1928–29 Ottawa Senators season

The 1928–29 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 12th season in the NHL, 44th overall. The Senators' financial troubles continued, as the team sold Punch Broadbent to the New York Americans. There were numerous rumours that the team was going to be sold to a group from Chicago: Senators owner Frank Ahearn denied this, but admitted that the team was for sale to the highest bidder. Once again, for the second straight year, the Senators would play two "home" games in Detroit due to poor fan support when US-based teams would play games in Ottawa.

1928–29 Ottawa Senators
Division	4th Canadian
1928–29 record	14–17–13
Home record	7–6–9
Road record	7–11–4
Goals for	54
Goals against	67
Team information
General manager	Dave Gill
Coach	Dave Gill
Captain	King Clancy
Arena	Ottawa Auditorium
Team leaders
Goals	Frank Finnigan (15)
Assists	Hec Kilrea & Alex Smith (7)
Points	Frank Finnigan (19)
Penalty minutes	Alex Smith (96)
Wins	Alec Connell (14)
Goals against average	Alec Connell (1.43)
← 1927–28 1929–30 →

Team business

The team was sold in February 1929 to the Ottawa Auditorium for CA$125,000 (equivalent to $2,134,511 in 2023). Ahearn had had offers rumoured to be as high as $250,000, but chose to keep the ownership local. As well, Ahearn was a shareholder in the Auditorium which stood to lose its prime tenant.^[1] The shareholders of the Auditorium financed the purchase with $125,000 of preferred shares in the Auditorium.^[1] NHL president Frank Calder addressed an Ottawa Rotary Club meeting that February, and told the attendees: "The team cannot live on tradition and sentiment. In the last analysis, it depends on the people of Ottawa whether the team remains or not."^[1]

Regular season

On the ice, the Senators struggled to score goals, scoring only 54, the fourth fewest in the league. Frank Finnigan scored 15 of them to lead the team, and finish with a club high of 19 points. New captain King Clancy scored 13 goals to lead the defense. Midway through the season, the Sens traded longtime player Buck Boucher to the Montreal Maroons in exchange for youngster Joe Lamb.

Alec Connell was steady in the Senators' net, winning 14 games, and having a GAA of 1.43, along with seven shutouts.

The Senators failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1925, as they finished in fourth place in the five-team Canadian Division.

Final standings

Canadian Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	44	22	7	15	71	43	465	59
New York Americans	44	19	13	12	53	53	486	50
Toronto Maple Leafs	44	21	18	5	85	69	541	47
Ottawa Senators	44	14	17	13	54	67	461	41
Montreal Maroons	44	15	20	9	67	65	638	39

^[2]

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 1928–29 NHL records[3] Team MTL MTM NYA OTT TOR Total M. Canadiens — 4–0–2 2–1–3 5–0–1 1–3–2 12–4–8 M. Maroons 0–4–2 — 2–3–1 2–2–2 2–4 6–13–5 N.Y. Americans 1–2–3 3–2–1 — 2–0–4 3–3 9–7–8 Ottawa 0–5–1 2–2–2 0–2–4 — 4–1–1 6–10–8 Toronto 3–1–2 4–2 3–3 1–4–1 — 11–10–3

Vs. American Division 1928–29 NHL records Team BOS CHI DET NYR PIT Total M. Canadiens 2–1–1 4–0 1–1–2 1–1–2 2–0–2 10–3–7 M. Maroons 1–3 2–1–1 1–2–1 3–0–1 2–1–1 9–7–4 N.Y. Americans 3–0–1 3–1 1–2–1 1–1–2 2–2 10–6–4 Ottawa 1–2–1 2–1–1 1–1–2 1–3 3–0–1 8–7–5 Toronto 2–2 3–0–1 2–2 1–3 2–1–1 10–8–2

