1928–29 Ottawa Senators season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1928–29
Year:	1928
Team:	Ottawa Senators (original)Ottawa Senators
Division:	Canadian
Divisionrank:	4th
Record:	14–17–13
Homerecord:	7–6–9
Roadrecord:	7–11–4
Goalsfor:	54
Goalsagainst:	67
Coach:	Dave Gill
Goalsleader:	Frank Finnigan (15)
Assistsleader:	Hec Kilrea & Alex Smith (7)
Pointsleader:	Frank Finnigan (19)
Pimleader:	Alex Smith (96)
Winsleader:	Alec Connell (14)
Gaaleader:	Alec Connell (1.43)
Prev Season:	1927–28
Next Season:	1929–30

The 1928–29 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 12th season in the NHL, 44th overall. The Senators' financial troubles continued, as the team sold Punch Broadbent to the New York Americans. There were numerous rumours that the team was going to be sold to a group from Chicago: Senators owner Frank Ahearn denied this, but admitted that the team was for sale to the highest bidder. Once again, for the second straight year, the Senators would play two "home" games in Detroit due to poor fan support when US-based teams would play games in Ottawa.

Team business

The team was sold in February 1929 to the Ottawa Auditorium for . Ahearn had had offers rumoured to be as high as $250,000, but chose to keep the ownership local. As well, Ahearn was a shareholder in the Auditorium which stood to lose its prime tenant. The shareholders of the Auditorium financed the purchase with $125,000 of preferred shares in the Auditorium. NHL president Frank Calder addressed an Ottawa Rotary Club meeting that February, and told the attendees: "The team cannot live on tradition and sentiment. In the last analysis, it depends on the people of Ottawa whether the team remains or not."

Regular season

On the ice, the Senators struggled to score goals, scoring only 54, the fourth fewest in the league. Frank Finnigan scored 15 of them to lead the team, and finish with a club high of 19 points. New captain King Clancy scored 13 goals to lead the defense. Midway through the season, the Sens traded longtime player Buck Boucher to the Montreal Maroons in exchange for youngster Joe Lamb.

Alec Connell was steady in the Senators' net, winning 14 games, and having a GAA of 1.43, along with seven shutouts.

The Senators failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1925, as they finished in fourth place in the five-team Canadian Division.

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

1928–29 Ottawa Senators (14–17–13)

November: 2–1–3 (home: 1–0–3; road: 1–1–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Arena	Record	Pts
1	November 15		0–0	Ottawa	OT		N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	0–0–1	1
2	November 17		0–0	Ottawa	OT	Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	0–0–2	2
3	November 20		1–4	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	1–0–2	4
4	November 22	Ottawa	1–0			Connell	N/A		2–0–2	6
5	November 24		1–1	Ottawa	OT	Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	2–0–3	7
6	November 27	Ottawa	0–1			Connell	N/A		2–1–3	7

December: 2–5–3 (home: 1–2–2; road: 1–3–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Arena	Record	Pts
7	December 2		2–0	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	2–2–3	7
8	December 6		0–2	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	3–2–3	9
9	December 8	Ottawa	2–1		OT	Connell	N/A		4–2–3	11
10	December 11	Ottawa	1–2			Connell	N/A		4–3–3	11
11	December 13	Ottawa	1–1			Connell	N/A		4–3–4	12
12	December 15		0–0	Ottawa	OT	Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	4–3–5	13
13	December 18		2–1	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	4–4–5	13
14	December 20	Ottawa	0–1			Connell	N/A	Madison Square Garden	4–5–5	13
15	December 22	Ottawa	0–1			Connell	N/A	Madison Square Garden	4–6–5	13
16	December 29		2–2	Ottawa	OT	Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	4–6–6	14

