Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today, we are really
immersing ourselves in a piece of vintage hockey
history that, well... It genuinely shaped the
modern game. It absolutely did. And we have this
really fascinating stack of historical records,
season summaries, and archival game logs to go
through. Right. And our mission today is to just
completely unpack the 1935 to 1936 National Hockey
League season. Which is such a wild year. Because
if you follow the sport, you know that today's
NHL is this massive, incredibly wealthy corporate
machine. Oh, yeah. Billion dollar deals everywhere.
But for you listening, we want to take you back
to a moment when the league was essentially fighting
for its life. Literally just trying to survive
the week. Exactly. We're talking about desperate
franchise buyouts, the psychological toll of
the longest NHL game ever played, and some truly
bizarre structural experiments that the league
quickly tried to forget. It serves as this perfect
microcosm of professional sports in transition.
When we analyze the source material for this
specific season, we aren't just looking at a
ledger of who. waist of the Stanley Cup. No,
it's much bigger than that. Right. We are analyzing
an eight -team league operating right in the
shadow of the Great Depression. The NHL was grappling
with its own identity, trying to balance economic
survival with competitive integrity. It's the
bridge. This season is the bridge between the
chaotic early days in professional hockey and
the structured, modernized era we recognize today.
That's a great way to put it. Okay, let's unpack
this right from the start because the chaos begins
before a single game is even played. In November
of 1935, the St. Louis Eagles are in a complete
free fall. Just hemorrhaging money. Yeah. The
franchise owners essentially approach the NHL
with a plea to just hit pause. They want to suspend
operations for a year, save some cash. and then
eventually move the team back to Ottawa. And
the lead's response to that request is incredibly
telling. They flatly denied it, right? Flat out
no. Instead of allowing a franchise to go dormant
and disrupt the schedule, the NHL stepped in
on October 15th and forcibly bought back the
St. Louis franchise, along with all the player
contracts. And here's where it gets really interesting.
The price tag for that entire operation... $40
,000. $40 ,000. 40 grand to dissolve a professional
sports team. Today, you couldn't even cover a
fraction of a rookie's salary with that. Not
even close. But in 1935, that was the cost of
containing a localized financial disaster. They
just wiped the Eagles off the map. And Chicago
didn't even bother participating in the subsequent
dispersal draft for those St. Louis players.
Which tells you a lot about the tight budgets
across the board. Like, they couldn't even afford
to take on a free player's contract. Exactly.
And St. Louis wouldn't see another NHL team until
the massive expansion in 1967. If we connect
this to the bigger picture, it demonstrates the
fragility of the league's ecosystem. The NHL
couldn't afford the optics of a team simply taking
a year off. Right. It looks like the whole league
is folding. So they contracted down to just eight
teams split evenly between the American and Canadian
divisions. But suffering St. Louis didn't magically
fix the underlying economic anxiety. The New
York Americans were actively drowning in financial
trouble as the season progressed. You see it
all over the ownership notes. You have figures
like Leo Dandurant, who had just sold his stake
in the Montreal Canadiens, sniffing around the
Americans. Oh, and Joseph Kataranich publicly
stating he'd buy the team if the price was right.
Yeah. Ultimately, those deals fell through, but
it paints a picture of a league where owners
were constantly looking over their shoulders,
waiting for the bank to call. That constant looming
anxiety dictated how these teams operated. But
we also see fascinating shifts happening in the
presentation of the sport itself. Yes. Amidst
all this financial doom and bloom. the Boston
Bruins made a radical aesthetic decision that
year. It's the Boston Bruins' iconic jersey shift.
Prior to 1935, they wore brown and gold uniforms
with a massive block B dominating the chest.
But this season marks the debut of their black
and gold color scheme. Which is such an untouchable
piece of branding today. But it wasn't just a
color swap, was it? They completely rearranged
the layout of the sweater. They moved that primary
Block B logo to the shoulders and placed the
player's number front and center on the chest.
Just a giant number right on the front. Think
about the implications of that for the fan experience.
