| 1923 Stanley Cup Final | |||||||||||||
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| * – Denotes overtime period(s) | |||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Vancouver:Denman Arena | ||||||||||||
| Format | best-of-three | ||||||||||||
| Coaches | Ottawa:Pete Green Edmonton: Ken McKenzie | ||||||||||||
| Captains | Ottawa:Eddie Gerard Edmonton:Duke Keats | ||||||||||||
| Dates | March 29–31, 1923 | ||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Punch Broadbent (11:23, first) | ||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Senators: Clint Benedict (1965) Georges Boucher (1960) Punch Broadbent (1962) King Clancy (1958) Jack Darragh (1962) Cy Denneny (1959) Eddie Gerard (1945) Frank Nighbor (1947) Eskimos: Duke Keats (1958) Bullet Joe Simpson (1963) | ||||||||||||
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The1923 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the NHL championOttawa Senators and the WCHL championEdmonton Eskimos. The previous WCHL-PCHA playoff format was abandoned, and the Ottawa Senators now had to play first the PCHA championVancouver Maroons, followed by the WCHL champion Edmonton Eskimos in the Finals.
This was the last Finals series until the1983 Stanley Cup Finals to be contested by a team from Edmonton. Both games were played in Vancouver, making this the last Finals until 2020 played entirely at a neutral site (the1924 and1925 Finals each featured one neutral site game).
In the NHL playoff, the Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens in a 2-game total-goal series by a close 3–2 score in the series. Billy Coutucharged Cy Denneny and Sprague Cleghorn butt-ended Lionel Hitchman in the first game and the Canadiens manager Leo Dandurand suspended both players for their actions. Odie Cleghorn and Didier Pitre did well inthe two players place, but Ottawa won the series.
Ottawa brought Montreal Canadiens right wingBilly Boucher west withthem in hopes that they could use him, butFrank Patrick ruledthat the undermanned Senators could not use him.
The playoff format of the previous year where the PCHA champion met the WCHL champion prior to playing the NHL champion was abandoned. Therefore, for this year, the PCHA champions were given the chance to play the NHL champion in a best-of-three series. The injury-riddled Senators then defeated Vancouver three games to one in the semi-finals.
| League Championships | Stanley Cup Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||||||||||||
| P1 | Vancouver Maroons | 3 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| WC | Edmonton Eskimos | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| P2 | Victoria Cougars | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| PC | Vancouver Maroons | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | NC | Ottawa Senators | 2* | 2 | – | 2 | ||||||||||
| NC | Ottawa Senators | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Ottawa Senators | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | Montreal Canadiens | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
In the first game, Edmonton was leading 1–0, on a goal byCrutchy Morrison, before the ailingLionel Hitchman scored in the third period to tie the game.Duke Keats of Edmonton was awarded a penalty shot during the game, but failed to score.Cy Denneny, despite suffering froma concussion, scored after two minutes of overtime to win the game for the Senators.[1]
In the second game, the Senators got a first-period goal fromHarry Broadbent and made it stand to the end of the game, playing six-man defence. The shots were recorded; 21, 14 and 13 for a total of 48 by the Senators, and 25, 18, and 25 for a total of 68 by Edmonton.[2] Several players could not play the whole game, includingEddie Gerard andGeorges Boucher.Lionel Hitchman played the game with his broken nose in a plaster.Harry Helman played despite a cut to his face fromFrank Nighbor's skates, incurred in practice. Cy Denneny had been cut in the leg by the skate of Vancouver'sSmokey Harris.[3] 'Super-sub'King Clancy took a turn in all positions, including goal for Clint Benedict in the third period for two minutes when Benedict was serving a penalty. At the time goalies had to serve their own penalties. This is only time that a player played all six positions in a Stanley Cup Finals game.[4]
| March 29 | Ottawa Senators | 2–1 | OT | Edmonton Eskimos | Denman Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 10:05 -John Morrison (1) | ||||||
| Lionel Hitchman (1) - 13:04 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Cy Denneny (3) - 2:08 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Clint Benedict | Goalie stats | Hal Winkler | ||||||
| March 31 | Ottawa Senators | 1–0 | Edmonton Eskimos | Denman Arena | Recap | |||
| Punch Broadbent (6) -pp - 11:23 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Clint Benedict | Goalie stats | Hal Winkler | ||||||
| Ottawa won series 2–0 | |
The 1923 Stanley Cup was presented by the trophy's trusteeWilliam Foran. The Senators never did engrave their name on the Cup for their championship season.
It was not until the trophy was redesigned in 1948 that the words "1923 Ottawa Senators" was put onto its then-new collar.
The following Senators players and staff were members of the Stanley Cup winning team.
1922–23 Ottawa Senators
^-Also played Wing&-Missing from team picture
The Senators never did engrave their name on the Cup for their 1923 championship. It was not until the trophy was redesigned in 1948 that the words "1923 Ottawa Senators" was put onto its then-new collar.
| Preceded by | Ottawa Senators Stanley Cup champions 1923 | Succeeded by |
Stanley Cup Final by prearranged inter-league competitions 1915–1926 and by NHL playoff champion since 1927 | |||
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