1922-23: Montreal Canadiens Shock Hockey World Twice

Newsy Lalonde

The Three Stars

Game Aired On Radio For First Time - Pete Parker, no not Spiderman and no not Foster Hewitt either, performs hockey's first radio broadcast. He called the Edmonton/Regina playoff match in the WCHL on March 14. Hewitt  calls his first game eight days later using a telephone line linked to station CFCA from a 4" by 4" broadcast booth of a OHA game between Parkdale and Kitchener

Canadiens Trade Newsy Lalonde - Montreal Canadiens manager Leo Dandurand stuns the hockey world when he trades captain and two time NHL scoring champion Newsy Lalonde to the Saskatoon Sheiks of the Western Canadian Hockey League. The return? $3,500 and an unknown amateur named Aurel Joliat. Joliat would go on to a Hall of Fame career in Montreal spanning 16 seasons.

Habs Suspend Own Players - Dandurand again shocks the hockey world when he suspends Sprague Cleghorn and Billy Coutu for their illegal hits against the Ottawa Senators during the first game of the playoffs. The attacks must have been particularly heinous because Cleghorn and Coutu are also Montreal's top two defensemen. Without them, they lose to Ottawa and miss out on competing for the Stanley Cup.

Sprague Cleghorn

Season Highlights:

• Ottawa does go on to the Stanley Cup final and defeats the Edmonton Eskimos, led by Duke Keats, twice in the best of three final. Clint Benedict is the unofficial MVP of the playoffs, surrendering just 10 goals in 8 games. Star defenseman Eddie Gerard played the final game with a separated shoulder.
• Babe Dye leads all scorers with 26 goals and 37 points.