1934–35 St. Louis Eagles season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1934–35
Year:	1934
Team:	St. Louis Eagles
Division:	Canadian
Divisionrank:	5th
Record:	11–31–6
Homerecord:	7–14–3
Roadrecord:	4–17–3
Goalsfor:	86
Goalsagainst:	144
Coach:	Eddie Gerard (Oct.-Dec.) Buck Boucher (Dec. '34-Mar. '35)
Goalsleader:	Syd Howe (14)
Assistsleader:	Carl Voss & Glen Brydson (18)
Pointsleader:	Carl Voss (31)
Pimleader:	Irv Frew (89)
Winsleader:	Bill Beveridge (11)
Gaaleader:	Bill Beveridge (2.89)
Prev Season:	1933–34 (Ottawa)

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 215feet × 115feet, reputedly the "largest ice surface in the world". The rink was cut down to the league standard 75feet wide, but left 215 ft long, leaving a neutral zone of 75feet. It was the largest ice surface in the NHL.^[1]

Regular season

The first game of NHL hockey 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 1–3 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 2nd in team scoring with 29 points. Joe Jerwa, acquired by the Boston Bruins, would lead the defense with 11 points in only 16 games in St. Louis.

Bill Beveridge would be the Eagles goaltender, winning 11 games with a 2.89 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. All told, the Eagles finished 11–31–6, dead last in the league with a winning percentage of .292.

After the season, the franchise owners asked permission to suspend operations for a year. Instead, the NHL bought the players' contracts for $40,000 and dispersed the players to the 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 1967, when the league expanded from 6 teams to 12, and the St. Louis Blues took the ice.

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

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

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	C	48	13	18	31	14
	RW	48	11	18	29	45
	C/LW	36	14	13	27	23
	RW	31	11	12	23	19
	RW	25	3	10	13	14
	C	41	5	7	12	10
	C	11	4	7	11	2
	LW/D	16	4	7	11	14
	RW	34	5	5	10	10
	LW	19	3	3	6	2
	LW	31	1	5	6	10
	RW	13	3	1	4	2
	D	47	2	2	4	60
	D	31	2	2	4	51
	LW	25	2	2	4	11
	RW	25	1	2	3	8
	LW/D	8	1	1	2	2
	LW	12	1	1	2	2
	D	48	0	2	2	89
	C	4	0	1	1	0
	W	21	0	1	1	2
	G	48	0	0	0	0
	C	4	0	0	0	0
	D	13	0	0	0	2
	D	3	0	0	0	6
	C	12	0	0	0	0
	RW	7	0	0	0	0
	RW/D	8	0	0	0	0
	D	9	0	0	0	6

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	2990	48	11	31	6	144	2.89	3
Team:	2990	48	11	31	6	144	2.89	3

^[3]

See also

• 1934–35 NHL season

References

1. Book: Wernig, Darin . Gateway City Puckchasers: The History of Hockey in St. Louis . October 2014 . 33 . Wernig Media, LLC . 9780990723202 .
2. Book: Colemen, Charles. Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 2 1927–1946 inc.
3. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-28 . 1934-35 St. Louis Eagles Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• Book: NHL. National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007. 2007. NHL.