WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.700 Welcome in, everyone. It is great to have you 00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:04.620 here with us today. It really is. Thanks for 00:00:04.620 --> 00:00:06.759 joining us. If you are sitting there right now, 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:09.720 whether you're prepping for a big meeting, catching 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.320 up on some history, or you're just incredibly 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.640 curious and looking for a compelling story to 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:17.899 sink your teeth into. You're in the perfect place. 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:21.440 Exactly. We are so glad you are joining us. Today's 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:23.539 deep dive is something really special. We are 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:26.780 exploring a single Wikipedia article, but our 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:29.440 mission today is to look far beyond the basic 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:31.760 statistics. Right, way beyond the numbers. We 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.570 are unpacking the 1936 to 1937 NHL season. Setting 00:00:36.570 --> 00:00:38.750 the proper context for you is crucial before 00:00:38.750 --> 00:00:41.070 we jump into the events of this specific year. 00:00:41.350 --> 00:00:43.429 Because, you know, when people casually think 00:00:43.429 --> 00:00:46.310 about 1930s hockey, it is very easy to just picture 00:00:46.310 --> 00:00:48.250 a collection of dry statistics. Black and white 00:00:48.250 --> 00:00:50.530 photos. Yeah, black and white photos, dusty record 00:00:50.530 --> 00:00:52.950 books. But that completely misses the reality 00:00:52.950 --> 00:00:55.630 of what the historical record actually reveals 00:00:55.630 --> 00:00:58.170 about this era. This isn't just a rundown of 00:00:58.170 --> 00:01:01.229 goals and assists. We are talking about a professional 00:01:01.229 --> 00:01:03.929 sports league fighting for its absolute survival 00:01:03.929 --> 00:01:06.250 under the crushing weight. of the Great Depression. 00:01:06.469 --> 00:01:09.150 It was desperate. It really was. This single 00:01:09.150 --> 00:01:11.769 48 game season is packed with bizarre ownership 00:01:11.769 --> 00:01:15.109 drama, a devastating sports tragedy, eccentric 00:01:15.109 --> 00:01:18.349 front office experiments and the birth of a major 00:01:18.349 --> 00:01:20.829 sports tradition that fans still celebrate today. 00:01:21.049 --> 00:01:24.359 It is a remarkable case study. Analyzing this 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:26.819 specific season is so fascinating because it 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:29.819 perfectly encapsulates the extreme fragility 00:01:29.819 --> 00:01:32.959 of professional sports in the 1930s alongside 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:36.680 an incredible resilience. Right. Every single 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:38.840 front office decision, every significant injury, 00:01:39.019 --> 00:01:42.040 and every puck drop carried massive existential 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:44.439 stakes for the people involved. Okay, let's untack 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:46.359 this. Right. Because to really understand those 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:49.260 stakes, we need to examine the financial chokehold 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:51.000 the Great Depression had on the league at this 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.390 point in history. It was severe. So we're starting 00:01:53.390 --> 00:01:56.870 in the fall of 1936. The NHL had actually begun 00:01:56.870 --> 00:01:59.469 this decade with 10 teams. But by the time we 00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:01.769 reach this 20th season, they are down to just 00:02:01.769 --> 00:02:04.469 eight. Two franchises had already folded. Yep. 00:02:04.790 --> 00:02:07.349 And right out of the gate, it looked like a third 00:02:07.349 --> 00:02:10.349 team, the New York Americans, was about to collapse 00:02:10.349 --> 00:02:13.069 entirely. Losing a third franchise would have 00:02:13.069 --> 00:02:15.810 been a catastrophic signal to the market. The 00:02:15.810 --> 00:02:17.729 league executives were looking at a shrinking 00:02:17.729 --> 00:02:21.349 geographic footprint and dwindling gate receipts. 