WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.220 Welcome in. It is so great to have you here with 00:00:03.220 --> 00:00:06.080 us today for another custom tailored deep dive. 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:08.480 Yeah, we have a really fascinating topic lined 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:10.919 up for you today. We do. It is one that is just 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:14.320 bursting with historical drama, high stakes negotiation. 00:00:15.289 --> 00:00:17.969 And honestly, some completely unexpected twists. 00:00:18.269 --> 00:00:21.670 Absolutely. Today, our source material is a comprehensive 00:00:21.670 --> 00:00:25.850 Wikipedia article detailing the 1924 to 1925 00:00:25.850 --> 00:00:28.350 National Hockey League season. Right. And look, 00:00:28.449 --> 00:00:30.530 if you were sitting there thinking, wait, a sports 00:00:30.530 --> 00:00:33.030 season from a century ago? Just stick around. 00:00:33.270 --> 00:00:35.469 Yeah, please do. Because the sheer amount of 00:00:35.469 --> 00:00:38.210 chaos packed into these few months is staggering. 00:00:38.509 --> 00:00:41.359 It really is. Our mission today is to look well 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:43.859 beyond the ice to see a league experiencing massive, 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:46.920 chaotic, growing pains. Which is putting it mildly. 00:00:47.259 --> 00:00:49.600 True. We are going to explore how this single 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:52.200 season featured international expansion, the 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:54.799 folding of rival leagues, and a massive labor 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.100 dispute that permanently changed sports history. 00:00:57.259 --> 00:00:59.700 Okay, let's unpack this. Because to truly understand 00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:01.979 why this season is essentially a masterclass 00:01:01.979 --> 00:01:04.480 in business negotiation and history, we have 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.159 to look at the board before the game even starts. 00:01:06.459 --> 00:01:09.040 Exactly. The professional hockey landscape back 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:11.739 then was nothing like the massive monopoly we 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:15.299 see today, right? No, not at all. If we connect 00:01:15.299 --> 00:01:18.170 this to the bigger picture, You have to look 00:01:18.170 --> 00:01:20.609 at the fierce competition that existed outside 00:01:20.609 --> 00:01:22.829 the NHL at that time. Right. They weren't the 00:01:22.829 --> 00:01:26.129 only game in town. Right before the 1924 to 1925 00:01:26.129 --> 00:01:29.290 season started, a major competing league called 00:01:29.290 --> 00:01:31.549 the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, or the 00:01:31.549 --> 00:01:35.700 PCHA, actually folded. Wow. Just collapsed right 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:37.400 before the season. Yeah, they had been battling 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:39.640 for relevance for a while. And when they finally 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:42.200 collapsed, two of their major teams, Vancouver 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:45.120 and Victoria, just packed up and joined another 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:47.260 league entirely. Which was the Western Canada 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:50.299 Hockey League, right? The WCHL. You got it. So 00:01:50.299 --> 00:01:52.819 what does that consolidation mean for the sport 00:01:52.819 --> 00:01:54.420 as a whole? I mean, it sounds like the talent 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:56.739 pool was suddenly being squeezed into fewer places. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:59.500 That is exactly what happened. It meant that 00:01:59.500 --> 00:02:01.719 after years of having multiple different leagues 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:04.280 fiercely competing for the ultimate prize, which 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:07.040 is the Stanley Cup, the battle was suddenly whittled 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.780 down to just two heavyweights. The NHL and the 00:02:09.780 --> 00:02:14.460 WCHL. Yes. You had the NHL in the east and this 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:18.699 newly bolstered WCHL out west. It created this 00:02:18.699 --> 00:02:21.520 intense pressure cooker environment. Where the 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:23.919 NHL realized they had to step up. Yeah, they 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:26.199 realized they needed to aggressively expand their 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:29.560 own footprint just to survive and maintain dominance. 