1920–21 Ottawa Senators season

The 1920–21 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 36th season of play, fourth season in the NHL, and they were out to defend their 1920 Stanley Cup championship. The club would win the NHL championship and defeat Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Final to win the club's ninth Stanley Cup.

1920–21 Ottawa Senators
Stanley Cup champions
1920–21 record8–2–0 (1st half)
6–8–0 (2nd half)
Home record8–4–0
Road record6–6–0
Goals for97
Goals against75
Team information
General managerTommy Gorman
CoachPete Green
CaptainEddie Gerard
ArenaThe Arena
Team leaders
GoalsCy Denneny (34)
AssistsJack McKell (10)
PointsCy Denneny (39)
Penalty minutesBuck Boucher (43)
WinsClint Benedict (14)
Goals against averageClint Benedict (3.08)

Regular season

Cy Denneny led the club offensively, scoring 34 goals, which was the 2nd highest total in the NHL, and his 39 points ranked him 3rd in the entire league. Denneny had a 6-goal game against the Hamilton Tigers on March 7.

Frank Nighbor had another great season with 18 goals, and Buck Boucher provided the team toughness, leading the club with 43 penalty minutes.

Clint Benedict also had a great season, earning 14 wins and a league best GAA of 3.08.

The team started the season 8–2–0 and won the 1st half of the season and a spot in the O'Brien Cup finals, but the Senators slumped to a 6–8–0 record in the second half leading to a playoff with the Toronto St. Patricks in a two-game total-goals series.

On December 30, 1920, the Senators were ordered to give up Sprague Cleghorn to Toronto, on the orders of the league. The league ruled that the Senators were over the total salary limit for players and Cleghorn was ordered to report to Toronto. The same day, the league ruled that Punch Broadbent would have to go to Hamilton to complete a trade made before the season, but not completed.[1] Both players refused to report to their new teams. Cleghorn eventually reported to Toronto, but returned to Ottawa in time to play in the playoffs. Broadbent resumed play for Ottawa in the second half of the season.

December

Ottawa opened the 1920-21 on home ice against the Toronto St. Patricks on December 22. The defending champions, led by three goals by Jack Darragh, defeated Toronto by a score of 6-3.

On December 27, Ottawa faced off against the newly relocated Hamilton Tigers, who relocated from Quebec during the off-season. The Senators defeated Hamilton 3-1 in their first game against the Tigers.

Two nights later, the Senators played in their first road game of the season, as they travelled to Toronto to face the St. Patricks. Ottawa remained perfect on the season, beating Toronto 8-1.

The Senators finished December with a perfect 3-0-0 record, earning six points. They were in first place in the NHL, two points ahead of second place Hamilton.

January

The Senators stayed hot in January, as they opened the month with a spectacular 8-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens, as Cy Denneny led the way by scoring three goals. On January 6, Ottawa travelled to Hamilton for the first time in team history, as they extended their winning streak to five, as the Senators defeated the Tigers 5-1.

The Senators suffered their first defeat of the season on January 8, as they dropped a close decision by a 5-4 score against the Montreal Canadiens. The Sens responded with a 2-0 win over Montreal four nights later in Ottawa, as Clint Benedict earned the shutout. The Senators extended their winning streak to three games after wins over Toronto and Hamilton. The Senators victory over Hamilton was 4-3 in overtime as Frank Nighbor scored the game winning goal.

Ottawa finished the first half of the season on January 22, as they lost to the Toronto St. Patricks 5-4. Despite the loss, the Senators finished the first half of the season in first place in the NHL with a record of 8-2-0, earning a berth into the NHL finals.

Three nights later, on January 25, Ottawa opened the second half of the season with a 5-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Ottawa held a 3-0 lead midway through the game, only to have Montreal score five goals in a row to steal the win. The Senators finished January with a 2-1 victory over the Hamilton Tigers.

At the end of January, the Senators had a 1-1-0 record in the second half of the season, earning two points. The Senators were in a tie for second place with the St. Patricks, two points behind the first place Canadiens.

