1925–26 Ottawa Senators season

The 1925–26 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 41st season of play and ninth season in the NHL. The Senators placed first during the regular season but were upset in the playoffs by the Montreal Maroons.

Off-season

The Hamilton Tigers franchise folded and their players would be purchased by the New York Americans expansion team, while the Pittsburgh Pirates would also join the NHL, making it a seven team league.

Prior to the season, Tommy Gorman and Ted Dey sold their interests in the team to T. Franklin Ahearn, who then hired Dave Gill to be the GM, and former Senators player Alex Currie as head coach.

Pre-season

The Senators welcomed the Stanley Cup champion Victoria Cougars to town for two exhibition games on November 19 and 21, with proceeds to the Ottawa Humane Society. Ottawa won both games, 6–2 and 2–0.^[1]

Regular season

Ottawa, who missed the playoffs the previous season, would go on to finish with a league best 24–8–4 record, and earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs, however, they were upset by the Montreal Maroons in the NHL final, losing the two-game total-goal series 2–1. Cy Denneny would once again lead the club offensively, scoring 24 goals and 36 points, while Frank Nighbor would win the Lady Byng Trophy for the 2nd straight season.

Final standings

National Hockey League
Teams	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
Ottawa Senators	36	24	8	4	77	42	341	52
Montreal Maroons	36	20	11	5	91	73	554	45
Pittsburgh Pirates	36	19	16	1	82	70	264	39
Boston Bruins	36	17	15	4	92	85	279	38
New York Americans	36	12	20	4	68	89	361	28
Toronto St. Patricks	36	12	21	3	92	114	325	27
Montreal Canadiens	36	11	24	1	79	108	458	23

^[2] Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

The Senators went against the Maroons in a two-game total-goals series for the NHL championship and lost two goals to one. The Maroons had Punch Broadbent and goaltender Clint Benedict, two former Senators stars in the lineup, who would figure prominently in the series.

By placing first, the Senators had a bye to the NHL Championship round against the second-place Maroons who had defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates. At home in the first game, the Maroons tied the Senators 1–1. Former Senator Punch Broadbent scored at 8 minutes of the second period to put the Maroons ahead. The lead lasted until King Clancy tied the game with ten seconds left.^[3] In the second game, held at Ottawa, the Maroons took the series with a 1–0 shutout victory to win the NHL championship. Babe Siebert on an individual rush, scored off his own rebound at the six-minute mark of the second period. Cy Denneny appeared to tie the score a minute later, but the play was off-side. The Maroons held off the attack of the Senators the rest of the way in front of a record attendance of 10,525.^[4]

After the playoff, the Senators welcomed the Saskatoon Sheiks for a pair of exhibition games on April 1 and April 3. The series matched the two leagues' runner-up teams. The Senators won the first game, played under NHL rules 4–3. The second game was played under WHL rules and the Sheiks won 7–5.^[5] The Sheiks were on an exhibition tour and played in Montreal on April 4 against the Canadiens in a benefit game for Georges Vezina's family.^[6]

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	November 28, 1925	3–2	Montreal Maroons (1925–26)	1–0–0
2	W	December 3, 1925	2–0	Boston Bruins (1925–26)	2–0–0
3	W	December 5, 1925	1–0	Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)	3–0–0
4	W	December 10, 1925	3–0	New York Americans (1925–26)	4–0–0
5	L	December 12, 1925	2–5	@ Montreal Maroons (1925–26)	4–1–0
6	W	December 15, 1925	2–1	@ Boston Bruins (1925–26)	5–1–0
7	W	December 17, 1925	3–0	Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)	6–1–0
8	W	December 23, 1925	4–2	Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)	7–1–0
9	W	December 26, 1925	3–0	@ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)	8–1–0
10	W	December 30, 1925	5–0	@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)	9–1–0
11	L	January 1, 1926	0–3	@ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)	9–2–0
12	W	January 5, 1926	4–0	Montreal Maroons (1925–26)	10–2–0
13	T	January 7, 1926	1–1 OT	@ Montreal Maroons (1925–26)	10–2–1
14	W	January 11, 1926	1–0 OT	@ New York Americans (1925–26)	11–2–1
15	W	January 13, 1926	1–0	Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)	12–2–1
16	W	January 19, 1926	2–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)	13–2–1
17	W	January 21, 1926	3–2	New York Americans (1925–26)	14–2–1
18	W	January 26, 1926	8–2	@ Boston Bruins (1925–26)	15–2–1
19	W	January 28, 1926	4–2	Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)	16–2–1
20	W	January 30, 1926	1–0	@ New York Americans (1925–26)	17–2–1
21	L	February 2, 1926	0–1	@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)	17–3–1
22	L	February 4, 1926	2–3	Boston Bruins (1925–26)	17–4–1
23	L	February 6, 1926	1–4	@ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)	17–5–1
24	W	February 11, 1926	2–1	Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)	18–5–1
25	W	February 16, 1926	1–0	@ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)	19–5–1
26	W	February 18, 1926	4–2	Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)	20–5–1
27	T	February 20, 1926	0–0 OT	Montreal Maroons (1925–26)	20–5–2
28	T	February 23, 1926	1–1 OT	@ Montreal Maroons (1925–26)	20–5–3
29	W	February 27, 1926	3–2	Boston Bruins (1925–26)	21–5–3
30	L	March 2, 1926	1–3	New York Americans (1925–26)	21–6–3
31	W	March 4, 1926	1–0	@ New York Americans (1925–26)	22–6–3
32	L	March 6, 1926	0–1	@ Boston Bruins (1925–26)	22–7–3
33	W	March 8, 1926	3–0	Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)	23–7–3
34	T	March 13, 1926	1–1 OT	@ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)	23–7–4
35	L	March 15, 1926	0–2	@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)	23–8–4
36	W	March 17, 1926	4–0	Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)	24–8–4

