1934–35 St. Louis Eagles season

1934–35 St. Louis Eagles
Division5th Canadian
1934–35 record11–31–6
Home record7–14–3
Road record4–17–3
Goals for86
Goals against144
Team information
CoachEddie Gerard (Oct. 1934 – Dec. 1934)
Buck Boucher (Dec. 1934 – Mar. 1935)
CaptainSyd Howe
ArenaSt. Louis Arena
Team leaders
GoalsSyd Howe (14)
AssistsCarl Voss
Glen Brydson (18)
PointsCarl Voss (31)
Penalty minutesIrv Frew (89)
WinsBill Beveridge (11)
Goals against averageBill Beveridge (2.89)

The 1934–35 St. Louis Eagles season was the Eagles' only season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Eagles finished last in the Canadian Division and did not qualify for the playoffs. The team made a coaching change, replacing Eddie Gerard after a 2–11 start, with Buck Boucher, who could not turn the team around.

The Ottawa Senators relocated their NHL franchise and players to St. Louis in the summer of 1934 due to financial losses in Ottawa. Despite good attendance at the St. Louis Arena, the Eagles would have financial problems, due to travel costs. The Eagles would take the Senators' spot in the Canadian Division, and would face numerous road trips to Montreal and Toronto throughout the season, despite being closer to Chicago and Detroit, who played in the American Division. The Eagles were forced to sell players, such as Syd Howe and Frank Finnigan. After the season, the NHL bought the franchise and dispersed its players.

Off-season

The St. Louis Arena had an ice surface that was 215 feet (66 m) × 115 feet (35 m), reputedly the "largest ice surface in the world". The rink was cut down to the league standard 75 feet (23 m) wide, but left 215 feet (66 m), leaving a neutral zone of 75 feet (23 m). It was the largest ice surface in the NHL.[1]

Regular season

The first NHL game in St. Louis was played on November 8, 1934, against the Chicago Black Hawks with a paid attendance of 12,622.[1] The Eagles lost 3–1 and their only goal was scored by Earl Roche.

The Eagles were led offensively by Carl Voss and his team-leading 31 points, team captain Syd Howe would lead the club with 14 goals, despite being traded to the Detroit Red Wings late in the season, while Glen Brydson would finish second in team scoring with 29 points. Frank Jerwa, acquired from the Boston Bruins, would lead the defense with 11 points in 16 games in St. Louis.

Bill Beveridge was the Eagles' only goaltender, winning 11 games with a 2.89 goals against average (GAA) and 3 shutouts.

The strain of so many long train rides showed early on. Midway through the season, new head coach and former Senators player Eddie Gerard was relieved of his duties after a 2–11–0 start and was replaced by Buck Boucher, who was the head coach of the Senators the previous season. Boucher would post a 9–20–6 record in 35 games. The Eagles finished the season last in the NHL with a 11–31–6 record and a .292 winning percentage.

After the season, the franchise owners asked permission to suspend operations for a year. Instead, the NHL bought the players' contracts for US$40,000 and dispersed the players to other NHL teams. The NHL took back the franchise, on the condition that if it were resold, the original franchisees would share in the proceeds.[2]

The Montreal Maroons nearly relocated to St. Louis in 1938, but the NHL nixed the move. St. Louis would be without an NHL team until the 1967–68 season, when the league expanded from 6 teams to 12, and granted the St. Louis Blues a place in the NHL.[3]

Final standings

Canadian Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 30 14 4 157 111 64
Montreal Maroons 48 24 19 5 123 92 53
Montreal Canadiens 48 19 23 6 110 145 44
New York Americans 48 12 27 9 100 142 33
48 11 31 6 86 144 28

[4]

