1920–21 Hamilton Tigers season

The 1920–21 Hamilton Tigers season was the first season of play for the new Hamilton Tigers team in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Tigers finished in last place in both halves of the season and did not qualify for the playoffs. The team previously had played in Quebec City, where they were known as the Quebec Bulldogs, but had been sold to Hamilton interests in 1920. Joe Malone led the team in scoring, with 28 goals in 20 games.

Offseason The NHL transferred the Quebec franchise to Hamilton, where it was named the Tigers, a nickname used by a multitude of sports teams in the city. Contemporary newspaper coverage often referred to the senior team of the same name in the OHA as the "Tigers", while the NHL team would either be nameless or simply referred to as "professionals".

Regular season

Noting that the Quebec Athletics finished in last place in 1919–20, the league encouraged the other teams to provide players to Hamilton to improve the team's competitiveness. Toronto provided Babe Dye but recalled Dye after the first game and loaned Mickey Roach. Montreal provided Billy Coutu in exchange for keeping Harry Mummery. Ottawa did not provide any players willingly. Sprague Cleghorn and Harry Broadbent were eventually ordered by the league to report to Hamilton, but neither did. Cleghorn played some games with Toronto before returning to Ottawa.Coleman, pp. 378–379

Joe Malone missed the start of the season due to business commitments keeping him in Quebec. He joined the team in January 1921, having missed four games. He scored 28 goals in 20 games for the Tigers to place fourth in the league in goal-scoring.Coleman, p.381 However, the team won only three games in each half of the schedule to finish last, with a record of 6 wins and 18 losses.

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||W||December 22, 1920||5–0 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1920–21) ||1–0–0

|2||L||December 27, 1920||1–3 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1920–21) ||1–1–0

|3||W||December 29, 1920||6–2 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1920–21) ||2–1–0

|4||L||January 3, 1921||4–5 || align="left"| Toronto St. Patricks (1920–21) ||2–2–0

|5||L||January 6, 1921||1–5 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1920–21) ||2–3–0

|6||W||January 8, 1921||3–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Toronto St. Patricks (1920–21) ||3–3–0

|7||L||January 12, 1921||2–4 || align="left"| Toronto St. Patricks (1920–21) ||3–4–0

|8||L||January 15, 1921||4–6 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1920–21) ||3–5–0

|9||L||January 19, 1921||3–4 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1920–21) ||3–6–0

|10||L||January 22, 1921||5–7 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1920–21) ||3–7–0

|11||L||January 26, 1921||3–10 || align="left"| @ Toronto St. Patricks (1920–21) ||0–1–0

|12||L||January 29, 1921||1–2 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1920–21) ||0–2–0

|13||W||February 2, 1921||6–5 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1920–21) ||1–2–0

|14||L||February 5, 1921||3–7 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1920–21) ||1–3–0

|15||L||February 9, 1921||4–7 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1920–21) ||1–4–0

|16||L||February 12, 1921||4–6 || align="left"| Toronto St. Patricks (1920–21) ||1–5–0

|17||L||February 16, 1921||5–10 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1920–21) ||1–6–0

|18||L||February 19, 1921||4–5 || align="left"| @ Toronto St. Patricks (1920–21) ||1–7–0

|19||W||February 23, 1921||7–4 || align="left"| Toronto St. Patricks (1920–21) ||2–7–0

|20||L||February 26, 1921||6–13 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1920–21) ||2–8–0

|21||W||February 28, 1921||6–2 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1920–21) ||3–8–0

|22||L||March 2, 1921||1–7 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1920–21) ||3–9–0

|23||L||March 5, 1921||3–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Toronto St. Patricks (1920–21) ||3–10–0

|24||L||March 7, 1921||5–12 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1920–21) ||3–11–0

Legend:

Player statistics Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM C/LW 20 28 9 37 6 F/D 24 18 9 27 8 C 14 9 8 17 0 D 21 6 9 15 29 D 24 8 4 12 95 RW 23 10 1 11 10 RW 20 6 1 7 8 D 21 2 1 3 17 D 22 1 2 3 2 RW 1 2 0 2 0 D 6 2 0 2 8 RW 2 0 0 0 0 G 24 0 0 0 0 C 5 0 0 0 0 D 1 0 0 0 0 D 1 0 0 0 0Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 1454 24 6 18 0 132 5.45 1 Team: 1454 24 6 18 0 132 5.45 1

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Transactions Trades DateFrom TigersTo Tigers November 11, 1920To Montreal Canadiens Harry Mummery,Jack McDonald,Dave RitchieJack Coughlin,Goldie Prodgers,Joe Matte,Billy Coutu (loan) December 4, 1920To Toronto St. PatricksBabe Dye (loan) December 24, 1920To Toronto St. PatricksBabe Dye December 30, 1920To Ottawa Senators (original)Punch Broadbent, Sprague Cleghorn (loan) January 4, 1921To Montreal Canadiens Punch Broadbent,Sprague Cleghorn(players did not report)cash January 25, 1921To Toronto St. PatricksSprague Cleghorn (did not report)

Source:

1920–21 Hamilton Tigers season

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