1925–26 Boston Bruins season
| 1925–26 Boston Bruins | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1925–26 record | 17–15–4 (38 points) | |
| Goals for | 92 | |
| Goals against | 85 | |
| Team information | ||
| General Manager | Art Ross | |
| Coach | Art Ross | |
| Captain | none | |
| Arena | Boston Arena | |
| Team leaders | ||
| Goals | Carson Cooper (28) | |
| Assists | Jimmy Herbert, Sprague Cleghorn (5) | |
| Points | Carson Cooper, Jimmy Herbert (31) | |
| Penalties in minutes | Jimmy Herbert (50) | |
| Wins | Doc Stewart (16) | |
| Goals against average | Charles Stewart (2.21) | |
| ||
The 1925–26 Boston Bruins season was the team's second in the NHL. The Bruins finished fourth in the league standings, failing to make the playoffs.
Regular season
Opening the season with a 2–1 loss to the expansion Pittsburgh Pirates, it looked initially as if the Bruins would turn in as poor a season as the year before, as they won only two of their first ten games, and after two consecutive wins, turned in an 0–5–3 record for most of January.[1]
From a 5–0 shutout victory over the Maroons on January 30, however, the Bruins won 13 of their last 17 games, a 2–1 overtime loss to the Pirates on March 12 being the difference to lose out on a playoff berth to Pittsburgh by a single point.[2] The winning percentage improvement of .328 from the previous season was a NHL record at the time, and remains the third best single season improvement ever.[3]
A healthy Carson Cooper contributed to a near doubling of goals scored to lead the league, while the purchase of veteran star defenseman Sprague Cleghorn from the Montreal Maroons solidified the defense – despite a knee injury in the opener against Pittsburgh that sidelined Cleghorn for a month – and saw goals allowed decline by over a third.[4] Cooper and Jimmy "Sailor" Herbert finished second and third respectively in the league scoring race, behind Nels Stewart of the Maroons.[5]
Among other debuts was that of goaltender Moe Roberts, at age 19 the second youngest player in the league and its first Jewish player.[6] Roberts would wind up with one of the longest professional careers on record, playing his final game for the Chicago Black Hawks in 1951, the oldest player ever to play in the NHL, prior to Gordie Howe. He was the youngest player ever to play goal for twenty years, until surpassed by future Bruin Harry Lumley.
Final standings
| Teams | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Senators | 36 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 77 | 42 | 341 | 52 |
| Montreal Maroons | 36 | 20 | 11 | 5 | 91 | 73 | 554 | 45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 36 | 19 | 16 | 1 | 82 | 70 | 264 | 39 |
| Boston Bruins | 36 | 17 | 15 | 4 | 92 | 85 | 279 | 38 |
| New York Americans | 36 | 12 | 20 | 4 | 68 | 89 | 361 | 28 |
| Toronto St. Patricks | 36 | 12 | 21 | 3 | 92 | 114 | 325 | 27 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 36 | 11 | 24 | 1 | 79 | 108 | 458 | 23 |
[7]
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.
Schedule and results
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L | November 26, 1925 | 1–2 | Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | W | November 28, 1925 | 3–2 | @ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | L | December 1, 1925 | 2–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1925–26) | 1–2–0 |
| 4 | L | December 3, 1925 | 0–2 | @ Ottawa Senators (1925–26) | 1–3–0 |
| 5 | L | December 5, 1925 | 0–4 | @ Montreal Maroons (1925–26) | 1–4–0 |
| 6 | W | December 8, 1925 | 3–2 | Montreal Maroons (1925–26) | 2–4–0 |
| 7 | L | December 11, 1925 | 3–5 | @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) | 2–5–0 |
| 8 | L | December 15, 1925 | 1–2 | Ottawa Senators (1925–26) | 2–6–0 |
| 9 | L | December 19, 1925 | 5–6 OT | @ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26) | 2–7–0 |
| 10 | L | December 22, 1925 | 2–3 | New York Americans (1925–26) | 2–8–0 |
| 11 | W | December 29, 1925 | 3–0 | Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) | 3–8–0 |
| 12 | W | January 5, 1926 | 3–0 | Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) | 4–8–0 |
| 13 | T | January 7, 1926 | 2–2 OT | @ New York Americans (1925–26) | 4–8–1 |
| 14 | L | January 9, 1926 | 2–3 | @ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) | 4–9–1 |
| 15 | L | January 12, 1926 | 2–4 | Montreal Canadiens (1925–26) | 4–10–1 |