00:02:21.740 --> 00:02:24.240 They were panicking. Oh, absolutely. Letting 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:26.659 the New York Americans cease operations because 00:02:26.659 --> 00:02:29.560 of massive debt and ownership instability simply 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:31.719 wasn't a viable option for the broader health 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:34.479 of the sport. So the NHL takes a step that seems 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:37.819 honestly completely unprecedented. Instead of 00:02:37.819 --> 00:02:39.919 letting the Americans go bankrupt, the league 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.520 steps in and assumes direct control of the franchise 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:46.310 for the 1936 -37 season. The league itself is 00:02:46.310 --> 00:02:49.110 running the team. Yes. The league is suddenly 00:02:49.110 --> 00:02:51.030 running a team that is supposed to be competing 00:02:51.030 --> 00:02:53.050 against the rest of the league. But the team's 00:02:53.050 --> 00:02:55.930 owner, Bill Dwyer, refuses to walk away quietly. 00:02:56.110 --> 00:02:58.030 Of course he does. He actually sues the league 00:02:58.030 --> 00:03:00.530 to stop the takeover. And that lawsuit leads 00:03:00.530 --> 00:03:03.669 to a highly unusual legal and corporate compromise. 00:03:04.030 --> 00:03:06.580 How so? Well, Dwyer technically retained his 00:03:06.580 --> 00:03:08.539 title as the owner of the franchise, but the 00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:10.939 NHL operated the team on a day to day basis. 00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:13.719 They managed the finances, handled the operations 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:16.879 and used the generated revenues to systematically 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:20.580 pay off Dwyer's mounting debts. Wow. It was essentially 00:03:20.580 --> 00:03:23.439 a sports franchise placed into receivership. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:26.099 It is a staggering piece of financial gymnastics. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:30.210 The league. essentially acted as a collection 00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:33.430 agency while also trying to ice a competitive 00:03:33.430 --> 00:03:36.530 hockey team. Which is incredibly hard to balance. 00:03:36.750 --> 00:03:39.330 And that financial pain was not isolated to New 00:03:39.330 --> 00:03:41.750 York. The ripple effects of the Depression were 00:03:41.750 --> 00:03:44.310 severely impacting Canada, too. Take the Montreal 00:03:44.310 --> 00:03:45.969 Maroons, for example. Right, another struggling 00:03:45.969 --> 00:03:48.050 franchise. They were so short on operational 00:03:48.050 --> 00:03:49.810 cash that they were forced into selling their 00:03:49.810 --> 00:03:53.210 star player and team captain, Hooli Smith, to 00:03:53.210 --> 00:03:55.669 the Boston Bruins. They traded away the core 00:03:55.669 --> 00:03:58.189 leadership of their roster simply to generate 00:03:58.189 --> 00:04:00.430 enough capital to keep the lights on. What's 00:04:00.430 --> 00:04:02.710 fascinating here is the psychological shift this 00:04:02.710 --> 00:04:04.930 represents for professional sports management. 00:04:05.090 --> 00:04:07.349 In the earlier days of the NHL, the business 00:04:07.349 --> 00:04:09.689 model was very much a Wild West environment. 00:04:10.189 --> 00:04:12.990 Teams popped up, teams folded, and it was every 00:04:12.990 --> 00:04:16.089 owner for himself. But this aggressive intervention 00:04:16.089 --> 00:04:18.689 with the New York Americans shows a profound 00:04:18.689 --> 00:04:21.329 shift toward a collective self -preservation 00:04:21.329 --> 00:04:24.930 mindset. They needed each other. Exactly. The 00:04:24.930 --> 00:04:26.889 league's front office realized that losing a 00:04:26.889 --> 00:04:29.709 third team could trigger a catastrophic domino 00:04:29.709 --> 00:04:33.250 effect. If the Americans fall, perhaps the Maroons 00:04:33.250 --> 00:04:35.649 fall next due to their own cash flow issues, 00:04:35.870 --> 00:04:38.430 and suddenly you don't have enough stable organizations 00:04:38.430 --> 00:04:41.149 to justify a professional league. The whole house 00:04:41.149 --> 00:04:43.750 of cards comes down. Yes. They had to save d***. 