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:32.120 And that leads to a really massive milestone. 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:35.419 The NHL makes its very first foray into the United 00:02:35.419 --> 00:02:38.139 States. A huge moment. They granted an expansion 00:02:38.139 --> 00:02:40.960 franchise to a man named Charles Adams in Boston, 00:02:41.139 --> 00:02:43.979 creating the Boston Bruins. But what I find so 00:02:43.979 --> 00:02:45.900 curious about this expansion strategy is that 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:48.580 they didn't just blanket the U .S. market. Didn't 00:02:48.580 --> 00:02:50.979 they actively turn down other major cities at 00:02:50.979 --> 00:02:53.860 that exact same time? They did, yeah. Applications 00:02:53.860 --> 00:02:55.919 for New York City, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia 00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:57.819 were actually shelved at that same meeting. They 00:02:57.819 --> 00:03:00.000 just left them on the table. They did. The league 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:02.629 decided to go all in on Boston. It was a calculated 00:03:02.629 --> 00:03:06.030 risk. How so? Well, by choosing Boston, they 00:03:06.030 --> 00:03:08.189 were picking a city with geographic proximity 00:03:08.189 --> 00:03:10.289 to their established Canadian markets, places 00:03:10.289 --> 00:03:13.110 like Montreal and Toronto. Ah, keeping travel 00:03:13.110 --> 00:03:15.960 costs down. Exactly. They were testing the American 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.740 waters before overextending their reach down 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:20.580 the eastern seaboard. That makes a lot of strategic 00:03:20.580 --> 00:03:22.840 sense. You don't want to expand so fast that 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:25.099 your logistics just entirely collapse. Right. 00:03:25.139 --> 00:03:26.879 And at the same time, they're looking south. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.439 They're also doubling down at home. The League 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.639 granted a second franchise for Montreal. Correct. 00:03:32.939 --> 00:03:35.900 That franchise was granted to James Strachan 00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:38.900 and Donat Raymond. And this brought the league 00:03:38.900 --> 00:03:42.360 up to a total of six teams. Six teams total. 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:46.199 Yes. But to accommodate having six teams, the 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:47.939 league office made what seemed like a really 00:03:47.939 --> 00:03:50.800 simple logistical change. They increased the 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:53.879 regular season schedule from 24 games to 30 games 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:56.159 per team. Just a six -game bump. A six -game 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.500 bump, which doesn't sound like much, but it is 00:03:58.500 --> 00:04:01.400 a 25 % increase in their overall workload. That 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:03.840 is a lot of extra ice time. I want you listening 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:05.960 to keep that administrative detail in the back 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:08.139 of your mind. It sounds like standard business 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:11.360 growth, but that specific schedule increase is 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:13.560 the ticking time bomb that blows the league wide 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:16.920 open later in this deep dive. I cannot wait to 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:19.980 get into that. But the vibe of this era is just 00:04:19.980 --> 00:04:23.540 so organic and unpredictable. The league is clearly 00:04:23.540 --> 00:04:26.040 making things up as they go along to accommodate 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:28.560 this rapid growth. Very much so. For instance, 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:30.680 that new Montreal franchise we just mentioned. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:32.980 I was reading that they didn't even have an official 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:34.639 nickname when they started playing. No, they 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:37.019 didn't. They literally just showed up for the 00:04:37.019 --> 00:04:41.180 season wearing these deep crimson uniforms. And 00:04:41.180 --> 00:04:43.480 the fans simply started calling them the Maroons. 