1930–31 NHL season

Did You Know?

• Howie Morenz won the Hart Trophy for the second time in his career.
• Roy Worters won the Vezina Trophy, his only Vezina win, but Charlie Gardiner and Tiny Thompson were named to the all-star teams at goaltender.

League business

The Great Depression strained NHL finances. The Pittsburgh Pirates moved to Philadelphia, becoming the Philadelphia Quakers, but the team struggled to win games or attract fans. The move was intended to be temporary until a new arena was built in Pittsburgh, but the arena was never constructed, and the Quakers folded after one season. Pennsylvania would not have an NHL team for 36 years.

Even after that sale, the Senators' owners sought to sell the team for $200,000, but no bids approached that amount; the team suspended operations before the next season. The Detroit Cougars changed their name to the Detroit Falcons. The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association sent W. A. Fry and W. A. Hewitt to the 1930 NHL general meeting to negotiate a better working agreement. The CAHA proposed that players remain amateurs for one year after junior hockey, and in return the CAHA would allow amateurs to try out and practice with professional teams.

Hewitt met multiple times with NHL president Frank Calder, who saw merit in the proposal, and discussions about a professional-amateur agreement continued.

Playoffs

On March 26, during the second game of the best-of-five series between the Bruins and Canadiens, Boston coach-GM Art Ross pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker while trailing 1–0 with 40 seconds left in the final period; the attempt failed, marking the first time a goalie was pulled for an extra attacker in Stanley Cup play. The playoff format was modified: the top three teams from each division still qualified. The division winners met in a best-of-five semifinal. Second- and third-place teams played a two-game total-goals series to determine the other semifinal participants, which was changed from best-of-three to two-game total-goals. The semifinal winners advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, expanded from best-of-three to best-of-five. Chicago took a two-games-to-one lead in the finals, but Montreal won the next two games to take the series three games to two.