - Pit Lepine (3)
17:25 - Pit Lepine (4)
Charlie Gardiner Goalie stats George Hainsworth
April 14 Chicago Black Hawks 0–2 Montreal Canadiens Montreal Forum Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period 9:59 - Johnny Gagnon (6)
No scoring Third period 15:27 - Howie Morenz (1)
Charlie Gardiner Goalie stats George Hainsworth
Montreal won series 3–2


Stanley Cup engraving edit

The 1931 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Sylvio Mantha by NHL President Frank Calder following the Canadiens 2–0 win over the Black Hawks in game five.

The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1930–31 Montreal Canadiens

Players

† Left off the Cup, but qualified to be on it. A Played three of five games in the Finals. B Played 22 of 44 regular season games.

Coaching and administrative staff

  • Louis Athanase David (President), Edouard St. Pere (Vice President)
  • Joseph Cattarinich (Vice President/Owner), Amerdee Monte (Director)
  • Joseph Viateur "Leo" Dandurand (Secretary/Owner), Alphonse Raymond (Director)
  • Cecil Hart (Manager-Coach), Georges Richer (Treasurer)
  • Fernand Rinfeet (Director), Henry Gray (Director)
  • Jules Dugal (Business Manager), Dr. J. A. Corrigan (Team Physician)
  • Edward Dulfour (Trainer), Jim McKenna (Asst. Trainer)

Stanley Cup engraving

  • Officially, owner Leo Dandurand was the Manager of the Montreal Canadiens from 1921–22 to 1934–35. However, Cecil Hart was engraved on the Stanley Cup in 1930 and 1931, and he is listed on every team picture for those seasons as Manager. Leo Dandurand would later get his name on the Grey Cup as the President (owner) of Montreal Allouettes in 1949. This made Leo Dandurand the 4th person to win both the Stanley Cup and Grey Cup. (See Joe Miller, Lionel Conacher, Carl Voss, Harold Ballard, Norman Kwong & Wayne Gretzky other persons who won both the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup.)
  • *-The team physician's first name remains unknown
  • Hilarion A. "Louis" Letourneau (Owner/Director) gave up position on Board of Directors of the Montreal Canadiens after the 1930 Stanley Cup. He would sell his shares in 1932. So name was not included on the 1931 Stanley Cup engraving.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Jenish (2008), p. 76.

References edit

  • Diamond, Dan (2000). Total Stanley Cup. Toronto: Total Sports Canada. ISBN 978-1-892129-07-9.
  • Jenish, D'arcy (2008). The Montreal Canadiens: 100 years of glory. Doubleday Canada. ISBN 978-0-385-66324-3.
  • Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7
Preceded by Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup Champions

1931
Succeeded by