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:45.899 Because of the sweaters. Exactly. The accidental 00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:49.819 identity just stuck. They officially became the 00:04:49.819 --> 00:04:52.860 Montreal Maroons solely based on the color of 00:04:52.860 --> 00:04:55.279 their wool sweaters. That is incredible. And 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:57.480 the logistical headaches didn't stop at the uniforms 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:00.019 either. The arena situation in Montreal that 00:05:00.019 --> 00:05:02.160 year sounds like a total sitcom. It really does. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:04.899 They built this massive legendary building, the 00:05:04.899 --> 00:05:07.819 Montreal Forum, specifically to house the new 00:05:07.819 --> 00:05:10.920 Maroons. But things didn't exactly go according 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:13.759 to plan for the grand opening. How did the scheduling 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:16.550 actually shake out there? It is a brilliant piece 00:05:16.550 --> 00:05:20.430 of historic irony. The Forum was indeed built 00:05:20.430 --> 00:05:23.149 for the Maroons. However, their crosstown rivals, 00:05:23.550 --> 00:05:25.470 the Montreal Canadiens, were the ones who actually 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:28.569 played the very first game there. Why? Well, 00:05:28.649 --> 00:05:31.209 the Canadiens' usual home rank was the Mount 00:05:31.209 --> 00:05:34.850 Royal Arena. But when late November rolled around 00:05:34.850 --> 00:05:37.290 for their home opener... The Mount Royal Arena 00:05:37.290 --> 00:05:39.870 physically couldn't produce ice. The ice machine 00:05:39.870 --> 00:05:42.449 was broken. Essentially, yes. They had no ice. 00:05:42.610 --> 00:05:44.930 So the Canadians are forced to move their opener 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:47.089 into the building constructed for their direct 00:05:47.089 --> 00:05:50.389 rival. Precisely. They moved the November 29th 00:05:50.389 --> 00:05:53.029 game to the Forum, and the Canadians ended up 00:05:53.029 --> 00:05:55.709 crushing the Toronto St. Patrick 7 -1 in front 00:05:55.709 --> 00:05:59.629 of 9 ,000 fans. Wow. It is pure 1920s chaos. 00:05:59.750 --> 00:06:01.889 The infrastructure simply couldn't keep up with 00:06:01.889 --> 00:06:04.050 the ambition of the league. Despite the chaos, 00:06:04.170 --> 00:06:06.050 though, they were hitting some serious milestones. 00:06:06.449 --> 00:06:09.250 Just a few days later, on December 1st, 1924, 00:06:09.449 --> 00:06:12.089 we see the first NHL game ever played on United 00:06:12.089 --> 00:06:14.889 States soil when the Boston Bruins hosted the 00:06:14.889 --> 00:06:17.149 Maroons. A historic night. And shortly after 00:06:17.149 --> 00:06:19.569 that, the league recorded its first ever scoreless 00:06:19.569 --> 00:06:21.829 tie. Who was on the ice for that one? That was 00:06:21.829 --> 00:06:25.420 on December 17th. It was a brutal, grinding, 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:28.639 goaltending duel between Jake Forbes of the Hamilton 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:31.660 Tigers and Alex Connell of the Ottawa Senators. 00:06:31.660 --> 00:06:34.220 Nobody scored. Not a single goal. They played 00:06:34.220 --> 00:06:36.180 all the way through without a single puck finding 00:06:36.180 --> 00:06:39.699 the net. A 0 -0 slugfest. It paints a picture 00:06:39.699 --> 00:06:43.040 of a very physical rough and tumble era. Players 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.339 are fighting for space, taking tons of penalties. 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:48.720 Was the league office comfortable with that gritty, 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:51.779 almost Wild West image? Or were they trying to 00:06:51.779 --> 00:06:54.339 polish things up for a broader audience? They 00:06:54.339 --> 00:06:56.480 were actively training to elevate the sports 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:00.180 image. In fact, this same season saw the introduction 00:07:00.180 --> 00:07:03.120 of a brand new piece of hardware designed specifically 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:06.509 to encourage discipline. The Lady Bing Trophy. 