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The 1934–35 St. Louis Eagles season was the Eagles' only season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Eagles finished last in the Canadian Division and did not qualify for the playoffs. The team made a coaching change, replacing Eddie Gerard after a 2–11 start, with Buck Boucher, who could not turn the team around.
The Ottawa Senators relocated their NHL franchise and players to St. Louis in the summer of 1934 due to financial losses in Ottawa. Despite good attendance at the St. Louis Arena, the Eagles would have financial problems, due to travel costs. The Eagles would take the Senators' spot in the Canadian Division, and would face numerous road trips to Montreal and Toronto throughout the season, despite being closer to Chicago and Detroit, who played in the American Division. The Eagles were forced to sell players, such as Syd Howe and Frank Finnigan. After the season, the NHL bought the franchise and dispersed its players.
Off-season
The St. Louis Arena had an ice surface that was 215 feet (66 m) × 115 feet (35 m), reputedly the "largest ice surface in the world". The rink was cut down to the league standard 75 feet (23 m) wide, but left 215 ft long, leaving a neutral zone of 75 feet (23 m). It was the largest ice surface in the NHL.[1]
Regular season
The first game of NHL hockey in St. Louis was played on November 8, 1934, against the Chicago Black Hawks with a paid attendance of 12,622.[1] The Eagles lost 1–3 and their only goal was scored by Earl Roche.
The Eagles were led offensively by Carl Voss and his team leading 31 points, team captain Syd Howe would lead the club with 14 goals, despite being traded to the Detroit Red Wings late in the season, while Glen Brydson would finish 2nd in team scoring with 29 points. Joe Jerwa, acquired by the Boston Bruins, would lead the defense with 11 points in only 16 games in St. Louis.
Bill Beveridge would be the Eagles goaltender, winning 11 games with a 2.89 GAA and 3 shutouts.
The strain of so many long train rides showed early on. Midway through the season, new head coach and former Senators player Eddie Gerard was relieved of his duties after a 2–11–0 start and was replaced by Buck Boucher, who was the head coach of the Senators the previous season. Boucher would post a 9–20–6 record in 35 games. All told, the Eagles finished 11–31–6, dead last in the league with a winning percentage of .292.
After the season, the franchise owners asked permission to suspend operations for a year. Instead, the NHL bought the players' contracts for $40,000 and dispersed the players to the other NHL teams. The NHL took back the franchise, on the condition that if it were resold, the original franchisees would share in the proceeds.[2]
The Montreal Maroons nearly relocated to St. Louis in 1938, but the NHL nixed the move. St. Louis would be without an NHL team until 1967, when the league expanded from 6 teams to 12, and the St. Louis Blues took the ice.
Final standings
[3]
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Schedule and results
| No. |
R |
Date |
Score |
Opponent |
Record |
| 1 | L | November 8, 1934 | 1–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1934–35) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | W | November 10, 1934 | 4–2 | New York Rangers (1934–35) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | L | November 13, 1934 | 1–2 OT | Montreal Maroons (1934–35) | 1–2–0 |
| 4 | L | November 17, 1934 | 0–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1934–35) | 1–3–0 |
| 5 | L | November 18, 1934 | 0–5 | @ New York Rangers (1934–35) | 1–4–0 |
| 6 | L | November 20, 1934 | 2–5 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1934–35) | 1–5–0 |
| 7 | L | November 22, 1934 | 0–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1934–35) | 1–6–0 |
| 8 | L | November 24, 1934 | 1–4 | Boston Bruins (1934–35) | 1–7–0 |
| 9 | L | November 25, 1934 | 1–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1934–35) | 1–8–0 |
| 10 | L | December 1, 1934 | 3–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1934–35) | 1–9–0 |
| 11 | W | December 4, 1934 | 2–0 | New York Americans (1934–35) | 2–9–0 |
| 12 | L | December 8, 1934 | 0–1 | @ Montreal Maroons (1934–35) | 2–10–0 |
| 13 | L | December 9, 1934 | 1–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1934–35) | 2–11–0 |
| 14 | L | December 13, 1934 | 2–11 | Detroit Red Wings (1934–35) | 2–12–0 |
| 15 | T | December 15, 1934 | 1–1 OT | @ Montreal Canadiens (1934–35) | 2–12–1 |
| 16 | W | December 18, 1934 | 2–1 OT | @ New York Americans (1934–35) | 3–12–1 |
| 17 | T | December 20, 1934 | 1–1 OT | Toronto Maple Leafs (1934–35) | 3–12–2 |
| 18 | L | December 22, 1934 | 1–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1934–35) | 3–13–2 |
| 19 | W | December 27, 1934 | 5–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1934–35) | 4–13–2 |
| 20 | T | December 30, 1934 | 3–3 OT | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1934–35) | 4–13–3 |
| 21 | L | January 3, 1935 | 0–3 | Montreal Maroons (1934–35) | 4–14–3 |
| 22 | W | January 5, 1935 | 2–1 | @ Montreal Maroons (1934–35) | 5–14–3 |
| 23 | L | January 10, 1935 | 1–2 | Boston Bruins (1934–35) | 5–15–3 |
| 24 | L | January 13, 1935 | 2–3 | @ New York Rangers (1934–35) | 5–16–3 |
| 25 | L | January 15, 1935 | 3–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1934–35) | 5–17–3 |