Right, because in an era... Without high -definition
broadcasts or giant arena jumbotrons, identifying
individual players from the chief seats was difficult.
Putting the number on the front was a direct
move to highlight the individual athletes so
people actually knew who they were cheering for.
It's a brilliant, if visually jarring, piece
of trivia. Imagine the Bruins skating out today
with just a giant 488 where the crest should
be. It would look like a practice jersey. So
we have an eight -team league, a new look in
Boston, and a heavy cloud of financial stress.
And as we get into the 48 -game regular season,
that stress really starts to manifest in the
front offices. Oh, absolutely. I want to look
at Chicago, specifically how ownership handled
their superstar Howie Morens. Morens is a legendary
figure, but his performance that season for the
Chicago Blackhawks was noticeably declining.
He was slowing down. Yeah. And what's fascinating
here is how the situation was resolved. A modern
front office would handle an aging star through
the general manager. Maybe a careful trade or
a shift in ice time to protect his legacy. Right.
But in 1935, Morenza's poor play incurred the
direct personal wrath of Chicago's owner, Frederick
McLaughlin. Wrath. That is such a loaded word
for a historical log to use. It strips away any
illusion of corporate procedure. It wasn't a
hockey trade. It was an owner throwing his hands
up in frustration. McLaughlin personally orchestrated
trading Morenz away to the New York Rangers.
Just directly intervening, it highlights the
sheer dictatorial power owners wielded. There
was no buffer. If the owner was unhappy with
you, you were on the next train out of town.
Which brings us to an even wilder front office
meltdown over in the Canadian division. The Montreal
Maroons are completely defying logic this season.
They finish first in their division. They rack
up 22 wins, 16 losses, and 10 ties for 54 points.
On paper, they are a powerhouse. But behind the
scenes, the organization is crumbling. It is
the ultimate paradox of the 1935 -36 season.
The Maroons were winning, yet the fans were actively
abandoning them. Attendance was in free fall.
And... we have to consider the intense pressure
that placed on Tommy Gorman. He wasn't just the
coach. He was wearing all the hats. Yeah, he
was serving simultaneously as the team president
and the manager. So what does this all mean for
Gorman on a human level? You are putting a winning
product on the ice, but the building is empty
and the revenue is just drying up. The physical
and mental toll was profound. Gorman actually
experienced severe nervous and health problems
directly attributed to the stress of the empty
seats. It became so debilitating that Lionel
Conacher had to step in temporarily just to keep
the team functioning. It's hard to fathom a modern
team president having a nervous breakdown while
in first place. It really underscores how entirely
dependent these teams were on nightly gate receipts.
There were no television deals to cushion the
blow. If people didn't buy a ticket that night,
the team couldn't pay its bills. Exactly. And
to fix their momentum, the Maroons pull off a
massive midseason trade. They ship Toe Blake
to the Canadians in exchange for the rights to
Lauren Chabon. And the mechanics of acquiring
Chabot are just as interesting. Chicago had actually
suspended Chabot because he flat out refused
a demotion to the minor elites. The Maroons capitalized
on that standoff. And once they installed Chabot
in the net, their defensive structure solidified.
propelling them to that division title. Goaltending
truly was the ultimate currency. Now, while the
Maroons were battling attendance issues and front
office stress to win the Canadian division, the
American division was a completely different
story. It was a masterclass by the Detroit Red
Wings. They cruised to the top of the league
with 56 points, distancing themselves from Boston,
Chicago, and the Rangers. Meanwhile, at the very
bottom of the league, you had the Montreal Canadiens
managing only 11 wins across the entire 48 -game
schedule. Which sets up a post... season that
is going to look completely alien to anyone accustomed
to modern tournament brackets. Yes, the bizarre
two game total goals playoff format. The top
three teams from each division qualified, but
how they played each other is a crucial piece
of sports evolution. The format they use for
the quarterfinals is just mind bending. So the
two division winners, Detroit and the Maroons,
get a bye. sending them directly to a best -of
-five semifinal against each other. That part
tracks. That makes sense. But the second - and
third -place teams have to battle it out in a
two -game total goal series. For our listeners
who track modern hockey, walking into a playoff
series where wins and losses technically don't
matter is a lot to wrap your head around. It
entirely subverts the psychology of the game.