00:04:43.660 --> 00:04:46.439 wire from his own financial ruin to save the 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:48.779 structure of the NHL. The league was essentially 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:51.120 holding itself together with legal settlements 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.319 and emergency cash infusions. Yeah. But the chaos 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:56.639 wasn't confined to the boardrooms. Not at all. 00:04:56.740 --> 00:04:59.360 The actual players on the ice were dealing with 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:01.740 some of the most brutal health challenges imaginable. 00:05:01.819 --> 00:05:04.339 We go from institutional sickness to literal 00:05:04.339 --> 00:05:06.939 sickness. Those New York Americans we just discussed. 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:09.560 The ones the league bailed out. Right. Despite 00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:12.019 all the front office drama and the league takeover. 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:14.879 They actually started the season performing incredibly 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:18.019 well, sitting in first place. It was a remarkable, 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:21.459 if brief, surge of momentum. Very brief. Because 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:24.519 then a severe wave of influenza swept through 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:27.259 their locker room. In an era where teams traveled 00:05:27.259 --> 00:05:29.620 together by train in cramped quarters across 00:05:29.620 --> 00:05:32.720 the Northeast and Canada, communicable diseases 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:35.379 could devastate a roster in days. And it did. 00:05:35.819 --> 00:05:39.060 The flu completely derailed their season, sending 00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:41.779 the team into a massive free fall. They ultimately 00:05:41.779 --> 00:05:43.839 finished dead last in the Canadian division. 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:46.879 And that influenza outbreak had a domino effect 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.560 across the league. We mentioned earlier that 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:51.540 the Montreal Maroons had to sell their captain, 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:54.360 Huey Smith, to Boston. Right, to pay the bills. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:56.860 To fill that massive void, the Maroons brought 00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:00.000 in a player named Carl Voss. The hope was that 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.959 Voss could provide some much -needed leadership 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:05.170 in production. But Voss also contracts the flu 00:06:05.170 --> 00:06:08.110 and is completely sidelined. That creates a massive 00:06:08.110 --> 00:06:10.250 roster gap for a team that was already struggling 00:06:10.250 --> 00:06:12.569 financially. But it leads to one of the more 00:06:12.569 --> 00:06:14.930 surprising individual performances of the season. 00:06:15.430 --> 00:06:19.389 With Voss out, a player named Bob Gracie is forced 00:06:19.389 --> 00:06:21.629 to step up. He really took advantage of the opportunity. 00:06:21.829 --> 00:06:24.250 He suddenly catches fire, scoring consistently, 00:06:24.449 --> 00:06:27.069 and almost single -handedly carries the cash 00:06:27.069 --> 00:06:29.490 -strapped, flu -ridden Maroons to first place 00:06:29.490 --> 00:06:31.730 in their division. They just barely get edged 00:06:31.730 --> 00:06:33.740 out by the Canadians at the end. It demonstrates 00:06:33.740 --> 00:06:36.399 how razor thin the margins of success were during 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:39.759 this era. A single outbreak of the flu or one 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.319 player stepping up to fill a gap could completely 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:44.740 alter the power dynamics of the entire standings. 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:48.540 Beyond the flu, the sheer volume of brutal career 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:51.300 -altering injuries this season is difficult to 00:06:51.300 --> 00:06:54.540 comprehend. It really is. Roy Waters, a standout 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:56.639 player for the New York Americans, suffered a 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:59.819 hernia. Today, athletes undergo a routine surgical 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:02.100 procedure for a hernia and are back in a few 00:07:02.100 --> 00:07:06.060 weeks. In 1936, that was a career -ending injury. 