00:07:06.670 --> 00:07:08.610 Oh, I've heard of that. Yeah, it was donated 00:07:08.610 --> 00:07:10.769 by Lady Bing, who was the wife of Canada's governor 00:07:10.769 --> 00:07:13.730 general at the time. The specific mandate of 00:07:13.730 --> 00:07:15.709 the award was to honor the player who exhibited 00:07:15.709 --> 00:07:18.050 the best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct 00:07:18.050 --> 00:07:20.930 combined with excellence in play. So they are 00:07:20.930 --> 00:07:23.129 essentially trying to incentivize players to 00:07:23.129 --> 00:07:26.009 stop taking penalties and focus on skill. Yes. 00:07:26.410 --> 00:07:29.550 She personally presented the very first trophy 00:07:29.550 --> 00:07:33.110 to Frank Nyber of the Ottawa Senators. It is 00:07:33.110 --> 00:07:35.990 a clear indicator of a league self -consciously 00:07:35.990 --> 00:07:39.189 trying to transition from a brutal physical spectacle 00:07:39.189 --> 00:07:42.610 into a respectable, disciplined professional 00:07:42.610 --> 00:07:45.689 enterprise. Which brings us to the ultimate clash 00:07:45.689 --> 00:07:48.250 between professional enterprise and the people 00:07:48.250 --> 00:07:50.449 actually playing the game. Here's where it gets 00:07:50.449 --> 00:07:52.470 really interesting. Let's talk about the Hamilton 00:07:52.470 --> 00:07:56.269 Tigers. In terms of pure performance, the Tigers 00:07:56.269 --> 00:07:58.949 were the undisputed best team in the NHL that 00:07:58.949 --> 00:08:01.819 year. They finished first in the standings, 19 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:04.699 wins, 39 points. They were the regular season 00:08:04.699 --> 00:08:07.220 champions. It dominated. Yet when the playoffs 00:08:07.220 --> 00:08:09.519 rolled around, the Tigers were nowhere to be 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.220 found. This is the explosion caused by that ticking 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:14.300 time bomb we mentioned earlier. The six extra 00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:17.259 games. Exactly. It all traces back to the schedule 00:08:17.259 --> 00:08:20.620 expanding from 24 to 30 games. The Hamilton Tigers 00:08:20.620 --> 00:08:22.959 players essentially looked at the new schedule 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:26.560 and demanded an extra $200 each for the additional 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:29.360 labor. To understand how a championship team 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:32.080 just vanishes, we need to look at the specific 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:34.559 arguments from both sides of the table. Let's 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:36.460 look at the mechanics of this standoff. Could 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:39.539 you? On management side, you have NHL president 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:42.200 Frank Calder and the Tigers owner Percy Thompson. 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:45.159 They pointed directly to the ink on the players' 00:08:45.259 --> 00:08:48.080 contracts. Right. Those contracts stipulated 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:50.500 a flat rate of pay for all games played between 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:55.659 December 1st, 1924 and March 31st, 1925. Management's 00:08:55.659 --> 00:08:58.120 stance was quite literal. The number of games 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.559 played within that specific window doesn't matter. 00:09:00.700 --> 00:09:02.799 You agreed to a set amount of money for that 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.200 time period. If you view it strictly as a legal 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.419 contract dispute, management has a point. But 00:09:08.419 --> 00:09:10.179 on the player's side, they are looking at the 00:09:10.179 --> 00:09:12.299 physical reality of the sport. The actual toll 00:09:12.299 --> 00:09:14.960 on their bodies. Exactly. Six extra games in 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.879 1925 meant a 25 % increase in their workload. 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:20.580 That is a massive jump in the physical toll on 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:22.940 their bodies and a significantly higher risk 00:09:22.940 --> 00:09:24.919 of a career -ending injury. That makes total 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:27.480 sense from their perspective. The players felt 00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:29.639 they were being taken advantage of through a 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:32.840 contractual loophole. They stated quite clearly 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:35.860 that they would rather retire entirely than provide 00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:37.879 what they viewed as free labor to the owners. 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:41.080 It is a classic clash of leverage. The owners 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:43.299 have the contracts, but the players are the product. 