February

The Senators opened February with three consecutive wins, defeating the Toronto St. Patricks 4-3 and the Hamilton Tigers twice by scores of 7-3 and 7-4.

Ottawa saw their four game winning streak snapped with a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on February 12, dropping their record to 4-2-0 in the second half of the season. This loss began a streak in which Ottawa would lose their final six games of the month. Among the lowlights was an 8-1 blowout loss to the Canadiens on February 19 and a 6-2 loss to the Hamilton Tigers on February 28.

Ottawa struggled to a record of 3-6-0 in February. Overall, the Senators second half record at this time was 4-7-0, earning eight points and third place in the NHL.

March

The Senators losing streak reached seven games, as they lost a close 3-2 decision to the Toronto St. Patricks to begin the month. Ottawa finally snapped their losing streak, as Clint Benedict stopped every shot he faced, and Cy Denneny scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

The Senators finished the season with a 12-5 win over the Hamilton Tigers, as Cy Denneny scored six goals in the contest for Ottawa.

Ottawa finished the second half of the season with a disappointing record of 6-8-0, earning 12 and ranking third in the NHL, eight points behind the first place Toronto St. Patricks.

Final standings
First Half
GP W L T Pts GF GA
Ottawa Senators10820164923
Toronto St. Patricks10550103947
Montreal Canadiens1046083751
Hamilton Tigers1037063438
Second Half
GP W L T Pts GF GA
Toronto St. Patricks141040206653
Montreal Canadiens14950187548
Ottawa Senators14680124852
Hamilton Tigers14311065894

[2] Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Note: Teams that qualified for playoffs highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents
1920-21 NHL Records
Team HAM MON OTT TOR
Hamilton —3–51–72–6
Montreal 5–3—5–33–5
Ottawa 7–13–5—4–4
Toronto 6–25–34–4—

Schedule and results
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1December 22Toronto St. Pats3–6Ottawa Senators1–0–02
2December 27Hamilton Tigers1–3Ottawa Senators2–0–04
3December 29Ottawa Senators8–1Toronto St. Pats3–0–06
4January 3Montreal Canadiens2–8Ottawa Senators4–0–08
5January 6Ottawa Senators5–1Hamilton Tigers5–0–010
6January 8Ottawa Senators4–5Montreal Canadiens5–1–010
7January 12Montreal Canadiens0–2Ottawa Senators6–1–012
8January 15Ottawa Senators5–2Toronto St. Pats7–1–014
9January 19Hamilton Tigers3–4Ottawa Senators8–1–016
10January 22Toronto St. Pats5–4Ottawa Senators8–2–016
11January 26Ottawa Senators3–5Montreal Canadiens8–3–016
12January 29Ottawa Senators2–1Hamilton Tigers9–3–018
13February 2Toronto St. Pats3–4Ottawa Senators10–3–020
14February 5Ottawa Senators7–3Hamilton Tigers11–3–022
15February 9Hamilton Tigers4–7Ottawa Senators12–3–024
16February 12Montreal Canadiens3–1Ottawa Senators12–4–024
17February 16Ottawa Senators3–4Toronto St. Pats12–5–024
18February 19Ottawa Senators1–8Montreal Canadiens12–6–024
19February 23Montreal Canadiens3–1Ottawa Senators12–7–024
20February 26Ottawa Senators2–4Toronto St. Pats12–8–024
21February 28Ottawa Senators2–6Hamilton Tigers12–9–024
22March 2Toronto St. Pats3–2Ottawa Senators12–10–024
23March 5Ottawa Senators1–0Montreal Canadiens13–10–026
24March 7Hamilton Tigers5–12Ottawa Senators14–10–028

Playoffs

In the NHL Championship, the Senators faced the Toronto St. Patricks in a two-game total-goal series with one game in each city.