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:08.519 Just done. Done. The Americans tried to replace 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:11.060 him in goal with Alfie Moore and Lauren Shabbat, 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:13.720 but they simply weren't able to match his production, 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:16.220 which further cemented that last -place finish. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:19.339 And the physical toll extended to the biggest 00:07:19.339 --> 00:07:22.350 stars in the game. Eddie Shore, the legendary 00:07:22.350 --> 00:07:25.449 Boston Bruins defenseman, suffered a broken vertebra, 00:07:25.569 --> 00:07:28.269 instantly ending his season. Broken vertebra. 00:07:28.490 --> 00:07:30.949 Unbelievable. Charlie Conacher of the Toronto 00:07:30.949 --> 00:07:33.730 Maple Leafs repeatedly injured his wrist throughout 00:07:33.730 --> 00:07:36.550 the year. The historical accounts indicate he 00:07:36.550 --> 00:07:39.290 missed massive chunks of the season and was fundamentally 00:07:39.290 --> 00:07:41.709 never the same player afterwards. Yeah, that 00:07:41.709 --> 00:07:44.110 wrist just never healed right. We also saw players 00:07:44.110 --> 00:07:47.110 like Silvio Mantha and Lionel Conacher forced 00:07:47.110 --> 00:07:49.550 into permanent retirement due to a cascade of 00:07:49.550 --> 00:07:52.519 cumulative injuries. It paints a very bleak picture 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:55.220 of the physical reality these athletes faced. 00:07:55.420 --> 00:07:57.420 We often look at professional athletes today, 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:00.319 surrounded by entire departments of sports science, 00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:03.220 orthopedics and rehabilitation specialists, and 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:05.660 forget the brutal origins of the sport. Completely 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:07.899 different world. Looking at this specific season 00:08:07.899 --> 00:08:10.019 highlights the sheer physical violence of the 00:08:10.019 --> 00:08:13.240 era. These men were engaging in high -speed collisions 00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:16.959 with essentially zero medical safety nets. A 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.639 severe wrist injury or a complex hernia didn't 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:21.720 just mean a trip to the injured reserve list. 00:08:21.939 --> 00:08:25.120 It meant your livelihood was entirely gone. That 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.800 harsh reality brings us to the most emotional 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:30.339 and heavy part of this deep dive. Here's where 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:32.879 it gets really interesting, but also deeply heartbreaking. 00:08:33.769 --> 00:08:36.409 We need to look closely at the Montreal Canadiens 00:08:36.409 --> 00:08:39.210 and a player named Howie Morens. A true icon 00:08:39.210 --> 00:08:41.830 of the game. The Canadiens had hit rock bottom 00:08:41.830 --> 00:08:44.549 the previous year. To turn things around, they 00:08:44.549 --> 00:08:46.870 went out and bought Babe Siebert to anchor their 00:08:46.870 --> 00:08:50.080 defense. But the move that truly revitalized 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:52.419 the franchise was bringing back their beloved 00:08:52.419 --> 00:08:55.159 star, Howie Morenz, whom they repurchased from 00:08:55.159 --> 00:08:57.120 the New York Rangers. Bringing an aging star 00:08:57.120 --> 00:08:59.960 back is always a calculated risk. The Canadians 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:01.639 were essentially risking their capital on the 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:03.879 hope that Morenz could recapture his former glory 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:07.059 and energize the fan base. And initially, that 00:09:07.059 --> 00:09:09.559 gamble pays off perfectly. The Canadians surged 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:12.100 from last place all the way to first in the Canadian 00:09:12.100 --> 00:09:15.419 division. Morenz is the offensive engine of that 00:09:15.419 --> 00:09:18.110 turnaround. He was playing great. How did his 00:09:18.110 --> 00:09:20.509 return play out on the ice leading up to the 00:09:20.509 --> 00:09:23.850 tragedy? By January 1937, Morenz was hitting 00:09:23.850 --> 00:09:26.470 his absolute stride. He was playing with the 00:09:26.470 --> 00:09:28.549 same dynamic energy that had made him a legend. 