In a two -game total goals format, you aren't
trying to win two distinct matches. You're playing
one long 120 -minute game broken across two nights
in two different cities. The victor is simply
the team that scores the most aggregate goals.
Right. Let's use the quarterfinal between the
Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins to
illustrate how chaotic this actually was. Oh,
this is the perfect example. So game one happens
at the Boston Garden. Boston absolutely locks
it down. Tiny Thompson gets the shutout. They
score three. Three times and they walk away with
a 3 -0 victory. In any standard format, Boston's
the driver's seat. They carry a plus -three goal
differential into Maple Leaf Gardens for game
two. And the strategic challenge there is immense.
Does Toronto pull their goalie early if they're
only up by two goals late in the game, even though
they're technically winning that specific match?
Exactly, because winning the game isn't enough.
They have to win the math. As it turns out, Toronto
didn't need to worry about pulling their goalie.
Game two became an offensive explosion. Boston
actually manages to score twice in the first
two periods of game two. But Toronto unleashes
a six -goal barrage in the second period alone.
Six goals in one period. By the final horn, Toronto
wins the game 8 -3. So mathematically, Boston
won Game 1 and Toronto won Game 2. The series
is tied 1 -1 in terms of wins. But because Toronto
racked up eight goals to Boston's combined six
across both nights, Toronto advances. It perfectly
illustrates why the NHL abandoned this format
the very next year. A single blowout period entirely
negated a hard -fought strategic shutout from
two nights prior. We saw the exact same flaw
in the other quarterfinal between Chicago and
the New York Americans. New York won the first
game 3 -M. And Chicago fought back to win the
second game 5 -4. Chicago won the hockey game,
but New York advanced because the aggregate score
was 7 -5. It creates this weird dissonance where
you can watch your team win a playoff game on
the ice and still be eliminated. It's fascinating
history, but terrible for competitive integrity.
Terrible. So Toronto takes out the Americans
in their semifinal bracket. But the other side
of the bracket? This is the centerpiece of the
1935 -36 season. The legendary six -overtime
marathon. The Detroit Red Wings versus the Montreal
Maroons. Game one of this series is legendary.
It took place on March 24th at the Montreal Forum.
The puck dropped at 8 .30 in the evening. This
matchup pitted the two best teams in the league
against each other, both fresh off a bye week.
You look at the game logs for this night and
the numbers frankly look like a typo. They play
the first period scoreless. Fucking period scoreless.
Third period ends 0 -0. So they enter sudden
death overtime. First goal wins. And they just
keep playing. First overtime yields nothing.
Second, third, fourth, fifth overtime. They are
playing through the night. Consider the physical
toll this took on the human body in 1936. These
athletes are wearing heavy wool sweaters that
are soaking up sweat and melting ice. They're
skating on rudimentary blades. The nutritional
science of the era was practically non -existent.
They were likely drinking coffee and smoking
cigarettes in the locker room between periods.
Just fueling up on tobacco and caffeine to go
play a fifth hour of professional hockey? The
ice surface itself must have been an absolute
disaster after six hours of continuous play.
Pitted and rutted, and through all of this, you
have a goaltending duel for the ages. Lauren
Shabbat, the guy the Maroons traded for to save
their season, is facing an onslaught. He faces
66 shots and stops 65 of them. Which forces Detroit's
goaltender, Normie Smith, to deliver a superhuman
performance to keep his team alive. Smith faced
92 shots that night. 92 shots! He didn't allow
a single puck past him. Making 92 saves in a
single game under those physical conditions is
a feat of endurance that is difficult to fully
comprehend. Finally, at 16 minutes and 30 seconds
into the sixth overtime period, the deadlock
breaks. A Detroit player named Mud Bruneteau
manages to slip one past Chabot, ending the game
one narrow. And the time on the clock when the
red light finally went on? 2 .25 in the morning.
