This Day in Hockey History – August 25, 1938 – Maroons Go Dark

Aug 25, 2019

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What was supposed to be a temporary solution turned into another step towards the NHL’s Original Six era. Struggling with finances, the Montreal Maroons requested and received a one-year suspension of operations as of August 25, 1938. As it turned out, they never returned, instead folding almost a decade later.

Montreal had hosted two NHL teams since 1924, with the enfranchisement of the Maroons (and the Boston Bruins). They were intended to represent the English-speaking population of Montreal since the Canadiens represented the French-Canadian population. However, the Great Depression proved that the Canadiens drew more spectators and that Montreal could not support two teams in the hard times. For their final three seasons, the Maroons had the worst attendance in the league, causing extreme financial difficulties.

The Maroons ended what would be their final season, 1937-38, on the lowest possible note. They lost their final game, 6-3 on March 17, against their Montreal rivals. Their record, 12-30-6, was their worst since their inaugural season. Unsurprisingly, they finished in the cellar of the standings.

Rumors of relocation lingered even after Maroons President Donat Raymond denied them back in September 1937. Reconstruction Investment Company said they were willing to bring the Maroons to St. Louis, Missouri, and the deal would have given them the option to buy the team in three years. However, they had not yet given any funding and did not specify how long they would willingly operate the team. The NHL doubted St. Louis’s viability since their Eagles had failed due to high travel costs to reach opponents’ rinks. When the NHL’s board of governors met at New York, Maroons GM Tommy Gorman applied for the Maroons’ transfer to St. Louis, but the board rejected the proposal.

In response to the rejected relocation proposition, Gorman requested a temporary suspension of operations to given them time to manage their finances. They were in “dire financial straights” receiving “poor support” for the past two seasons. The board had already turned down the Maroons’ request back at their annual meeting on June 22. With the upcoming season closer to starting, the NHL board “decided the suspension would be the best solution of the club’s financial difficulties for the present.” To the press, Gorman seemed “well pleased over the outcome.” The NHL would schedule seven teams for the upcoming season, and the top four would participate in playoffs.

A major concession from the NHL was that they allowed the Maroons to retain rights to all players (on active, reserve, and negotiation lists) and distribute them however they chose. Apparently, the Maroons intended to rent out players to the highest bidders, but although “besieged with offers,” they had “refused to entertain any.”

Primarily, Gorman indicated that they intended to give the Canadiens first dibs. This made sense because the players were already in Montreal and the Canadian Arena Company owned both teams (and had since 1935). Canadiens President Ernie Savard said, “We are not yet in a position to state what players we will take, but we will not miss the good ones. It looks like a banner hockey season for Montreal.”

Savard indicated the Canadiens would probably take five or six players. Of the original five names of interest, the Canadiens ended up with four of them and an additional two former Maroons. As of mid-September, the Canadiens paid the Maroons cash in return for center Bob Gracie, wings Herb Cain and Jimmy Ward, and defensemen Stew Evans, Cy Wentworth, and Des Smith. The Canadiens also obtained negotiation rights to defenseman Lester Brennan and goalies Claude Burke and Rick Ferley. Coach Cecil Hart had concerns with whittling down the team with this abundance of players. The amount exchanged for the players was not disclosed but reported as a “very substantial sum.” The Canadiens also ended up with Gorman himself. He served as their GM from 1940 to 1946.

The Chicago Blackhawks benefitted from the Maroons as well. They paid $30,000 in return for a complete line – right wing Baldy Northcott, center Russell Blinco, and left wing Earl Robinson. All of them had played their entire NHL careers with the Maroons. In November, Chicago also paid the Canadiens to trade Gracie.

Two other NHL teams took one player each. The Toronto Maple Leafs had sought forward Gus Marker as early as September but did not receive him until November 3. His price tag amounted to $4,000. Dave Trottier, also a forward, thought about retiring because he did not want to leave his Montreal business connections. However, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings on December 13.

Five more players moved down a tier to the International-American Hockey League (IAHL), soon to become the AHL. By September, forwards Paul Runge and Jerry Shannan were being pursued by the IAHL, so that October, the Maroons sold them to Cleveland . Defensemen Maurice Groghan and Al Shields went to New England, playing for the Providence Reds and New Haven Eagles. Goalie Bill Beveridge played for three different IAHL teams that next season. He returned to the NHL with the New York Rangers for the 1942-43 season.

For centers Tom Cook and Carl Voss (who injured his knee at training camp), that was the end of the line for their playing careers.

It marked the end for the Maroons. In 1945, the Maroons franchise looked to sell to a Philadelphia group. The NHL was willing to allow this as long as they had enough money and got the team running by April 1947. Although the funding came through, Philadelphia did not have a suitable arena and a new one could not be funded by the deadline. Thus, the NHL officially ended the Maroons franchise.

Additional Sources:

Mike Commito, Hockey 365: Daily Stories from the Ice(Toronto: Dundurn, 2018), kindle edition.
“Composite Team to Represent Montreal in 1937-38 N.H.L. Schedule,” Montreal Gazette, 26 Aug. 1938, p. 14.
“Maroons Franchise,” New York Daily News, 26 Aug. 1938, p. 46.
“Seven Clubs in National Hockey,” Boston Globe, 26 Aug. 1938, p. 9.
“Maroons Quit Hockey League; 7 Teams Left,” Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 1938, p. 21.
“Maroon Six Quits League for a Year,” Detroit Free Press, 26 Aug. 1938, p. 13.
“Chicago and Canadiens Buy Nine Players as Maroon Team is Disbanded,” Montreal Gazette, 16 Sept. 1938, p. 14.
Stephen Laroche, Changing the Game: A History of NHL Expansion(Toronto: ECW Press, 2014), 18.
Brian McFarlane, Brian McFarlane’s History of Hockey(Champaign, Ill.: Sports Publishing Inc., c1997), 44.
https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MTM/1938.html
https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/habs-greatest-gms-inducted-into-builders-row/c-489607