00:09:28.950 --> 00:09:31.990 But during a game against the Chicago Blackhawks, 00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:34.570 he was on one of his signature hurtling rushes 00:09:34.570 --> 00:09:37.429 down the ice. He was checked heavily by Chicago's 00:09:37.429 --> 00:09:40.970 Earl Seibert. As Morenz went down, his left skate 00:09:40.970 --> 00:09:43.289 became caught in the dasher of the end boards, 00:09:43.490 --> 00:09:46.500 resulting in a severely fractured leg. For anyone 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:49.059 visualizing that moment, what exactly is the 00:09:49.059 --> 00:09:51.919 dasher in this context? The dasher is the ledge 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:54.019 or the top railing of the boards that surround 00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:56.419 the ice rink. Getting a skate caught there while 00:09:56.419 --> 00:09:59.279 moving at high speed puts immense unnatural torque 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:02.039 on the bones of the leg. The fracture was devastating. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:04.700 So he is rushed to the hospital and the physical 00:10:04.700 --> 00:10:07.600 pain is immense. But the mental toll seems to 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:09.320 have been just as severe. He actually suffers 00:10:09.320 --> 00:10:11.779 a nervous breakdown in his hospital bed. The 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:14.000 anxiety must have been overwhelming. He is completely 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.879 consumed by the agonizing worry over whether 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:19.460 he will ever be able to play hockey again, knowing 00:10:19.460 --> 00:10:21.779 what we just discussed about career -ending injuries. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:24.539 But it seems like he is at least going to survive 00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:27.879 the fracture. What changes in March? The medical 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:29.940 protocols of the time were tragically limited 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:32.259 when it came to vascular health and post -operative 00:10:32.259 --> 00:10:35.679 care. On March 8th, doctors took routine x -rays 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:37.919 of his healing leg and discovered blood clots. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.279 They scheduled an operation for the following 00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:42.600 day to address the issue. But he never makes 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:45.919 it to that operation. On March 9th, Morens eats 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.000 a light supper in his hospital bed and tells 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.279 his nurse he wants to rest. As he is falling 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:52.779 asleep, the nurse notices his pallor suddenly 00:10:52.779 --> 00:10:55.379 change. A blood clot had traveled and stopped 00:10:55.379 --> 00:10:57.740 his heart. Despite desperate attempts to revive 00:10:57.740 --> 00:11:00.139 him, Howie Morenz died right there in the hospital. 00:11:00.340 --> 00:11:02.580 If we connect this to the bigger picture, the 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:04.899 impact of Morenz's death on the culture of the 00:11:04.899 --> 00:11:08.220 sport cannot be overstated. The visceral reaction 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:10.759 of the hockey world was unlike anything seen 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:13.620 before. Historical accounts describe thousands 00:11:13.620 --> 00:11:16.740 of fans filing past his beer, the stand on which 00:11:16.740 --> 00:11:19.200 his casket was placed in open public mourning, 00:11:19.379 --> 00:11:22.700 many of them in tears. It was a monumental loss. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:25.080 It wasn't just the loss of a star player. It 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:28.240 underscored the profound mortal risks these men 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:31.000 faced for the public's entertainment. It completely 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.460 shattered the illusion of the invincible athlete. 