| 16 | L | January 15, 1926 | 1–5 | @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) | 4–11–1 |
| 17 | T | January 19, 1926 | 3–3 OT | Montreal Maroons (1925–26) | 4–11–2 |
| 18 | T | January 23, 1926 | 2–2 OT | @ New York Americans (1925–26) | 4–11–3 |
| 19 | L | January 26, 1926 | 2–8 | Ottawa Senators (1925–26) | 4–12–3 |
| 20 | W | January 30, 1926 | 5–0 | @ Montreal Maroons (1925–26) | 5–12–3 |
| 21 | W | February 2, 1926 | 3–2 | Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) | 6–12–3 |
| 22 | W | February 4, 1926 | 3–2 | @ Ottawa Senators (1925–26) | 7–12–3 |
| 23 | T | February 6, 1926 | 3–3 OT | @ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26) | 7–12–4 |
| 24 | W | February 9, 1926 | 4–0 | New York Americans (1925–26) | 8–12–4 |
| 25 | W | February 13, 1926 | 7–4 | @ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) | 9–12–4 |
| 26 | W | February 16, 1926 | 3–2 OT | Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) | 10–12–4 |
| 27 | W | February 18, 1926 | 7–3 | @ New York Americans (1925–26) | 11–12–4 |
| 28 | W | February 20, 1926 | 3–1 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26) | 12–12–4 |
| 29 | W | February 22, 1926 | 2–1 OT | Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) | 13–12–4 |
| 30 | L | February 27, 1926 | 2–3 | @ Ottawa Senators (1925–26) | 13–13–4 |
| 31 | W | March 2, 1926 | 4–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1925–26) | 14–13–4 |
| 32 | W | March 4, 1926 | 3–2 | @ Montreal Maroons (1925–26) | 15–13–4 |
| 33 | W | March 6, 1926 | 1–0 | Ottawa Senators (1925–26) | 16–13–4 |
| 34 | L | March 9, 1926 | 0–1 | New York Americans (1925–26) | 16–14–4 |
| 35 | L | March 12, 1926 | 1–2 OT | @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) | 16–15–4 |
| 36 | W | March 16, 1926 | 1–0 | Montreal Maroons (1925–26) | 17–15–4 |
Playoffs
The Bruins did not qualify for the playoffs.
Player statistics
Leading scorers
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| Carson Cooper | 36 | 28 | 3 | 31 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Jimmy Herbert | 36 | 26 | 5 | 31 | 47 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Lionel Hitchman | 36 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 70 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Sprague Cleghorn | 25 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 49 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Hago Harrington | 26 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Red Stuart | 33 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 41 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| George Geran | 33 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Stan Jackson | 28 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 30 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Herb Mitchell | 26 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Normand Shay | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA | GP | Min | W | L | GA | SO | GAA | ||
| Doc Stewart | 35 | 2173 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 80 | 6 | 2.21 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| Moe Roberts | 2 | 85 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3.53 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
Transactions
- Purchased Sprague Cleghorn from the Montreal Maroons for $5,000.[8]
Roster
- #1 Sprague Cleghorn
- #3 Lionel Hitchman
- #4 Jimmy Herbert
- #7 Carson Cooper
- #11 Doc Stewart
- #12 Red Stuart
- #14 Charlie Cahill
- #14 Hago Harrington
- Fred Bergdinon
- John Brackenborough
- George Geran
- Stan Jackson
- Charles Larose
- Joe Matte
- Herb Mitchell
- George Redding
- Moe Roberts
- Werner Schnarr
- Normand Shay
- Paul Stevens
See also
References
- Coleman, Charles L. (1964), Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol I., Sherbrooke: National Hockey League, OCLC 7485243
- Klein, Jeff Z.; Reif, Karl-Eric (1997), The Klein & Reif Hockey Compendium, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, ISBN 978-0-7710-4529-5
- Vautour, Kevin (1997), The Bruins Book, Toronto: ECW Press, ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7
Notes
- ↑ Vautour 1997, p. 40.
- ↑ Vautour 1997, p. 41.
- ↑ Klein & Reif 1997, p. 63.
- ↑ Coleman 1964, p. 489.
- ↑ Coleman 1964, p. 494.
- ↑ Vautour 1997, p. 39.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Coleman 1964, p. 488.