1920–21 NHL season

League business

Eddie Livingstone was again talking of creating a rival league and mentioned Hamilton as a city in his league. To head this off, league president Frank Calder got the owners of the league to admit a Hamilton franchise. As Abso-Pure had built an arena, all owners agreed that it would be wise to have a franchise in Hamilton. Because Quebec had done so badly the previous season, Calder said that Quebec's players would be given to Hamilton. Although Mike Quinn was non-committal at first, he finally sold the team to Hamilton and it became the Hamilton Tigers.

Regular season

The Tigers had some trouble signing Joe Malone from the Quebec days, but he finally did sign. The Tigers were awarded two players from the Senators, Punch Broadbent and Sprague Cleghorn by NHL president Calder, but both refused to sign with the Tigers, and eventually returned to the Senators. Cleghorn was awarded to the Toronto St. Patricks and at first balked at the move, but did report. After the St. Patricks were defeated in the NHL playoffs, Cleghorn joined Ottawa in a deal. NHL president Frank Calder did not like this and the following season a trading deadline was instituted.

The Tigers stunned the Canadiens 5–0 in the team's first-ever game with Babe Dye starring and Howard Lockhart getting the only shutout of his NHL career. The Toronto St. Patricks lost Corbett Denneny to injuries and recalled Dye from Hamilton, giving them Mickey Roach in his place.

Corbett Denneny scored six goals in a game January 26, 1921, helping the Toronto St. Patricks to wallop the Hamilton Tigers 10–3. Cy Denneny wasn't about to let his brother steal the thunder and he scored six goals himself in a March 7 game as the Ottawa Senators hammered the Hamilton Tigers 12–5. For the first time, a brother combination had scored six goals in a game the same season.

Also on January 26, 1921, the Ottawa Senators left the ice with 5:13 to play in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. According to the Senators, referee Cooper Smeaton was one-sided in favour of the Canadiens. Smeaton let the Canadiens continue to play, allowing goals by Newsy Lalonde and Amos Arbour before calling the game. Smeaton denied the claim, stating "a referee is always paid and receives the same salary, regardless what team wins." Smeaton would resign over the incident, but was convinced to return to refereeing later in the season. The Senators were fined $500 by NHL president Frank Calder for the incident.

The Ottawa Senators won the first half of the split season while the Toronto St. Patricks won the second half.

Final standings

Playoffs

NHL Championship

Ottawa, winner of the first half of the split regular season, played Toronto, winner of the second half, in a total-goals series for the O'Brien Cup and to compete for the Stanley Cup. Ottawa won by shutting out the St. Pats in both games. Ottawa then went on to play the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =01:45 – pp – Cy Denneny (1) 06:30 – Buck Boucher (1) |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =11:00 – Cy Denneny (2) 16:45 – Buck Boucher (2) 18:15 – Buck Boucher (3) |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Clint Benedict |goalie1-2 =Jake Forbes

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Eddie Gerard (1) - 11:00 Frank Nighbor (1) - 14:00 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Clint Benedict |goalie2-2 =Jake Forbes

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1921 Stanley Cup Finals

The five games were played in Denman Arena, Vancouver.

|1-1-1 =15:40 - Alf Skinner (1) 18:15 - Art Duncan (1) |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =1:20 - Smokey Harris (1) |1-2-2 =Jack Darragh (1) - 15:55 |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Hugh Lehman |goalie1-2 =Clint Benedict

|2-1-1 =1:29 - Smokey Harris (2) 3:01 - Jack Adams (1) 10:29 - Art Duncan (1) |2-1-2 =Buck Boucher (4) - 8:05 Cy Denneny (3) - 18:26 |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =Jack Darragh (2) - 10:49 |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =Punch Broadbent (1) - pp - 16:40 |goalie2-1 =Hugh Lehman |goalie2-2 =Clint Benedict

|3-1-1 =1:59 - Lloyd Cook (1) |3-1-2 =Jack Darragh (3) - 8:57 |3-2-1 =18:02 - Jack Adams (2) |3-2-2 =Cy Denneny (4) - sh - 8:22 Sprague Cleghorn (1) - 10:52 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Hugh Lehman |goalie3-2 =Clint Benedict

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =2:22 - Alf Skinner (2) |4-2-2 =Buck Boucher (5) - 13:43 |4-3-1 =1:35 - Alf Skinner (3) 15:52 - pp - Lloyd Cook (2) |4-3-2 =Punch Broadbent (2) - 16:52 |goalie4-1 =Hugh Lehman |goalie4-2 =Clint Benedict

|5-1-1 =16:26 - Alf Skinner (4) |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =Jack Darragh (4) - 7:27 Jack Darragh (5) - 9:40 |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Hugh Lehman |goalie5-2 =Clint Benedict

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

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

Source: NHL.

Leading goaltenders

GP = Games Played, GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average

NHL Playoff scoring leader

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

Awards

• O'Brien Cup – Ottawa Senators

Note:

The O'Brien Cup, still considered the championship of the NHA, was not awarded to Ottawa until November 1921. It had remained under the care of the Canadiens who had won it in 1917, until the death of their owner, George Kennedy in October 1921, when the NHL made arrangements to re-use the trophy.

Coaches

• Hamilton Tigers: Joe Malone
• Montreal Canadiens: Newsy Lalonde
• Ottawa Senators: Pete Green
• Toronto St. Patricks: George O'Donoghue

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1920–21 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

The last remaining active player to kick off their NHL career this season was Leo Reise, Sr., who played his final NHL game in the 1929–30 season, although he missed the 1924–25 and 1925–26 seasons.

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1920–21 (listed with their last team):

Free agency

Transactions

References

Works cited

General references

• {{cite book |last1=Fischler |first1=Stan |last2=Fischler |first2=Shirley

References

1. "1920–21 Regular Season – Goalie Season Stats Leaders". NHL.
2. (November 17, 1921). "O'Brien Trophy To Be Given To Ottawa". The Morning Leader.