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

1934–35 regular season[6]
November: 1–8–0 (home: 1–4–0; road: 0–4–0)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Arena Record Pts
1 November 8 Chicago 3–1 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 0–1–0 0
2 November 10 NY Rangers 2–4 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 1–1–0 2
3 November 13 Mtl Maroons 2–1 St. Louis OT Beveridge St. Louis Arena 1–2–0 2
4 November 17 St. Louis 0–1 Boston Beveridge Boston Garden 1–3–0 2
5 November 18 St. Louis 0–5 NY Rangers Beveridge Madison Square Garden 1–4–0 2
6 November 20 Toronto 5–2 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 1–5–0 2
7 November 22 St. Louis 0–1 Chicago Beveridge Chicago Stadium 1–6–0 2
8 November 24 Boston 4–1 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 1–7–0 2
9 November 25 St. Louis 1–4 Detroit Beveridge Detroit Olympia 1–8–0 2
December: 3–5–3 (home: 2–2–1; road: 1–3–2)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Arena Record Pts
10 December 1 St. Louis 3–4 Toronto Beveridge Maple Leaf Gardens 1–9–0 2
11 December 4 NY Americans 0–2 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 2–9–0 4
12 December 8 St. Louis 0–1 Mtl Maroons Beveridge Montreal Forum 2–10–0 4
13 December 9 St. Louis 1–3 Detroit Beveridge Detroit Olympia 2–11–0 4
14 December 13 Detroit 11–2 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 2–12–0 4
15 December 15 St. Louis 1–1 Mtl Canadiens OT Beveridge Montreal Forum 2–12–1 5
16 December 18 St. Louis 2–1 NY Americans OT Beveridge Madison Square Garden 3–12–1 7
17 December 20 Toronto 1–1 St. Louis OT Beveridge St. Louis Arena 3–12–2 8
18 December 22 Mtl Canadiens 2–1 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 3–13–2 8
19 December 27 Detroit 2–5 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 4–13–2 10
20 December 30 St. Louis 3–3 Chicago OT Beveridge Chicago Stadium 4–13–3 11
January: 2–9–1 (home: 0–4–1; road: 2–5–0)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Arena Record Pts
21 January 3 Mtl Maroons 3–0 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 4–14–3 11
22 January 5 St. Louis 2–1 Mtl Maroons Beveridge Montreal Forum 5–14–3 13
23 January 10 Boston 2–1 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 5–15–3 13
24 January 13 St. Louis 2–3 NY Rangers Beveridge Madison Square Garden 5–16–3 13
25 January 15 St. Louis 3–5 Boston Beveridge Boston Garden 5–17–3 13
26 January 17 Chicago 5–1 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 5–18–3 13
27 January 19 St. Louis 2–6 Toronto Beveridge Maple Leaf Gardens 5–19–3 13
28 January 20 St. Louis 6–1 Detroit Beveridge Detroit Olympia 6–19–3 15
29 January 22 Toronto 2–1 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 6–20–3 15
30 January 24 NY Americans 2–2 St. Louis OT Beveridge St. Louis Arena 6–20–4 16
31 January 27 St. Louis 3–5 Chicago Beveridge Chicago Stadium 6–21–4 16
32 January 29 St. Louis 2–5 Mtl Maroons Beveridge Montreal Forum 6–22–4 16
February: 3–6–2 (home: 2–2–1; road: 1–4–1)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Arena Record Pts
33 February 2 Mtl Canadiens 1–1 St. Louis OT Beveridge St. Louis Arena 6–22–5 17
34 February 5 St. Louis 3–3 NY Americans OT Beveridge Madison Square Garden 6–22–6 18
35 February 7 Chicago 0–1 St. Louis OT Beveridge St. Louis Arena 7–22–6 20
36 February 9 St. Louis 2–4 Mtl Canadiens Beveridge Montreal Forum 7–23–6 20
37 February 12 NY Rangers 5–1 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 7–24–6 20
38 February 16 Boston 0–3 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 8–24–6 22
39 February 19 St. Louis 1–2 NY Rangers Beveridge Madison Square Garden 8–25–6 22
40 February 21 St. Louis 4–3 NY Americans Beveridge Madison Square Garden 9–25–6 24
41 February 23 Mtl Maroons 4–0 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 9–26–6 22
42 February 26 St. Louis 0–5 Boston Beveridge Boston Garden 9–27–6 24
43 February 28 St. Louis 2–4 Mtl Canadiens Beveridge Montreal Forum 9–28–6 24
March: 2–3–0 (home: 2–2–0; road: 0–1–0)
Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Arena Record Pts
44 March 2 Mtl Canadiens 3–2 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 9–29–6 24
45 March 7 NY Americans 2–3 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 10–29–6 26
46 March 9 NY Rangers 5–1 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 10–30–6 26
47 March 12 Detroit 2–3 St. Louis Beveridge St. Louis Arena 11–30–6 28
48 March 19 St. Louis 3–5 Toronto Beveridge Maple Leaf Gardens 11–31–6 28

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season[7]
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Carl Voss C 48 13 18 31 14
Glen Brydson RW 48 11 18 29 45
Syd Howe‡ C 36 14 13 27 23
Joe Lamb† RW 31 11 12 23 19
Pete Kelly RW 25 3 10 13 14
Bill Cowley C 41 5 7 12 10
Ossie Asmundson† C 11 4 7 11 2
Frank Jerwa† LW 16 4 7 11 14
Frank Finnigan‡ RW 34 5 5 10 10
Earl Roche‡ LW 19 3 3 6 2
Vic Ripley† LW 31 1 5 6 8
Nick Wasnie RW 13 3 1 4 2
Vernon Ayres D 47 2 2 4 60
Ralph Bowman‡ D 31 2 2 4 47
Gerry Shannon‡ LW 26 2 2 4 11
Fido Purpur RW 25 1 2 3 8
Mickey Blake LW 8 1 1 2 2
Irv Frew D 48 0 2 2 89
Ed Finnigan LW 12 1 0 1 2
Gene Carrigan C 4 0 1 1 0
Bud Cook C 4 0 0 0 0
Ted Graham† D 12 0 0 0 2
Walter Kalbfleisch D 3 0 0 0 6
Max Kaminsky‡ C 11 0 0 0 0
George Patterson† LW 11 0 0 0 2
Des Roche‡ RW 7 0 0 0 10
Archie Wilcox RW 8 0 0 0 0
Burr Williams‡ D 9 0 0 0 6

Goaltenders

Regular season[8]
Player GP GS TOI W L T GA GAA SO G A PIM
Bill Beveridge 48 48 2,990:00 11 31 6 144 2.89 3 0 0 0
  • † Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Eagles. Stats reflect time with the Eagles only.
  • ‡ Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Eagles only.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Wernig, Darin (October 2014). Gateway City Puckchasers: The History of Hockey in St. Louis. Wernig Media, LLC. p. 33. ISBN 9780990723202.
  2. ^ Colemen, Charles. Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 2 1927–1946 inc.
  3. ^ "Mixed Reaction Greets NHL Expansion Into Six Cities Across United States". The Montreal Star (Final ed.). Montreal Star Limited. The Canadian Press. February 10, 1966. p. 27. ISSN 0842-1331. Retrieved August 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  5. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "1934-35 St. Louis Eagles Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  7. ^ "NHL.com - Stats - St. Louis Eagles Skaters - Regular season". NHL.com. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  8. ^ "NHL.com - Stats - St. Louis Eagles Goalies - Regular season". NHL.com. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
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