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:46.860 How did the league office handle this? Did they 00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:49.399 try to mediate or was it a hard line? It was 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.110 an incredibly hard line. Frank Calder threatened 00:09:52.110 --> 00:09:54.549 the players with hefty fines and suspensions 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:57.129 if they didn't step onto the ice for the final 00:09:57.129 --> 00:09:59.590 series. Wow, just straight to threats. Yeah, 00:09:59.690 --> 00:10:02.929 it came down to the absolute wire. On the very 00:10:02.929 --> 00:10:06.169 day of the final, semi -final game, a Tigers 00:10:06.169 --> 00:10:09.690 player named Shorty Green met directly with Calder 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:11.649 to try and hammer out a last -minute compromise. 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:14.129 Did they get anywhere? Total gridlock. Neither 00:10:14.129 --> 00:10:16.649 side would budge a single inch. As a result, 00:10:16.730 --> 00:10:19.090 Calder brought the hammer down. The entire Hamilton 00:10:19.090 --> 00:10:21.429 Tigers team was suspended. The whole team. The 00:10:21.429 --> 00:10:24.350 whole team. They were fined $200 each, which 00:10:24.350 --> 00:10:26.429 ironically is the exact amount they were demanding 00:10:26.429 --> 00:10:28.710 in the first place, and they effectively eliminated 00:10:28.710 --> 00:10:30.629 themselves from the playoffs. The regular season 00:10:30.629 --> 00:10:33.389 champions are just gone. Gone. And it wasn't 00:10:33.389 --> 00:10:36.389 just for the playoffs. That franchise would completely 00:10:36.389 --> 00:10:39.409 dissolve at the end of the season. The magnitude 00:10:39.409 --> 00:10:41.549 of that is hard to wrap your head around. An 00:10:41.549 --> 00:10:44.549 entire first place franchise ceasing to exist 00:10:44.549 --> 00:10:48.230 over a contract dispute. It obviously sent massive 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:50.149 shockwaves through the league. Yeah, absolutely. 00:10:50.529 --> 00:10:53.389 With the first place teams suspended, how did 00:10:53.389 --> 00:10:56.909 the NHL even run a playoff format? Well, the 00:10:56.909 --> 00:10:59.370 semifinal series between the second place Toronto 00:10:59.370 --> 00:11:02.029 St. Patrick's and the third place Montreal Canadiens 00:11:02.029 --> 00:11:05.289 suddenly transformed into the de facto NHL championship. 00:11:05.330 --> 00:11:08.750 Because first place was out. Right. But the drama 00:11:08.750 --> 00:11:10.889 from the strike seemed to infect the rest of 00:11:10.889 --> 00:11:14.029 the league because immediately a new power struggle 00:11:14.029 --> 00:11:16.669 erupted. this time between the league president 00:11:16.669 --> 00:11:19.269 and a team owner. Right. President Calder tries 00:11:19.269 --> 00:11:21.549 to step in and mandate where the playoff games 00:11:21.549 --> 00:11:23.230 are going to be held. He wants the Canadians 00:11:23.230 --> 00:11:25.690 to play their home games at that shiny new Montreal 00:11:25.690 --> 00:11:28.850 Forum to maximize revenue and optics. But the 00:11:28.850 --> 00:11:31.710 Canadiens owner, Leo Dandurand, flat out refuses. 00:11:32.269 --> 00:11:34.409 He tells the president of the league that home 00:11:34.409 --> 00:11:37.090 games are home games, and his team plays better 00:11:37.090 --> 00:11:39.250 in front of their own fans at the Mount Royal 00:11:39.250 --> 00:11:42.100 Arena. Why does a team owner have the leverage 00:11:42.100 --> 00:11:44.080 to tell the league president where they're going 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:46.799 to play a championship game? Because the central 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:49.179 league office wasn't the absolute authority it 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:53.039 is today. Power was highly decentralized and 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:56.519 wealthy owners wielded massive influence. Dandaran 00:11:56.519 --> 00:11:59.659 stood his ground and amazingly called her back 00:11:59.659 --> 00:12:03.139 down. So Dandaran's stubbornness pays off. The 00:12:03.139 --> 00:12:05.659 Canadians win the series against Toronto 5 -2, 00:12:05.820 --> 00:12:08.460 claiming the NHL title. They did. Now, just to 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:10.240 clarify the format for you listening, because 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:12.460 it is so different from modern sports, this wasn't 00:12:12.460 --> 00:12:14.259 a best -of -seven series where you count the 00:12:14.259 --> 00:12:16.679 wins and losses. Montreal won the series 5 -2 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:19.340 on total aggregate goals across two games. Correct. 