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:36.440 It is incredibly sobering to think that a player 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:39.139 could be at the absolute pinnacle of their career 00:11:39.139 --> 00:11:42.740 in January and completely gone by March, all 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:44.720 stemming from a routine hockey play on the ice. 00:11:44.860 --> 00:11:46.539 Yeah, a play that happens in almost every single 00:11:46.539 --> 00:11:48.860 game. The emotional whiplash of studying this 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:51.679 season is intense because alongside these profound 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:55.139 tragedies, you also have moments of utter eccentricity. 00:11:56.409 --> 00:11:58.789 That brings us to a very bizarre organizational 00:11:58.789 --> 00:12:01.629 experiment down in Chicago. It is quite a pivot 00:12:01.629 --> 00:12:03.990 in tone, but it is incredibly revealing about 00:12:03.990 --> 00:12:05.870 the business and marketing side of the league 00:12:05.870 --> 00:12:08.350 during the Depression. The Chicago Blackhawks 00:12:08.350 --> 00:12:10.169 are nearing the end of their season. They only 00:12:10.169 --> 00:12:13.190 have five games left. Their owner, Frederick 00:12:13.190 --> 00:12:15.990 McLaughlin, is a massive partisan of American 00:12:15.990 --> 00:12:19.250 -born hockey players. Keeping in mind that hockey 00:12:19.250 --> 00:12:22.049 was, and largely still is, dominated by Canadian 00:12:22.049 --> 00:12:24.610 talent, McLaughlin decides he's going to field 00:12:24.610 --> 00:12:27.850 an entirely American -born lineup. It was essentially 00:12:27.850 --> 00:12:30.809 a marketing stunt fueled by nationalism. McLaughlin 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:33.730 wanted to manufacture a localized American identity 00:12:33.730 --> 00:12:36.809 for his team to sell tickets. He puts together 00:12:36.809 --> 00:12:39.450 this highly unusual lineup. He starts with his 00:12:39.450 --> 00:12:42.429 incumbent goalie, Mike Karikas. Then he signs 00:12:42.429 --> 00:12:44.929 Ernest Klingbeil and Paul Schaefer to play defense. 00:12:45.670 --> 00:12:48.250 Up front, he constructs a forward line of Milt 00:12:48.250 --> 00:12:50.409 Brink, centering Al Swomey and Bunla Prairie. 00:12:50.549 --> 00:12:52.649 A lot of new faces all at once. It was the first 00:12:52.649 --> 00:12:55.149 time in major senior hockey that an all -American 00:12:55.149 --> 00:12:58.330 homestead was fielded. How did this grand experiment 00:12:58.330 --> 00:13:01.750 actually fare against NHL competition? It was 00:13:01.750 --> 00:13:04.129 a dismal failure competitively. The team went 00:13:04.129 --> 00:13:06.950 1 -3 with that specific lineup. The talent pool 00:13:06.950 --> 00:13:08.889 of American -born players simply wasn't deep 00:13:08.889 --> 00:13:11.230 enough at that time to justify an entire lineup 00:13:11.230 --> 00:13:13.450 capable of competing against the established 00:13:13.450 --> 00:13:16.139 Canadian veterans of the NHL. So it flopped on 00:13:16.139 --> 00:13:18.879 the ice. It did. However, while the experiment 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:21.580 failed on the ice, it reflects the deep growing 00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:24.659 pains and the regional identity crises of a league 00:13:24.659 --> 00:13:27.259 trying to aggressively market itself across two 00:13:27.259 --> 00:13:30.139 entirely different nations. Speaking of making 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:33.039 history with specific players, there were a couple 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:35.860 of other notable milestones this season. Over 00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:38.610 in New York, a goalie named Hal Winkler. makes 00:13:38.610 --> 00:13:41.769 his NHL debut for the Rangers on November 16, 00:13:42.169 --> 00:13:45.750 1936. A great debut story. He plays against the 00:13:45.750 --> 00:13:49.629 Montreal Maroons and shuts them out 1 -0. He 00:13:49.629 --> 00:13:51.590 becomes the very first goaltender in the history 00:13:51.590 --> 00:13:54.009 of the league to throw a shutout in his NHL debut. 00:13:54.289 --> 00:13:56.590 That is a phenomenal individual achievement, 00:13:56.850 --> 00:13:58.570 especially given the offensive talent in the 00:13:58.570 --> 00:14:00.970 league at the time. And on an institutional level, 00:14:01.049 --> 00:14:03.779 we see the birth of a major tradition. The lead 00:14:03.779 --> 00:14:06.080 president, Frank Calder, had been naming a top 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:08.899 rookie for a few years prior to this. But this 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:12.039 season, he decides to formalize the honor. He 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:14.299 actually goes out and purchases a physical trophy 00:14:14.299 --> 