1923 Stanley Cup Finals

1923 Stanley Cup Finals
1 2 Total Ottawa Senators (NHL) 2 1 2 Edmonton Eskimos (WCHL) 1 0 0
Location(s)	Vancouver: Denman Arena
Format	best-of-three
Coaches	Ottawa: Pete Green Edmonton: Ken McKenzie
Captains	Ottawa: Eddie Gerard Edmonton: Duke Keats
Dates	March 29–31, 1923
Series-winning goal	Punch Broadbent (11:23, first)
Hall of Famers	Senators: Clint Benedict (1965) Georges Boucher (1960) Punch Broadbent (1962) King Clancy (1958) Jack Darragh (1962) Cy Denneny (1959) Eddie Gerard (1945) Frank Nighbor (1947) Eskimos: Duke Keats (1958) Bullet Joe Simpson (1963)
Stanley Cup Finals

The 1923 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the NHL champion Ottawa Senators and the WCHL champion Edmonton Eskimos. The previous WCHL-PCHA playoff format was abandoned, and the Ottawa Senators now had to play first the PCHA champion Vancouver Maroons, followed by the WCHL champion Edmonton Eskimos in the Finals.

This was the last Finals series until the 1983 Stanley Cup Finals to be contested by a team from Edmonton. Both games were played in Vancouver, making this the last Finals until 2020 played entirely at a neutral site (the 1924 and 1925 Finals each featured one neutral site game).

Paths to the Finals

Main article: 1923 Stanley Cup playoffs

In the NHL playoff, the Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens in a 2-game total-goal series by a close 3–2 score in the series. Billy Coutu charged Cy Denneny and Sprague Cleghorn butt-ended Lionel Hitchman in the first game and the Canadiens manager Leo Dandurand suspended both players for their actions. Odie Cleghorn and Didier Pitre did well in the two players place, but Ottawa won the series.

Ottawa brought Montreal Canadiens right wing Billy Boucher west with them in hopes that they could use him, but Frank Patrick ruled that the undermanned Senators could not use him.

The playoff format of the previous year where the PCHA champion met the WCHL champion prior to playing the NHL champion was abandoned. Therefore, for this year, the PCHA champions were given the chance to play the NHL champion in a best-of-three series. The injury-riddled Senators then defeated Vancouver three games to one in the semi-finals.

Bracket

	League Championships							Stanley Cup Semifinals										Stanley Cup Finals
	P1	Vancouver Maroons	3	2	5
																		WC	Edmonton Eskimos	1	0	–	0
	P2	Victoria Cougars	0	3	3
								PC	Vancouver Maroons	0	4	2	1	–	1			NC	Ottawa Senators	2*	2	–	2
								NC	Ottawa Senators	1	1	3	5	–	3
	N1	Ottawa Senators	2	1	3
	N2	Montreal Canadiens	0	2	2

Note: * denotes overtime period(s)

Game summaries

In the first game, Edmonton was leading 1–0, on a goal by Crutchy Morrison, before the ailing Lionel Hitchman scored in the third period to tie the game. Duke Keats of Edmonton was awarded a penalty shot during the game, but failed to score. Cy Denneny, despite suffering from a concussion, scored after two minutes of overtime to win the game for the Senators.

In the second game, the Senators got a first-period goal from Harry Broadbent and made it stand to the end of the game, playing six-man defence. The shots were recorded; 21, 14 and 13 for a total of 48 by the Senators, and 25, 18, and 25 for a total of 68 by Edmonton. Several players could not play the whole game, including Eddie Gerard and Georges Boucher. Lionel Hitchman played the game with his broken nose in a plaster. Harry Helman played despite a cut to his face from Frank Nighbor's skates, incurred in practice. Cy Denneny had been cut in the leg by the skate of Vancouver's Smokey Harris. 'Super-sub' King Clancy took a turn in all positions, including goal for Clint Benedict in the third period for two minutes when Benedict was serving a penalty. At the time goalies had to serve their own penalties. This is only time that a player played all six positions in a Stanley Cup Finals game.

March 29	Ottawa Senators		2-1	OT	Edmonton Eskimos	Denman Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			10:05 - John Morrison (1)
Lionel Hitchman (1) - 13:04		Third period			No scoring
Cy Denneny (3) - 2:08		First overtime period			No scoring
Clint Benedict		Goalie stats			Hal Winkler

March 31	Ottawa Senators		1-0		Edmonton Eskimos	Denman Arena	Recap
Punch Broadbent (6) - pp - 11:23		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
Clint Benedict		Goalie stats			Hal Winkler

Ottawa won series 2–0

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1923 Stanley Cup was presented by the trophy's trustee William Foran. The Senators never did engrave their name on the Cup for their championship season.

It was not until the trophy was redesigned in 1948 that the words "1923 Ottawa Senators" was put onto its then-new collar.

The following Senators players and staff were members of the Stanley Cup winning team.

1922–23 Ottawa Senators

Players

  Centres

• 9 Frank Nighbor

  Wingers

• 6 Jack Darragh
• 7 Harry Punch Broadbent
• 8 Cy Denneny
• 10 Harry Helman

  Defencemen

• 2 Frank King Clancy
• 3 Lionel Hitchman
• 4 George Buck Boucher
• 5 Eddie Gerard (Captain)^

  Goaltenders

• 1 Clint Benedict

Coaching and administrative staff

• Edwin Ted Dey (President/Owner)
• Tommy Gorman (Manager/Secretary/Owner)
• Pete Green (Coach)
• Frank Dolan (Trainer)
• Frank Ahearn, (Hon. President/Owner)&

^-Also played Wing &-Missing from team picture

Stanley Cup engraving

The Senators never did engrave their name on the Cup for their 1923 championship. It was not until the trophy was redesigned in 1948 that the words "1923 Ottawa Senators" was put onto its then-new collar.

See also

• 1922–23 NHL season
• 1922–23 Ottawa Senators season
• 1922–23 PCHA season
• Pacific Coast Hockey Association
• Western Canada Hockey League

References

• Diamond, Dan (2000). Total Stanley Cup. Toronto: Total Sports Canada. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-892129-07-9.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7
• "All-Time NHL Results".