00:12:19.870 --> 00:12:21.730 It was a two -game set where you simply add up 00:12:21.730 --> 00:12:24.590 the score from both nights. The Canadians outscored 00:12:24.590 --> 00:12:27.049 Toronto by three goals over the two games. That 00:12:27.049 --> 00:12:30.049 is so wild to think about now. Yeah, and as a 00:12:30.049 --> 00:12:32.009 quick historical footnote, a year later when 00:12:32.009 --> 00:12:33.850 the league introduced the Prince of Wales trophy 00:12:33.850 --> 00:12:37.309 for the NHL playoff champion, the Canadians retroactively 00:12:37.309 --> 00:12:40.909 engraved this 1925 victory onto it. But securing 00:12:40.909 --> 00:12:43.840 the NHL title was only half the battle. Because, 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:45.740 as we discussed at the top of the deep dive, 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:48.940 the WCHL is out west waiting for them. Right, 00:12:49.019 --> 00:12:50.799 the other heavyweight. The Stanley Cup final 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:54.220 is set. The NHL champion Montreal Canadiens versus 00:12:54.220 --> 00:12:57.779 the WCHL champion Victoria Cougars. Where did 00:12:57.779 --> 00:13:01.139 they play this final showdown? To maximize ticket 00:13:01.139 --> 00:13:03.460 sales and capitalize on the Western fan base, 00:13:03.659 --> 00:13:06.299 the games were played out west. They split the 00:13:06.299 --> 00:13:08.240 series between the Patrick Arena in Victoria 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:11.519 and the Denman Arena in Vancouver. Going into 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:14.720 enemy territory after a grueling, chaotic season, 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.580 how did the Canadians fare against the Western 00:13:17.580 --> 00:13:20.039 champions? The environment was incredibly hostile, 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:22.320 and the Victoria Cougars absolutely dominated 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.559 the series. They beat the Canadians three games 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:27.379 to one, had drastically outscored them 16 to 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:29.879 8. Wow. It was a complete dismantling of the 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:32.320 NHL champions. A competing league takes the ultimate 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.700 prize. They did. And what's fascinating here 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:37.320 is the monumental historical significance of 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:40.539 that specific outcome. Really? How so? Well, 00:13:40.659 --> 00:13:43.299 the WCHL would eventually fold just a few years 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:46.059 later. Because of that, the Victoria Cougars 00:13:46.059 --> 00:13:48.639 remained the last non -NHL team in history to 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.759 win the Stanley Cup. The very last one. Yes. 00:13:51.539 --> 00:13:55.279 Since that 1925 victory, the Cup has been exclusively 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:58.659 lifted by NHL franchises. It remains one of the 00:13:58.659 --> 00:14:01.600 most unbreakable trivia facts in all of sports 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.659 history. It is the final gasp of the multi -league 00:14:04.659 --> 00:14:07.440 era, and they go out on top. Now, even though 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.299 the NHL lost the Cup that year, the league itself 00:14:10.299 --> 00:14:12.879 was packed with individual superstars performing 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:15.539 at a level that is hard to comprehend. Oh, definitely. 00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:17.700 I want to spend a moment looking at the raw stats, 00:14:17.820 --> 00:14:19.399 because they tell a story about how the game 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.860 was played. you had Babe Die, who scored an unbelievable 00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:26.679 38 goals in just 29 games. What does a scoring 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:29.100 pace like that imply about the style of hockey 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:32.460 in 1924? It implies a deeply offensive, almost 00:14:32.460 --> 00:14:34.940 unstructured style of play compared to modern 00:14:34.940 --> 00:14:37.960 eras. Remember, the rules regarding forward passing 00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:40.080 were much more restrictive back then. So no easy 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:42.740 setups. Right. So individual puck handling skill 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:46.570 and sheer skating speed were paramount. For