00:14:16.759 to be awarded to the rookie of the year. Making 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:19.980 it official. Exactly. The Calder Trophy is officially 00:14:19.980 --> 00:14:22.340 established, and the very first player to have 00:14:22.340 --> 00:14:24.399 his name attached to this new physical award 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:29.210 is Toronto Maple Leafs center Scylla Apps. Establishing 00:14:29.210 --> 00:14:31.629 physical trophies like the Calder is a great 00:14:31.629 --> 00:14:33.769 indicator of a league attempting to solidify 00:14:33.769 --> 00:14:36.950 its history and legitimize its brand. It provides 00:14:36.950 --> 00:14:39.929 a tangible legacy. All of these threads, the 00:14:39.929 --> 00:14:42.970 financial bailouts, the flu outbreaks, the tragic 00:14:42.970 --> 00:14:45.750 loss of Morens, the All -American marketing experiments, 00:14:46.169 --> 00:14:48.889 they all culminate in the playoffs. The ultimate 00:14:48.889 --> 00:14:51.029 testing ground. The playoff structure this year 00:14:51.029 --> 00:14:53.970 was complex. The top three teams in each division 00:14:53.970 --> 00:14:56.710 qualified. But the league decided to innovate 00:14:56.710 --> 00:14:58.929 the bracket, taking what was called the lower 00:14:58.929 --> 00:15:01.590 repechage portion and changing the format. For 00:15:01.590 --> 00:15:03.769 those unfamiliar with the terminology, a repechage 00:15:03.769 --> 00:15:06.370 is essentially a second chance bracket or a lower 00:15:06.370 --> 00:15:09.149 tier advancement path. It is a concept often 00:15:09.149 --> 00:15:11.169 used in tournaments to allow teams a different 00:15:11.169 --> 00:15:13.289 route to the finals. So in this lower repechage 00:15:13.289 --> 00:15:15.570 bracket, the league replaced all the two game 00:15:15.570 --> 00:15:17.889 total goals series with best of three series. 00:15:18.429 --> 00:15:21.210 Why was moving away from total goals such a significant 00:15:21.210 --> 00:15:24.139 shift? Total Goals aggregation is a very quirky 00:15:24.139 --> 00:15:27.240 and unbalanced format. In a two -game Total Goals 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:30.299 series, if a team has one terrible period and 00:15:30.299 --> 00:15:33.179 loses the first game 5 -0, the entire series 00:15:33.179 --> 00:15:35.720 is effectively over. The second game becomes 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:38.539 a formality. Because climbing out of a five -goal 00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:41.250 hole is almost impossible. Exactly. By shifting 00:15:41.250 --> 00:15:44.029 to a best of three format, the league rewarded 00:15:44.029 --> 00:15:47.169 teams for winning discrete games. It resets the 00:15:47.169 --> 00:15:49.950 momentum and changes late game strategy, making 00:15:49.950 --> 00:15:52.629 the postseason much more dynamic and arguably 00:15:52.629 --> 00:15:55.570 much fairer. Navigating this newly formatted 00:15:55.570 --> 00:15:58.919 postseason gauntlet were... The Detroit Red Wings. 00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:02.039 They were an absolute juggernaut this year, finishing 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:04.320 first in the American division. A really stacked 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:06.899 team. They were anchored by Normie Smith in goal, 00:16:07.019 --> 00:16:09.120 who ended up winning the Vazina Trophy for allowing 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:11.000 the fewest goals in the league. They featured 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:13.379 a rock -solid defense led by Ebi Goodfellow. 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:15.799 And up front, they had Marty Berry, who took 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:18.059 home the Lady Bing Trophy for sportsmanship and 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:20.340 excellence. They were a model of organizational 00:16:20.340 --> 00:16:23.740 consistency in a deeply inconsistent and chaotic 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:26.539 year. They rode that consistency all the way 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:29.039 to the Stanley Cup finals, where they face off 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:32.000 against the New York Rangers. The Red Wings ultimately 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.399 defeated the Rangers three games to two in a 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:36.460 hard -fought series to claim the championship. 