1925–26 Montreal Maroons season

The 1925–26 Montreal Maroons season saw the team win their first Stanley Cup in only their second season.

1925–26 Montreal Maroons
Stanley Cup champions
League2nd NHL
1925–26 record20–11–5 (45 points)
Home record12–4–2
Road record8–7–3
Goals for91
Goals against73
Team information
CoachEddie Gerard
CaptainDunc Munro
ArenaMontreal Forum
Team leaders
GoalsNels Stewart (34)
AssistsReg Noble (9)
PointsNels Stewart (42)
Penalty minutesNels Stewart (119)
WinsClint Benedict (20)
Goals against averageClint Benedict (1.91)

Regular season

edit

Rookie Nels Stewart led the league in goals, with 34, and points, 42, to win the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer. His accomplishments also won him the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player.

Final standings

edit
National Hockey League
Teams GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Ottawa Senators362484774234152
Montreal Maroons3620115917355445
Pittsburgh Pirates3619161827026439
Boston Bruins3617154928527938
New York Americans3612204688936128
Toronto St. Patricks36122139211432527
Montreal Canadiens36112417910845823

[1] Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

edit
1925–26 NHL Records [2]
Team BOS MTL MTM NYA OTT PIT TOR
Boston 2–3–14–1–12–2–22–42–45–1
M. Canadiens 3–2–11–52–40–62–43–3
M. Maroons 1–4–15–14–1–11–2–33–36–0
New York 2–2–24–21–4–11–53–31–1–4
Ottawa 4–26–02–1–35–14–23–1–2
Pittsburgh 4–24–23–33–32–43–2–1
Toronto 1–53–30–61–1–41–3–22–3–1

Playoffs

edit

The Maroons took on the first-year team Pittsburgh Pirates in a two-game, total-goals series. The Maroons won the first game 3–1 and tied the second to win the series six goals to four.

In the second round, the Maroons took on the first-place Ottawa Senators. At home in the first game, the Maroons tied the Senators 1–1. Former Senator Punch Broadbent scored at 8 minutes of the second period to put the Maroons ahead. The lead lasted until King Clancy tied the game with ten seconds left.[3] In the second game, held at Ottawa, the Maroons took the series with a 1–0 shutout victory to win the NHL championship. Babe Siebert on an individual rush, scored off his own rebound at the six-minute mark of the second period. Cy Denneny appeared to tie the score a minute later, but the play was off-side. The Maroons held off the attack of the Senators the rest of the way in front of a record attendance of 10,525.[4]

After the final game in Ottawa, an anonymous supporter gave a $1,000 cheque to team president James Strachan "to be divided up among the boys for their fighting victory."[5]

Stanley Cup Finals

edit

Nels Stewart was "Old Poison" to the Victoria Cougars, as he scored 6 goals in the 4 games and goaltender Clint Benedict shut out the westerners three times. All games were played at the Forum in Montreal.

Schedule and results

edit

Regular season

edit
1925–26 regular season[6]
November
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
1LNovember 28, 19252–3@ Ottawa Senators (1925–26)0–1–0
December
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
2WDecember 1, 19254–2Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)1–1–0
3WDecember 3, 19253–2@ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)2–1–0
4WDecember 5, 19254–0Boston Bruins (1925–26)3–1–0
5LDecember 8, 19252–3@ Boston Bruins (1925–26)3–2–0
6WDecember 12, 19255–2Ottawa Senators (1925–26)4–2–0
7WDecember 16, 19254–2@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)5–2–0
8WDecember 19, 19254–1@ New York Americans (1925–26)6–2–0
9WDecember 23, 19251–0 OTPittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)7–2–0
10WDecember 26, 19252–0@ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)8–2–0
11LDecember 30, 19254–7Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)8–3–0
January
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
12WJanuary 2, 19263–2 OTNew York Americans (1925–26)9–3–0
13LJanuary 5, 19260–4@ Ottawa Senators (1925–26)9–4–0
14TJanuary 7, 19261–1 OTOttawa Senators (1925–26)9–4–1
15WJanuary 12, 19265–2Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)10–4–1
16WJanuary 16, 19261–0Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)11–4–1
17TJanuary 19, 19263–3 OT@ Boston Bruins (1925–26)11–4–2
18WJanuary 23, 19264–1Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)12–4–2
19TJanuary 25, 19261–1 OT@ New York Americans (1925–26)12–4–3
20LJanuary 27, 19261–2 OT@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)12–5–3
21LJanuary 30, 19260–5Boston Bruins (1925–26)12–6–3
February
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
22WFebruary 2, 19262–0@ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)13–6–3
23WFebruary 9, 19265–3@ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)14–6–3
24WFebruary 13, 19262–1New York Americans (1925–26)15–6–3
25WFebruary 18, 19265–2Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)16–6–3
26TFebruary 20, 19260–0 OT@ Ottawa Senators (1925–26)16–6–4
27TFebruary 23, 19261–1 OTOttawa Senators (1925–26)16–6–5
28LFebruary 26, 19260–1@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)16–7–5
29WFebruary 27, 19264–3@ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)17–7–5
March
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecord
30LMarch 2, 19260–4Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)17–8–5
31LMarch 4, 19262–3Boston Bruins (1925–26)17–9–5
32WMarch 6, 19264–3 OT@ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)18–9–5
33WMarch 11, 19265–1New York Americans (1925–26)19–9–5
34WMarch 13, 19264–2Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)20–9–5
35LMarch 16, 19260–1@ Boston Bruins (1925–26)20–10–5
36LMarch 17, 19263–5@ New York Americans (1925–26)20–11–5

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

edit
1926 Stanley Cup playoffs[6]
Semifinals vs. (3) Pittsburgh Pirates – Maroons win 6 goals to 4 goals
GameResultDateScoreOpponentSeries
1WMarch 20, 19263–1@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)1–0–0
2TMarch 23, 19263–3Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)1–0–1
NHL championship vs. (1) Ottawa Senators – Maroons win 2 goals to 1 goal
GameResultDateScoreOpponentSeries
1TMarch 25, 19261–1Ottawa Senators (1925–26)0–0–1
2WMarch 27, 19261–0@ Ottawa Senators (1925–26)1–0–1
Stanley Cup Finals vs. Victoria Cougars – Maroons win 3–1
GameResultDateScoreOpponentSeries
1WMarch 30, 19263–0Victoria Cougars1–0
2WApril 1, 19263–0Victoria Cougars2–0
3LApril 3, 19262–3Victoria Cougars2–1
4WApril 6, 19262–0Victoria Cougars3–1

Legend:   Win   Loss   Tie

Player statistics

edit

Scoring leaders

edit

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player GP G A Pts
Nels Stewart3634842
Babe Siebert3516824
Reg Noble339918
Punch Broadbent3612517
Dunc Munro334610
Hobie Kitchen30527
Chuck Dinsmore33314
Merlyn Phillips12314
Frank Carson16213
Sammy Rothschild33213

Goaltenders

edit

GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average

Player GP GA SO GAA
Clint Benedict367362.0

Awards and records

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. "Senators and Maroons Battle to Draw 1 to 1". Ottawa Citizen. March 26, 1926. p. 10.
  4. "Maroons Capture NHL Title With Win Over Ottawa". Montreal Gazette. March 29, 1926. p. 18.
  5. "$1,000 Donated To Maroon Players By Anonymous Rooter". Montreal Gazette. March 29, 2015. p. 19.
  6. 1 2 "1925-26 Montreal Maroons Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 5, 2025.