1934–35 St. Louis Eagles season

1934–35 St. Louis Eagles
Division	5th Canadian
1934–35 record	11–31–6
Home record	7–14–3
Road record	4–17–3
Goals for	86
Goals against	144
Team information
Coach	Eddie Gerard (Oct.-Dec.) Buck Boucher (Dec. '34-Mar. '35)
Captain	Syd Howe
Arena	St. Louis Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Syd Howe (14)
Assists	Carl Voss & Glen Brydson (18)
Points	Carl Voss (31)
Penalty minutes	Irv Frew (89)
Wins	Bill Beveridge (11)
Goals against average	Bill Beveridge (2.89)
← 1933–34

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 ft long, leaving a neutral zone of 75 feet (23 m). 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.

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
St. Louis Eagles	48	11	31	6	86	144	28

^[3]

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

Vs. Canadian Division

1934–35 NHL records^[4]
Team	MTL	MTM	NYA	STL	TOR	Total
M. Canadiens	—	4–1–1	2–3–1	4–0–2	1–5	11–9–4
M. Maroons	1–4–1	—	4–1–1	5–1	1–5	11–11–2
N.Y. Americans	3–2–1	1–4–1	—	0–4–2	1–4–1	5–14–5
St. Louis	0–4–2	1–5	4–0–2	—	0–5–1	5–14–5
Toronto	5–1	5–1	4–1–1	5–0–1	—	19–3–2

Vs. American Division

1934–35 NHL records
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	NYR	Total
M. Canadiens	2–4	1–4–1	1–4–1	4–2	8–14–2
M. Maroons	4–1–1	3–3	3–2–1	3–2–1	13–8–3
N.Y. Americans	2–4	2–4	1–2–3	2–3–1	7–13–4
St. Louis	1–5	1–4–1	3–3	1–5	6–17–1
Toronto	2–3–1	5–1	2–3–1	2–4	11–11–2

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	Chicago	3–1	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	0–1–0	0
2	November 10	Rangers	2–4	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	1–1–0	2
3	November 13	Maroons	2–1	St. Louis	OT	Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	1–2–0	2
4	November 17	St. Louis	0–1	Boston		Beveridge	N/A	Boston Garden	1–3–0	2
5	November 18	St. Louis	0–5	Rangers		Beveridge	N/A	Madison Square Garden	1–4–0	2
6	November 20	Toronto	5–2	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	1–5–0	2
7	November 22	St. Louis	0–1	Chicago		Beveridge	N/A	Chicago Stadium	1–6–0	2
8	November 24	Boston	4–1	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	1–7–0	2
9	November 25	St. Louis	1–4	Detroit		Beveridge	N/A	Detroit Olympia	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	Toronto		Beveridge	N/A	Maple Leaf Gardens	1–9–0	2
11	December 4	Americans	0–2	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	2–9–0	4
12	December 8	St. Louis	0–1	Maroons		Beveridge	N/A	Montreal Forum	2–10–0	4
13	December 9	St. Louis	1–3	Detroit		Beveridge	N/A	Detroit Olympia	2–11–0	4
14	December 13	Detroit	11–2	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	2–12–0	4
15	December 15	St. Louis	1–1	Canadiens	OT	Beveridge	N/A	Montreal Forum	2–12–1	5
16	December 18	St. Louis	2–1	Americans	OT	Beveridge	N/A	Madison Square Garden	3–12–1	7
17	December 20	Toronto	1–1	St. Louis	OT	Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	3–12–2	8
18	December 22	Canadiens	2–1	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	3–13–2	8
19	December 27	Detroit	2–5	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	4–13–2	10
20	December 30	St. Louis	3–3	Chicago	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	Maroons	3–0	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	4–14–3	11
22	January 5	St. Louis	2–1	Maroons		Beveridge	N/A	Montreal Forum	5–14–3	13
23	January 10	Boston	2–1	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	5–15–3	13
24	January 13	St. Louis	2–3	Rangers		Beveridge	N/A	Madison Square Garden	5–16–3	13
25	January 15	St. Louis	3–5	Boston		Beveridge	N/A	Boston Garden	5–17–3	13
26	January 17	Chicago	5–1	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	5–18–3	13
27	January 19	St. Louis	2–6	Toronto		Beveridge	N/A	Maple Leaf Gardens	5–19–3	13
28	January 20	St. Louis	6–1	Detroit		Beveridge	N/A	Detroit Olympia	6–19–3	15
29	January 22	Toronto	2–1	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	6–20–3	15
30	January 24	Americans	2–2	St. Louis	OT	Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	6–20–4	16
31	January 27	St. Louis	3–5	Chicago		Beveridge	N/A	Chicago Stadium	6–21–4	16
32	January 29	St. Louis	2–5	Maroons		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	Canadiens	1–1	St. Louis	OT	Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	6–22–5	17
34	February 5	St. Louis	3–3	Americans	OT	Beveridge	N/A	Madison Square Garden	6–22–6	18
35	February 7	Chicago	0–1	St. Louis	OT	Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	7–22–6	20
36	February 9	St. Louis	2–4	Canadiens		Beveridge	N/A	Montreal Forum	7–23–6	20
37	February 12	Rangers	5–1	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	7–24–6	20
38	February 16	Boston	0–3	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	8–24–6	22
39	February 19	St. Louis	1–2	Rangers		Beveridge	N/A	Madison Square Garden	8–25–6	22
40	February 21	St. Louis	4–3	Americans		Beveridge	N/A	Madison Square Garden	9–25–6	24
41	February 23	Maroons	4–0	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	9–26–6	22
42	February 26	St. Louis	0–5	Boston		Beveridge	N/A	Boston Garden	9–27–6	24
43	February 28	St. Louis	2–4	Canadiens		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	Canadiens	3–2	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	9–29–6	24
45	March 7	Americans	2–3	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	10–29–6	26
46	March 9	Rangers	5–1	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	10–30–6	26
47	March 12	Detroit	2–3	St. Louis		Beveridge	N/A	St. Louis Arena	11–30–6	28
48	March 19	St. Louis	3–5	Toronto		Beveridge	N/A	Maple Leaf Gardens	11–31–6	28

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

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

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/LW	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
Oscar Asmundson	C	11	4	7	11	2
Frank Jerwa	LW/D	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	10
Nick Wasnie	RW	13	3	1	4	2
Vernon Ayres	D	47	2	2	4	60
Ralph Bowman	D	31	2	2	4	51
Gerry Shannon	LW	25	2	2	4	11
Fido Purpur	RW	25	1	2	3	8
Mickey Blake	LW/D	8	1	1	2	2
Ed Finnigan	LW	12	1	1	2	2
Irv Frew	D	48	0	2	2	89
Gene Carrigan	C	4	0	1	1	0
George Patterson	W	21	0	1	1	2
Bill Beveridge	G	48	0	0	0	0
Bud Cook	C	4	0	0	0	0
Ted Graham	D	13	0	0	0	2
Walter Kalbfleisch	D	3	0	0	0	6
Max Kaminsky	C	12	0	0	0	0
Des Roche	RW	7	0	0	0	0
Archie Wilcox	RW/D	8	0	0	0	0
Burr Williams	D	9	0	0	0	6

Goaltending

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

^[5]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

References

^ ^a ^b Wernig, Darin (October 2014). Gateway City Puckchasers: The History of Hockey in St. Louis. Wernig Media, LLC. p. 33. ISBN 9780990723202.
^ Colemen, Charles. Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 2 1927–1946 inc.
^ 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.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1934-35 St. Louis Eagles Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.