2 .25 a .m. They had been playing hockey for
roughly six hours. It immediately set the record
for the longest game in Stanley Cup playoff history,
and it remains the longest ice hockey game ever
played. And Mug Bruneteau, by the way, was a
rookie playing his debut NHL season. What a way
to etch your name into the history books. The
psychological impact of a game like that cannot
be overstated. When a team battles for six grueling
overtimes only to lose on home ice at 2 .30 in
the morning, it breaks them. The Maroons simply
had nothing. left to give you can see that completely
reflected in the rest of the series the maroons
come out for game two and get shut out again
by normie smith three narrow detroit just steamrolls
them sweeping the series three games to none
to advance to the stanley cup finals detroit's
momentum was unstoppable at that point they met
the toronto maple leafs in the finals detroit
took game one three one and then completely dismantled
toronto in game two with a nine to four blowout
Toronto showed a pulse in Game 3, scraping out
a 4 -3 overtime win thanks to Buzble, but Detroit
slammed the door in Game 4. A third -period goal
by Pete Kelly secured a 3 -2 victory, and the
Detroit Red Wings claimed the Stanley Cup, taking
the series three games to one. It cemented Detroit
as the undisputed powerhouse of that year. But
when we look beyond the Cup at the individual
awards handed out for the 1935 -36 season, we
get a clear picture of the sheer concentration
of talent in this eight -team league. The Boston
Bruins might have been victims of that bizarre
total goals playoff math, but their defense was
heavily recognized. Eddie Shore took home his
second consecutive Hart Trophy as the league's
most valuable player. Winning consecutive Hart
Trophies as a defenseman in an era defined by
rugged physical play speaks volumes about Shore's
dominance. And behind him, Tiny Thompson secured
his third Vizina Trophy for allowing the fewest
goals. And you have the Lady Bing Trophy for
sportsmanship. This is one of my favorite stats
from this season. Frank Berger had an absolute
stranglehold on that award. He had won it for
seven consecutive years. But in 1935 -36, Doc
Romniz of the Chicago Blackhawks finally unseated
him. We also saw significant parity in the offensive
production across the league. Sweeney Schreiner
of the New York Americans led all scorers with
45 points in 48 games. But the gap between first
and 10th place was incredibly narrow, with players
like Marty Berry, Paul Thompson, and Charlie
Conacher all hovering right around the 40 -point
mark. You also see this distinct changing of
the guard. We mentioned Mud Brunetto making his
debut alongside guys like Ray Getliff and rookie
of the year Mike Kourakis. At the same time,
Joe Primo of the Toronto Maple Leafs is skating
in his final game. It's the perpetual cycle of
the sport, the veterans making way for the next
generation. Synthesizing all of this, the 1935
-36 season represents a massive proving ground.
The NHL asserted its authority over failing franchises
rather than letting the league splinter. They
recognized that gimmicky playoff structures harmed
the integrity of the game. And we witnessed the
absolute ceiling of human endurance in that six
overtime marathon. The league that emerged from
this season was distinctly more modern in its
philosophy. It was a crucible. They tested the
boundaries of economics, rules and stamina and
forged a clearer vision for the future of hockey.
Before we wrap up this deep dive, I want to leave
you with a thought to mull over. We spent a lot
of time discussing the St. Louis Eagles and how
the NHL. forcibly bought their entire franchise
for $40 ,000 just to stop the financial bleeding.
A completely different world. When you look at
the modern sports landscape today where expansion
franchises are auctioned off for billions of
dollars and leagues expand globally with almost
zero friction, consider what is lost when that
existential pressure disappears. Does the sheer
desperation of a Depression -era eight -team
league create a purer, more urgent form of competition?
Or was it merely a chaotic stepping stone to
the polished corporate giants we cheer for today?
Something to think about the next time you watch
the puck drop. Thanks for joining us on this
deep dive.