| 26 | L | January 17, 1935 | 1–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1934–35) | 5–18–3 |
| 27 | L | January 19, 1935 | 2–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1934–35) | 5–19–3 |
| 28 | W | January 20, 1935 | 6–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1934–35) | 6–19–3 |
| 29 | L | January 22, 1935 | 1–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1934–35) | 6–20–3 |
| 30 | T | January 24, 1935 | 2–2 OT | New York Americans (1934–35) | 6–20–4 |
| 31 | L | January 27, 1935 | 3–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1934–35) | 6–21–4 |
| 32 | L | January 29, 1935 | 2–5 | @ Montreal Maroons (1934–35) | 6–22–4 |
| 33 | T | February 2, 1935 | 1–1 OT | Montreal Canadiens (1934–35) | 6–22–5 |
| 34 | T | February 5, 1935 | 3–3 OT | @ New York Americans (1934–35) | 6–22–6 |
| 35 | W | February 7, 1935 | 1–0 OT | Chicago Black Hawks (1934–35) | 7–22–6 |
| 36 | L | February 9, 1935 | 2–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1934–35) | 7–23–6 |
| 37 | L | February 12, 1935 | 1–5 | New York Rangers (1934–35) | 7–24–6 |
| 38 | W | February 16, 1935 | 3–0 | Boston Bruins (1934–35) | 8–24–6 |
| 39 | L | February 19, 1935 | 1–2 | @ New York Rangers (1934–35) | 8–25–6 |
| 40 | W | February 21, 1935 | 4–3 | @ New York Americans (1934–35) | 9–25–6 |
| 41 | L | February 23, 1935 | 0–4 | Montreal Maroons (1934–35) | 9–26–6 |
| 42 | L | February 26, 1935 | 0–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1934–35) | 9–27–6 |
| 43 | L | February 28, 1935 | 2–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1934–35) | 9–28–6 |
| 44 | L | March 2, 1935 | 2–3 OT | Montreal Canadiens (1934–35) | 9–29–6 |
| 45 | W | March 7, 1935 | 3–2 | New York Americans (1934–35) | 10–29–6 |
| 46 | L | March 9, 1935 | 1–5 | New York Rangers (1934–35) | 10–30–6 |
| 47 | W | March 12, 1935 | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1934–35) | 11–30–6 |
| 48 | L | March 19, 1935 | 3–5 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1934–35) | 11–31–6 |
Player stats
Regular season
- Scoring
| Player |
Pos |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
| Voss, CarlCarl Voss | C | 48 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 14 |
| Brydson, GlenGlen Brydson | RW | 48 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 45 |
| Howe, SydSyd Howe | C/LW | 36 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 23 |
| Lamb, JoeJoe Lamb | RW | 31 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 19 |
| Kelly, PetePete Kelly | RW | 25 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 14 |
| Cowley, BillBill Cowley | C | 41 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 10 |
| Asmundson, OscarOscar Asmundson | C | 11 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| Jerwa, FrankFrank Jerwa | LW/D | 16 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 14 |
| Finnigan, FrankFrank Finnigan | RW | 34 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| Roche, EarlEarl Roche | LW | 19 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Ripley, VicVic Ripley | LW | 31 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| Wasnie, NickNick Wasnie | RW | 13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Ayres, VernonVernon Ayres | D | 47 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 60 |
| Bowman, RalphRalph Bowman | D | 31 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 51 |
| Shannon, GerryGerry Shannon | LW | 25 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| Purpur, FidoFido Purpur | RW | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Blake, MickeyMickey Blake | LW/D | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Finnigan, EdEd Finnigan | LW | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Frew, IrvIrv Frew | D | 48 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 89 |
| Carrigan, GeneGene Carrigan | C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Patterson, GeorgeGeorge Patterson | W | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Beveridge, BillBill Beveridge | G | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cook, BudBud Cook | C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Graham, TedTed Graham | D | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Kalbfleisch, WalterWalter Kalbfleisch | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Kaminsky, MaxMax Kaminsky | C | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Roche, DesDes Roche | RW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wilcox, ArchieArchie Wilcox | RW/D | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Williams, BurrBurr Williams | D | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
- Goaltending
| Player |
MIN |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
GA |
GAA |
SO |
| Beveridge, BillBill Beveridge | 2990 | 48 | 11 | 31 | 6 | 144 | 2.89 | 3 |
| Team: | 2990 | 48 | 11 | 31 | 6 | 144 | 2.89 | 3 |
[4]
- 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;
See also
References
- 1 2 Wernig, Darin. Gateway City Puckchasers: The History of Hockey in St. Louis. Wernig Media, LLC. p. 33. ISBN 9780990723202.
- ↑ Colemen, Charles. Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 2 1927–1946 inc.
- ↑ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al., eds. THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
- ↑ "1934-35 St. Louis Eagles Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
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