The series opened on March 10 in Ottawa. The teams skated to a scoreless first period. In the second period, Ottawa opened the scoring on a powerplay goal by Cy Denneny 1:45 into the period, giving the Senators a 1-0 lead. The Sens added a second goal less than five minutes later, as Georges Boucher scored to make it 2-0 Ottawa after two periods. The Senators continued to dominate in the third period, as they scored three goals, including two by Boucher, giving him three goals in the game, as the Senators shutout the St. Patricks 5-0 to take the series lead.

The series resume four nights later in Toronto on March 14. The Senators played tight defense, and the game remained goalless after two periods. In the third period, Ottawa's Eddie Gerard scored the opening goal of the game, giving the Senators 1-0 lead. Four minutes later, Frank Nighbor scored, giving the team a 2-0 lead. Ottawa would win the series by a score of 7-0, advancing to the 1921 Stanley Cup Finals.

Ottawa Senators 7, Toronto St. Pats 0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 10Toronto St. Pats0–5Ottawa Senators1–0
2March 14Ottawa Senators2–0Toronto St. Pats2–0

Ottawa Senators 3, Vancouver Millionaires 2
Main article: 1921 Stanley Cup Finals

The series would take place in Vancouver, British Columbia at Denman Arena, and a record breaking crowd of 11,000 people would see the Millionaires win the first game 2–1 to take an early series lead. The Senators would rebound, winning the next two before Vancouver would tie the series up at two with a win in game four. Then, for the second straight year, the Senators would win the fifth and deciding game, winning the 1921 Stanley Cup, and became the first team since the 1912 and 1913 Quebec Bulldogs to win back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships.

All of the contests in the series, which went to the full five games, were decided by only one goal. The Millionaires won games one and four with victories of 2–1 and 3–2, respectively. The Senators were victorious in games two and three with 4–3 and 3–2 wins. Then in the fifth game, Jack Darragh scored both of Ottawa's goals in the 2–1 victory to clinch the Cup.

Darragh led the Senators in scoring with five goals during the series, while goaltender Clint Benedict only allowed just 12 goals in the five games, earning a 2.40 goals-against average.

#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 21Ottawa Senators1–2Vancouver Millionaires0–1
2March 24Ottawa Senators4–3Vancouver Millionaires1–1
3March 28Ottawa Senators3–2Vancouver Millionaires2–1
4March 31Ottawa Senators2–3Vancouver Millionaires2–2
5April 4Ottawa Senators2–1Vancouver Millionaires3–2

Player statistics

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Cy Denneny243453910
Frank Nighbor241832110
Jack Darragh241181920
Buck Boucher231251743
Eddie Gerard241141518

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAA
Clint Benedict241462141007523.08
Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

The Senators were involved in the following transactions during the 1920–21 season. [3]

Trades
December 30, 1920 To Ottawa Senators
N/A		 To Hamilton Tigers
Sprague Cleghorn
Punch Broadbent
February 21, 1921 To Ottawa Senators
Punch Broadbent		 To Montreal Canadiens
N/A
April 6, 1921 To Ottawa Senators
N/A		 To Hamilton Tigers
Sprague Cleghorn

Free agents
November 10, 1920 Did not play in 1919-20
Leth Graham
March 15, 1921 From Toronto St. Patricks
Sprague Cleghorn

Ottawa Senators 1921 Stanley Cup champions

Players

  Defencemen

Coaching and administrative staff

  • Edwin "Ted" Dey (President/Owner)
  • Tommy Gorman (Manager/Secretary/Owner)
  • Pete Green(Coach)
  • Frank Dolan (Trainer)

Stanley Cup engraving
  • &-Also played Defence.
  • ‡ Played rover position in the Stanley Cup Finals

Just like the previous season, the Senators never engraved their name on the Cup for their 1921 championship. It was not until the trophy was redesigned in 1948 that the words "1921 Ottawa Senators" was put onto its then-new collar.

See also

References
  1. "This Should Help To Balance Race". The Globe. December 31, 1920. p. 12.
  2. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  3. http://www.nhltradetracker.com/user/trade_list_by_season/1920-21/1
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