January: 2–4–5 (home: 1–2–3; road: 1–2–2)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Arena	Record	Pts
17	January 1	Ottawa	0–3			Connell	N/A		4–7–6	14
18	January 3		1–1	Ottawa	OT	Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	4–7–7	15
19	January 5	Ottawa	1–3			Connell	N/A	Mutual Street Arena	4–8–7	15
20	January 8	Ottawa	1–1		OT	Connell	N/A	Montreal Forum	4–8–8	16
21	January 10		9–3	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	4–9–8	16
22	January 12	Ottawa	2–1			Connell	N/A		5–9–8	18
23	January 15	Ottawa	1–1		OT	Connell	N/A	Madison Square Garden	5–9–9	19
24	January 19		1–1	Ottawa	OT	Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	5–9–10	20
25	January 22		1–1	Ottawa	OT	Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	5–9–11	21
26	January 26		2–1	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	5–10–11	21
27	January 29		2–4	Ottawa	OT	Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	6–10–11	23

February: 6–5–0 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–3–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Arena	Record	Pts
28	February 2	Ottawa	0–1			Connell	N/A	Montreal Forum	6–11–11	23
29	February 7		1–2	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	7–11–11	25
30	February 9		2–0	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Detroit Olympia	7–12–11	25
31	February 12		1–2	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	8–12–11	27
32	February 14	Ottawa	0–4			Connell	N/A	Montreal Forum	8–13–11	27
33	February 16	Ottawa	2–1		OT	Connell	N/A	Duquesne Garden	9–13–11	29
34	February 19	Ottawa	2–1			Connell	N/A	Detroit Olympia	10–13–11	31
35	February 21	Ottawa	3–0			Connell	N/A	Detroit Olympia	11–13–11	33
36	February 23		0–3	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	12–13–11	35
37	February 26	Ottawa	0–2			Connell	N/A	Madison Square Garden	12–14–11	35
38	February 28		4–0	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	12–15–11	35

March: 2–2–2 (home: 1–0–1; road: 1–2–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Arena	Record	Pts
39	March 2	Ottawa	1–1		OT	Connell	N/A	Mutual Street Arena	12–15–12	36
40	March 5		1–1	Ottawa	OT	Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	12–15–13	37
41	March 7	Ottawa	0–3			Connell	N/A	Montreal Forum	12–16–13	37
42	March 9	Ottawa	2–1			Connell	N/A	Boston Madison Square Garden	13–16–13	39
43	March 12	Ottawa	1–2			Connell	N/A	Madison Square Garden	13–17–13	39
44	March 16		0–2	Ottawa		Connell	N/A	Ottawa Auditorium	14–17–13	41

Legend:

Transactions

The Senators were involved in the following transactions during the 1928–29 season.^[1]

Trades

October 15, 1928	To Ottawa Senators Cash	To New York Americans Punch Broadbent
October 25, 1928	To Ottawa Senators Bill Touhey	To Montreal Maroons Cash
October 25, 1928	To Ottawa Senators Cash	To Boston Bruins Cy Denneny
November 13, 1928	To Ottawa Senators Loan of Fred Elliott	To Montreal Maroons Cash
February 4, 1929	To Ottawa Senators Joe Lamb	To Montreal Maroons Buck Boucher

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
RW	44	15	4	19	71
D	44	13	2	15	89
LW	44	9	3	12	28
LW	38	5	7	12	36
D	44	1	7	8	96
C/RW	42	3	2	5	16
C	30	1	4	5	22
D	29	3	1	4	60
RW	23	2	1	3	21
RW	43	2	0	2	6
D	42	0	1	1	10
G	44	0	0	0	0
LW	16	0	0	0	0
RW	6	0	0	0	8

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	2820	44	14	17	13	67	1.43	7
Team:	2820	44	14	17	13	67	1.43	7

^[2]

Playoffs

The Senators did not qualify for the playoffs.

Sources

Book: Ross, J. Andrew . 2015 . Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945 . Syracuse University Press . 9780815633839.
National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

Notes and References

Web site: Hockey Transactions Search Results.
Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-28 . 1928-29 Ottawa Senators Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.