MAROONED - THE 1926 STANLEY CUP

When Montreal is mentioned as being Stanley Cup champions, the Canadiens immediately come to mind. But in the spring of 1926, another Montreal franchise were crowned Cup winners, and they were the Montreal Maroons.

The Maroons entered the National Hockey League in time for the 1924-25 season as an expansion team along with the Boston Bruins. In the 30 game schedule, the Maroons finished with a 9-19-2 record and finished second-last in the standings.

In their sophomore year, the Maroons took gigantic strides up the standings and went 20-11-5 in 36 regular season games. The Ottawa Senators led the league in points with 52, while the Maroons came in second with 45 points.

When the playoffs got underway, the Maroons faced the third-place Pittsburgh Pirates in the semi-finals. A winner would be reached in a two-game total-goals series. The Maroons beat Pittsburgh in the first contest by a 3 to 1 score to give them the edge. Game two ended in a 3-3 draw, which allowed Montreal to advance to the NHL final.

Up next for the Maroons were the Ottawa Senators. They secured a spot in the NHL final by finishing at the top of the standings. Once again, the format called for two games with total-goals being the deciding factor. The final opened in Montreal and in a very tight contest, they skated to a 1-1 tie. In game two, another closely played game, the Maroons scored the lone goal and headed to the Stanley Cup final.

On March 30, the Cup final started with the Maroons and Victoria Cougars battling to be champions. The Cougars represented the Western Hockey League and as it turned out, they'd be the last non-NHL team to compete for Lord Stanley's Cup. Also, of note, the Maroons were the first Montreal based club to play a Stanley Cup tilt in the Montreal Forum.

In the best-of-five showdown, the Maroons had no problems downing the Cougars with three shutout victories. Victoria won game four 3-2. The scoring sensation for Montreal was Nels Stewart (pictured below). In the four encounters against Victoria, he scored six goals and added one assist. In net for the Maroons was Clint Benedict, who was out of this world, he recored 3 shutouts and posted an average of 0.75.

The Montreal Maroons clinched the Cup 94-years-go tonight at the Forum by a 2-0 score.

After a scoreless first period, Nels Stewart scored at 1:50 and 17:30 of the middle frame to give his team the lead. The opening tally, which turned out to be the winner, was described as follows in this newspaper account of the game:

Stewart stole the puck from Foyston [Frank]. He went down flanked by Phillips [Bill] and Broadbent ["Punch"]. A scuffle developed in front of Holmes [Victoria goalie, Hap] and he was called upon to make four saves. Stewart finally broke the ice when he skated around the back of the net and caught Holmes too slow to reach the other corner of the cage. The trick was done at 1:50.

For winning the Cup, the Maroons were financially compensated for their accomplishment. Each player received $839.52 plus "a personal gift of $1,000, donated personally by directors of the Forum and friends of the team, together with other cash awards for scoring goals, etc."

The Montreal Maroons went on to earn a second Stanley Cup in 1935, when they swept the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Following the 1937-38 season, the Montreal Maroons folded after a dismal year.