All-Star Aurel Joliat
Ebbie Goodfellow of the Detroit Falcons – Howie Morenz’s competition for the scoring championship in 1930 – 1931
The Canadiens, without Howie Morenz, were in Detroit to play the Falcons. Detroit had beaten the Canadiens in two of the three meetings this season, but had recently been shut out at the Forum 5- 0 on February 26, 1931. The Falcons needed to win to preserve a chance of catching the New York Rangers for a playoff berth.
The Falcons’ Ebbie Goodfellow was also the nearest challenger to Howie Morenz for the title of being the league’s leading scorer. As of game time, Goodfellow was trailing Morenz by just 3 points. Morenz had 27 goals and 20 assists for 47 points, while Goodfellow had 22 goals and 22 assists for 44 points. He had been the brightest star in a frustrating season for Jack Adams’ team.
Goodfellow was also in the mix as an All-Star choice. Morenz’s selection had been nearly unanimous – as had Eddie Shore’s selection on defence. Morenz and Shore were joined on the First All-Star team by Charlie Gardiner in goal, King Clancy as a defenceman, and Bill Cook of the Rangers at right wing.
The left wing position on the first All-Star team turned out to be a race between Aurel Joliat of the Canadiens, former Hart Trophy winner Nels Stewart of the Maroons, and the same Ebbie Goodfellow of the Falcons. Despite having accumulated only 13 goals to that point in the season, Joliat took the first All-Star nod over Goodfellow – largely perhaps because of how the writes, and fans, tended to think of Morenz and Joliat in the same breath.
Morenz had only once before won the scoring championship of the NHL – that being his 51 point effort in 1927 – 1928. It had taken him 43 games to reach that total that season, and it looked as though he would need at least that to stay ahead of Ebbie Goodfellow in the spring of 1931. Since Morenz was not playing due to injury, Goodfellow had a bright opportunity to overtake Morenz for the league scoring championship.
Joliat and Hainsworth’s stifling of the Falcons offence for the second game in a row meant that Goodfellow gained no ground on Morenz as a result of their head to head game in Detroit on March 8, 1931.
Scoring championships have always been a source of conflicting emotions in Montreal – as Boom Boom Geoffrion would learn when he overtook the Rocket by a point for the scoring championship in 1955.
Playing against the pressure to win the league scoring championship is a burden. Bobby Hull understood the significance of the achievement. Speaking of his own first scoring championship in the 1959 – 60 season:
Up till then I didn’t know if I was just a run-of-the-mill player or a good one. That year I proved, to my own satisfaction, anyway, that I belonged in the NHL. It was the breakthrough season for me.
Hunt, Jim; Bobby Hull, The Ryerson Press (Toronto:1970), p.26
Dickie Moore also felt the significance of doing it, as well as the pressure that came with that:
Sometimes I felt I’d rather be down about the middle of the scoring list. Then people don’t notice you too much. When I first broke in I used to wonder what it would be like to lead the league. Once I learned, it sort of scared me.
Fischler, Stan; Those were the Days, Dodd, Mead & Company (New York:1976), at pp.280 – 281.
Compare McDonald, Lanny, with Simmons, Steve; Lanny, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited (Toronto:1987), at p.114; and Mahovlich, Ted; The Big M: The Frank Mahovlich Story, Sports Publishing Inc. (Toronto:1999), at p.88
The son-in-law that Howie Morenz never knew, and the daughter he barely knew, experienced the same kind of pressure in the spring of 1954. Bernie Geoffrion recounted:
I didn’t sleep at all the night before the game. I was so nervous with the possibility Mahovlich might break out, pass me, and the Leafs might with the game and take the lead. But mostly, I was nervous whether I could reach the Rocket’s record. At five in the morning, I got up for a glass of water. I looked at my wife. Her eyes were open and she was wide awake. I asked her, “What’s the matter? Why aren’t you sleeping?” She answered: “I’m so nervous about tonight I can’t sleep.” So I told her: “Why should you be so nervous? You’re not playing the game. I am. Go to sleep.” But neither of us slept. . . . Then, like Howie Morenz, I came to the rink more than an hour before the game and walked around and around.
Fischler, Stan; Those were the Days, Dodd, Mead & Company (New York:1976), at pp.327 – 328
Here is what played out between Morenz and Goodfellow over the last 4 games of the 1930 – 1931 season:
Canadiens
Game 41 vs. Blackhawks at the Forum, March 10, 1931: Morenz did not play. Morenz remains at 27 goals and 20 assists for 47 points.
Falcons
Game 40 vs. NY Rangers at New York on March 10, 1931: Goodfellow did not score or assist on a goal in Detroit’s 3 – 2 loss. Goodfellow remains at 22 goals and 22 assists for 44 points.
Canadiens
Game 42 vs. Maroons at the Forum, March 12, 1931: Morenz did not play. Morenz remains at 27 goals and 20 assists for 47 points.
Falcons
Game 41 vs. Philadelphia Quakers at Philadelphia on March 13, 1931. Goodfellow has a goal and an assist against the worst team in the League – but the Quakers won for only the 4th time that season, outscoring the Falcons 7 – 5. Nevertheless, Goodfellow now had 23 goals and 22 assists, for 45 points – now just 2 points behind Morenz.
Canadiens
Game 43 vs. Senators at the Forum, March 14, 1931. Morenz had 1 goal and 1 assist. His season totals had grown to 28 goals, and 21 assists, for 49 points. Morenz had restored a 4 point advantage with a two-point night himself.
Falcons
Game 42 vs. Bruins at Detroit on March 16, 1931. After going into overtime tied at 2, the Falcons scored 3 times to win 5 – 2, including a single goal by Goodfellow. Goodfellow now had 24 goals and 22 assists for 46 points. He is now just 3 points behind Morenz.
Canadiens
Game 44 vs Quakers at the Forum, March 21, 1931. Morenz had 2 assists, to grow his season totals to 28 goals and 23 assists for 51 points. Morenz had extended his advantage over Goodfellow to 5 points, but his season was done. The only thing he could do was wait to see what Goodfellow would do in his final two games.
Falcons
Game 43 vs. Bruins at Boston, March 17, 1931. The Bruins won easily, 4 – 2. Goodfellow picked up an assist. That gave him 24 goals and 23 assists for 47 points, just 4 behind Morenz.
Falcons
Game 44 vs. Blackhawks at Detroit, March 22, 1931. The Blackhawks won 2 – 1. Goodfellow scored the Falcons’ only goal, giving him a season total of 25 goals and 23 assists for 48 points, but he had come up short – 3 points behind Morenz.
Although Goodfellow had closed the gap, Morenz’s NHL scoring championship had been secured with 51 points in 39 games. Goodfellow had played all 44.
The final totals at the time showed the following for the top 8 scores in the League:
Player G A Pts
Morenz 28 23 51
Goodfellow 25 23 48
Conacher 31 13 43
W. Cook 30 12 42
Bailey 23 19 42
Primeau 9 32 41
Stewart 25 14 39
Boucher 12 27 39
Weiland 25 13 38
F. Cook 18 17 35
Joliat 13 22 35