Dye 00:14:46.570 --> 00:14:49.809 to score 38 goals in 29 games means he was physically 00:14:49.809 --> 00:14:52.049 dominating the defense on a nightly basis. That 00:14:52.049 --> 00:14:54.429 is wild. The athleticism required to maintain 00:14:54.429 --> 00:14:57.009 that pace in the 30 -game season, especially 00:14:57.009 --> 00:14:59.210 with the physical toll we discussed earlier, 00:14:59.409 --> 00:15:02.690 is staggering. But the scoring title doesn't 00:15:02.690 --> 00:15:05.610 always guarantee you the MVP. The Hart Trophy 00:15:05.610 --> 00:15:08.110 for the league's most valuable player went to 00:15:08.110 --> 00:15:11.009 Billy Birch. But wait, wasn't Billy Birch the 00:15:11.009 --> 00:15:13.070 star player for the Hamilton Tigers? He was. 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:15.820 It is one of the greatest paradoxes in the history 00:15:15.820 --> 00:15:18.700 of the sport. The league awarded its highest 00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:21.399 individual honor to a player who was the captain 00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:24.080 of a team that effectively went on strike and 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.080 forced its own dissolution. That is wild to think 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:29.019 about. The league is acknowledging his immense 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:31.600 value while simultaneously suspending him for 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.279 demanding to be compensated for that exact value. 00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:36.580 It perfectly encapsulates the tension of the 00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:38.340 season. What about on the defensive side of the 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:40.740 puck? In Montreal, you had goaltending greatness 00:15:40.740 --> 00:15:44.320 in Georges Vizina. Over that grueling 30 -game 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.519 schedule, he posted a phenomenal 1 .81 goals 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:51.360 against average and secured five shutouts. That 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:53.799 is incredible consistency. He was a stabilizing 00:15:53.799 --> 00:15:56.399 force in a league that was otherwise highly volatile. 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:59.740 Vecino was a wall. But my absolute favorite statistical 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:02.820 footnote of the entire year belongs to the new 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:05.519 expansion team, the Boston Bruins. They had a 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.720 rough start. They were the ultimate underdogs. 00:16:07.940 --> 00:16:10.299 They finished their first season in dead last 00:16:10.299 --> 00:16:12.980 place with a pretty dismal record of six wins 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:16.179 and 24 losses. But right at the end of the schedule, 00:16:16.269 --> 00:16:19.129 they put together this incredibly gritty winning 00:16:19.129 --> 00:16:22.090 streak. How did the last place team close out 00:16:22.090 --> 00:16:24.690 the year? They ended the season by playing spoiler 00:16:24.690 --> 00:16:27.450 in the most chaotic way possible. First, they 00:16:27.450 --> 00:16:29.590 faced off against the mighty Montreal Canadiens 00:16:29.590 --> 00:16:32.330 and beat them 3 -2. The Canadiens? Yes, and it 00:16:32.330 --> 00:16:34.649 was a brutally rough game. To give you an idea 00:16:34.649 --> 00:16:36.649 of the physicality, Lionel Hitchman of Boston 00:16:36.649 --> 00:16:39.129 took four minor penalties alone. But a player 00:16:39.129 --> 00:16:41.950 named Norman Shea managed to score the game winner 00:16:41.950 --> 00:16:44.480 on a rebound in the third period. Taking down 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:46.600 the eventual NHL champions, and they didn't stop 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:49.419 there, did they? No. In their very next game, 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:52.820 those last -place Bruins shut out the league 00:16:52.820 --> 00:16:55.980 -leading Hamilton Tigers 2 -0. Unbelievable. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:58.879 Their goalie, Doc Stewart, played brilliantly 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.720 to keep the Tigers off the board. It is deeply 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:04.599 ironic that the absolute worst team in the league 00:17:05.180 --> 00:17:07.279 dealt the final competitive blow to the first 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.000 place team. Right before the strike. Exactly. 