1924–25 NHL season
The 1924–25 NHL season was the eighth season of the National Hockey League. The NHL added two teams this season, a second team in Montreal, the Montreal Maroons and the first U.S. team, the Boston Bruins. Six teams each played 30 games.
| 1924–25 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | November 29, 1924 – March 13, 1925 |
| Number of games | 30 |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Hamilton Tigers |
| Season MVP | Billy Burch (Tigers) |
| Top scorer | Babe Dye (St. Patricks) |
| O'Brien Cup | |
| Champions | Montreal Canadiens |
| Runners-up | Toronto St. Patricks |
The NHL regular-season champion Hamilton Tigers did not participate in the playoffs, as their players demanded to their owner, Percy Thompson, that they would not participate in the NHL championship series unless they received an additional $200 each for the extra six games played that year. Under their contracts, the Tigers players were to receive the same amount of money no matter how many games they played from December 1, 1924, to March 31, 1925 (even though the season started on November 29, 1924). NHL President Frank Calder was not amused, stating that the players would be fined or suspended if they did not play in the final series, but the players stated that they would rather retire than advantage be taken of them. The day of the final game of the Semi-Final, Tiger Shorty Green met with Calder to try to reach an agreement, but to no avail. The players were all suspended and fined $200 each, therefore eliminating themselves from the playoffs.
Because of the suspension, the semi-final playoff series between Montreal and Toronto became the NHL championship series. The Montreal Canadiens won the series and faced off against the Victoria Cougars of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) for the Stanley Cup. Victoria won the series, the last non-NHL team to win the Cup.