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Denneny, CyCy Denneny	LW	36	24	12	36	18
Smith, HooleyHooley Smith	C/RW	28	16	9	25	53
Nighbor, FrankFrank Nighbor	C	35	12	13	25	40
Boucher, GeorgesGeorges Boucher	D	36	8	4	12	64
Clancy, KingKing Clancy	D	35	8	4	12	80
Kilrea, HecHec Kilrea	LW	35	5	0	5	12
Gorman, EdEd Gorman	D	23	2	1	3	12
Finnigan, FrankFrank Finnigan	RW	36	2	0	2	24
Connell, AlecAlec Connell	G	36	0	0	0	0
Duggan, JackJack Duggan	LW	27	0	0	0	0
Graham, LethLeth Graham	LW	1	0	0	0	0
Smith, AlexAlex Smith	D	36	0	0	0	36

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Connell, AlecAlec Connell	2251	36	24	8	4	42	1.12	15
Team:	2251	36	24	8	4	42	1.12	15

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	Pts	PIM
Clancy, KingKing Clancy	D	2	1	1	4
Boucher, GeorgesGeorges Boucher	D	2	0	0	10
Connell, AlecAlec Connell	G	2	0	0	0
Denneny, CyCy Denneny	LW	2	0	0	4
Duggan, JackJack Duggan	LW	2	0	0	0
Finnigan, FrankFrank Finnigan	RW	2	0	0	0
Gorman, EdEd Gorman	D	2	0	0	2
Kilrea, HecHec Kilrea	LW	2	0	0	0
Nighbor, FrankFrank Nighbor	C	2	0	0	2
Smith, AlexAlex Smith	D	2	0	0	0
Smith, HooleyHooley Smith	C/RW	2	0	0	14

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Connell, AlecAlec Connell	120	2	0	1	2	1.00	0
Team:	120	2	0	1	2	1.00	0

^[7]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Lady Byng Trophy – Frank Nighbor

Roster

Boucher, Georges (D)
Clancy, King (D)
Connell, Alec (G)
Denneny, Cy (L)
Duggan, John (L)
Finnigan, Frank (R)
Gorman, Ed (D)
Graham, Leth (L)
Kilrea, Hec (L)
Nighbor, Frank (C)
Smith, Alex (D)
Smith, Hooley (C)

Source: hockey-reference.com^[7]

References

SHRP Sports
The Internet Hockey Database
National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

↑ "Victoria Cougars Defeated Second Exhibition Game 2–0 After Strenuous Struggle". Ottawa Citizen. November 23, 1925. p. 11.
↑ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al., eds. THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
↑ "Senators and Maroons Battle to Draw 1 to 1". Ottawa Citizen. March 26, 1926. p. 10.
↑ "Maroons Capture NHL Title With Win Over Ottawa". Montreal Gazette. March 29, 1926. p. 18.
↑ "Saskatoon Downed Ottawa on Round". Montreal Gazette. April 5, 1926. p. 16.
↑ "$3,000 Raised in Vezina Benefit". Montreal Gazette. April 5, 1926. p. 16.
1 2 "1925-26 Ottawa Senators Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.

Ottawa Hockey Club / Ottawa Senators (original) seasons

1880s	1880–81 . 1881–82 . 1882–83 . 1883–84 1884–85 . 1885–86 . 1886–87 . 1887–88 . 1888–89 1889–90

1890s	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00

1900s	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10

1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20

1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930s	1930–31 . 1931–32 . 1932–33 1933–34 St. Louis

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup or other championship

1925–26 NHL season

NHL	Boston Mtl Canadiens Mtl Maroons NY Americans Ottawa Pittsburgh Toronto

See also	The S Line Stanley Cup Finals

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