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:12.559 Right before the Tigers initiated the historic 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:14.519 strike that turned the playoffs upside down. 00:17:14.859 --> 00:17:16.839 So what does this all mean? We have covered a 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:19.000 dizzying amount of ground here today. We really 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:21.400 have. We started with the collapse of the PCHA 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:24.660 and the consolidation of power out West. We watched 00:17:24.660 --> 00:17:27.420 the NHL counter with aggressive American expansion 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:30.599 into Boston, bumping the schedule up to 30 games. 00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:32.960 Which caused all the trouble. Right. We saw organic 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:35.240 quirks like accidental team names and broken 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:37.759 ice machines, the introduction of the Lady Bing 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.680 trophy, and an unprecedented player strike that 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:43.059 resulted in a first place team dissolving rather 00:17:43.059 --> 00:17:45.779 than compromising. their worth. It wasn't just 00:17:45.779 --> 00:17:48.180 a schedule of games. It was the painful, chaotic 00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:51.960 birth of the modern NHL. It was. And for you 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:54.140 listening, whether you follow sports or not, 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:57.519 there is a profound takeaway here about the nature 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:00.380 of organizational evolution. Definitely. This 00:18:00.380 --> 00:18:03.279 century old sports history matters today because 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:05.819 it provides a blueprint for how systems evolve. 00:18:06.500 --> 00:18:10.599 Growth is rarely a smooth, linear process. It 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:12.539 is usually pretty messy. Whether you are looking 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:15.640 at a modern tech startup, a massive legacy corporation, 00:18:15.980 --> 00:18:18.640 or even your own personal endeavors, growth is 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:21.380 almost always accompanied by friction, rule -breaking, 00:18:21.579 --> 00:18:24.500 and deeply uncomfortable negotiations. The growing 00:18:24.500 --> 00:18:28.019 pains. Yeah. The NHL didn't become a multi -billion 00:18:28.019 --> 00:18:30.940 dollar powerhouse by politely agreeing on everything. 00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:34.640 It was forged through fierce rivalries, boundary 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:37.720 -pushing expansion, and the stark, uncompromising 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:39.839 reality of workers realizing their leverage. 00:18:40.329 --> 00:18:42.430 I think that is the perfect lens to view this 00:18:42.430 --> 00:18:44.509 through. The friction is the feature, not the 00:18:44.509 --> 00:18:47.069 bug. Which leaves us with a final thought for 00:18:47.069 --> 00:18:49.289 you to mull over as you go about your day. The 00:18:49.289 --> 00:18:51.430 Hamilton Tigers sacrificed their team, their 00:18:51.430 --> 00:18:53.789 championship hopes, and ultimately their very 00:18:53.789 --> 00:18:57.150 existence in the league over a $200 labor dispute. 00:18:57.349 --> 00:19:01.329 They drew a hard line in the sand and lost everything 00:19:01.329 --> 00:19:04.009 in the short term. But if they hadn't drawn that 00:19:04.009 --> 00:19:07.309 line, if they had simply accepted the 25 % workload 00:19:07.309 --> 00:19:10.150 increase without a fight, how long would it have 00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:13.390 taken for modern athletes to truly realize the 00:19:13.390 --> 00:19:15.329 value of their labor? That's a great question. 00:19:15.490 --> 00:19:18.029 It makes you wonder what other Hamilton Tigers 00:19:18.029 --> 00:19:21.130 exist in history, what other movements, groups, 00:19:21.309 --> 00:19:24.650 or visionary teams dissolved entirely under the 00:19:24.650 --> 00:19:26.490 weight of their own demands just so that future 00:19:26.490 --> 00:19:28.910 generations could thrive on the ground they broke. 00:19:29.470 --> 00:19:31.930 Something to think about. Thank you so much for 00:19:31.930 --> 00:19:34.089 joining us on this deep dive. We hope you enjoyed 00:19:34.089 --> 00:19:36.690 exploring the chaos, the negotiations, and the 00:19:36.690 --> 00:19:40.029 triumphs of 1924 with us. Keep questioning, keep 00:19:40.029 --> 00:19:42.190 exploring, and we will catch you next time.