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:39.379 But even as Detroit took the ultimate prize, 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:42.539 there's incredible individual brilliance shining 00:16:42.539 --> 00:16:45.299 through the chaos on other rosters. The individual 00:16:45.299 --> 00:16:48.000 awards often tell a separate story from the championship 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:51.309 team. Consider Sweeney Schreiner of the New York 00:16:51.309 --> 00:16:53.750 Americans. That was the team the league had to 00:16:53.750 --> 00:16:56.269 bail out financially, the team that got decimated 00:16:56.269 --> 00:16:58.509 by the flu and finished dead last in their division. 00:16:59.090 --> 00:17:02.149 Despite playing on that disastrous roster, Schreiner 00:17:02.149 --> 00:17:05.009 led the entire NHL in scoring with 46 points. 00:17:05.250 --> 00:17:07.809 Remarkable focus from him. And over Montreal, 00:17:08.089 --> 00:17:10.529 Babe Siebert, the player the Canadians bought 00:17:10.529 --> 00:17:12.789 to fix their defense, ends up winning the Hart 00:17:12.789 --> 00:17:14.930 Trophy as the league's most valuable player. 00:17:15.150 --> 00:17:18.019 Yeah. So what does this all mean? When you synthesize 00:17:18.019 --> 00:17:20.500 all these disparate events, Detroit's Stanley 00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:23.039 Cup victory becomes a profound testament to the 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:26.029 power of stability. In a season that was entirely 00:17:26.029 --> 00:17:28.990 defined by external chaos, financial ruin, threatening 00:17:28.990 --> 00:17:32.569 owners, freak illnesses, wiping out entire rosters, 00:17:32.670 --> 00:17:36.069 and the unpredictable, shattering tragedy of 00:17:36.069 --> 00:17:38.329 Howie Morin's Detroit managed to hold the line. 00:17:38.470 --> 00:17:41.029 They were the eye of the storm. They just kept 00:17:41.029 --> 00:17:43.809 winning. Right. It proves that when the environment 00:17:43.809 --> 00:17:46.670 around you is collapsing, organizational calm 00:17:46.670 --> 00:17:49.309 and steady execution are the ultimate competitive 00:17:49.309 --> 00:17:52.109 advantages. The eye of the storm is the perfect 00:17:52.109 --> 00:17:54.750 way to frame their season. For you listening, 00:17:54.849 --> 00:17:57.130 as we wrap up today's deep dive, I hope you can 00:17:57.130 --> 00:17:59.230 clearly see why we wanted to explore this specific 00:17:59.230 --> 00:18:02.069 historical record. We took a single 48 -game 00:18:02.069 --> 00:18:05.650 season from 1936 to 1937, and we found the absolute 00:18:05.650 --> 00:18:08.069 extremes of the human experience packed inside 00:18:08.069 --> 00:18:10.289 it. We really did. You have the birth of lasting 00:18:10.289 --> 00:18:12.009 traditions like the Calder Trophy. You have the 00:18:12.009 --> 00:18:13.750 quirky ambition of the All -American lineup. 00:18:14.190 --> 00:18:16.650 But you also have the devastating fatal tragedy 00:18:16.650 --> 00:18:19.730 of a beloved legend, all unfolding while the 00:18:19.730 --> 00:18:21.569 crushing weight of the Great Depression threatened 00:18:21.569 --> 00:18:24.150 to tear the entire institution down. This raises 00:18:24.150 --> 00:18:25.950 an important question, something I think is really 00:18:25.950 --> 00:18:27.769 worth mulling over after hearing all of this. 00:18:28.029 --> 00:18:30.630 Today, we live in a modern era where professional 00:18:30.630 --> 00:18:33.210 sports leagues generate billions of dollars in 00:18:33.210 --> 00:18:36.549 revenue. Every aspect of player safety, contract 00:18:36.549 --> 00:18:39.450 law, medical rehabilitation, and franchise stability 00:18:39.450 --> 00:18:42.210 is intensely micromanaged by armies of lawyers 00:18:42.210 --> 00:18:45.269 and doctors. But looking back at 1936, you have 00:18:45.269 --> 00:18:48.049 to wonder how much of that modern corporate armor 00:18:48.049 --> 00:18:50.829 was ultimately forged by the sheer existential 00:18:50.829 --> 00:18:53.490 desperation and the physical vulnerabilities 00:18:53.490 --> 00:18:57.190 of the 1930s. The massive secure leagues we see 00:18:57.190 --> 00:18:59.670 today were born directly from the brutal survival 00:18:59.670 --> 00:19:03.029 tactics of seasons exactly like this one. The 00:19:03.029 --> 00:19:04.890 modern safety net only exists because there used 00:19:04.890 --> 00:19:08.029 to be absolutely no net at all. Thank you so 00:19:08.029 --> 00:19:10.109 much for joining us and exploring this wild chapter 00:19:10.109 --> 00:19:11.970 of history. We really appreciate you spending 00:19:11.970 --> 00:19:14.089 your time with us today. Until next time, keep 00:19:14.089 --> 00:19:15.769 asking questions and stay curious.