Schedule and results

1928–29 Ottawa Senators (14–17–13)
November: 2–1–3 (home: 1–0–3; road: 1–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 1 November 15 Americans 0–0 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 0–0–1 1 2 November 17 Boston 0–0 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 0–0–2 2 3 November 20 Toronto 1–4 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 1–0–2 4 4 November 22 Ottawa 1–0 Maroons Connell N/A Montreal Forum 2–0–2 6 5 November 24 Detroit 1–1 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 2–0–3 7 6 November 27 Ottawa 0–1 Americans Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 2–1–3 7
December: 2–5–3 (home: 1–2–2; road: 1–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 7 December 2 Canadiens 2–0 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 2–2–3 7 8 December 6 Chicago 0–2 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 3–2–3 9 9 December 8 Ottawa 2–1 Toronto OT Connell N/A Mutual Street Arena 4–2–3 11 10 December 11 Ottawa 1–2 Chicago Connell N/A Chicago Coliseum 4–3–3 11 11 December 13 Ottawa 1–1 Detroit Connell N/A Detroit Olympia 4–3–4 12 12 December 15 Pittsburgh 0–0 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 4–3–5 13 13 December 18 Maroons 2–1 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 4–4–5 13 14 December 20 Ottawa 0–1 Rangers Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 4–5–5 13 15 December 22 Ottawa 0–1 Canadiens Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 4–6–5 13 16 December 29 Americans 2–2 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 4–6–6 14
January: 2–4–5 (home: 1–2–3; road: 1–2–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 17 January 1 Ottawa 0–3 Boston Connell N/A Boston Madison Square Garden 4–7–6 14 18 January 3 Canadiens 1–1 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 4–7–7 15 19 January 5 Ottawa 1–3 Toronto Connell N/A Mutual Street Arena 4–8–7 15 20 January 8 Ottawa 1–1 Maroons OT Connell N/A Montreal Forum 4–8–8 16 21 January 10 Rangers 9–3 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 4–9–8 16 22 January 12 Ottawa 2–1 Pittsburgh Connell N/A Duquesne Garden 5–9–8 18 23 January 15 Ottawa 1–1 Americans OT Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 5–9–9 19 24 January 19 Maroons 1–1 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 5–9–10 20 25 January 22 Chicago 1–1 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 5–9–11 21 26 January 26 Canadiens 2–1 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 5–10–11 21 27 January 29 Toronto 2–4 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 6–10–11 23
February: 6–5–0 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 28 February 2 Ottawa 0–1 Canadiens Connell N/A Montreal Forum 6–11–11 23 29 February 7 Rangers 1–2 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 7–11–11 25 30 February 9 Detroit 2–0 Ottawa Connell N/A Detroit Olympia 7–12–11 25 31 February 12 Maroons 1–2 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 8–12–11 27 32 February 14 Ottawa 0–4 Maroons Connell N/A Montreal Forum 8–13–11 27 33 February 16 Ottawa 2–1 Pittsburgh OT Connell N/A Duquesne Garden 9–13–11 29 34 February 19 Ottawa 2–1 Detroit Connell N/A Detroit Olympia 10–13–11 31 35 February 21 Ottawa 3–0 Chicago Connell N/A Detroit Olympia 11–13–11 33 36 February 23 Pittsburgh 0–3 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 12–13–11 35 37 February 26 Ottawa 0–2 Rangers Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 12–14–11 35 38 February 28 Boston 4–0 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 12–15–11 35
March: 2–2–2 (home: 1–0–1; road: 1–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 39 March 2 Ottawa 1–1 Toronto OT Connell N/A Mutual Street Arena 12–15–12 36 40 March 5 Americans 1–1 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 12–15–13 37 41 March 7 Ottawa 0–3 Canadiens Connell N/A Montreal Forum 12–16–13 37 42 March 9 Ottawa 2–1 Boston Connell N/A Boston Madison Square Garden 13–16–13 39 43 March 12 Ottawa 1–2 Americans Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 13–17–13 39 44 March 16 Toronto 0–2 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 14–17–13 41
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Transactions

The Senators were involved in the following transactions during the 1928–29 season.^[4]

Trades

October 15, 1928	To Ottawa Senators Cash	To New York Americans Punch Broadbent
October 25, 1928	To Ottawa Senators Bill Touhey	To Montreal Maroons Cash
October 25, 1928	To Ottawa Senators Cash	To Boston Bruins Cy Denneny
November 13, 1928	To Ottawa Senators Loan of Fred Elliott	To Montreal Maroons Cash
February 4, 1929	To Ottawa Senators Joe Lamb	To Montreal Maroons Buck Boucher

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Frank Finnigan	RW	44	15	4	19	71
King Clancy	D	44	13	2	15	89
Bill Touhey	LW	44	9	3	12	28
Hec Kilrea	LW	38	5	7	12	36
Alex Smith	D	44	1	7	8	96
Len Grosvenor	C/RW	42	3	2	5	16
Frank Nighbor	C	30	1	4	5	22
Georges Boucher	D	29	3	1	4	60
Sam Godin	RW	23	2	1	3	21
Fred Elliott	RW	43	2	0	2	6
Al Shields	D	42	0	1	1	10
Alec Connell	G	44	0	0	0	0
Milt Halliday	LW	16	0	0	0	0
Joe Lamb	RW	6	0	0	0	8

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Alec Connell	2820	44	14	17	13	67	1.43	7
Team:	2820	44	14	17	13	67	1.43	7

^[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;

Playoffs

The Senators did not qualify for the playoffs.

References

1. Ross 2015, p. 179.
2. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
3. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
4. "Hockey Transactions Search Results".
5. "1928-29 Ottawa Senators Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.

Sources

• Ross, J. Andrew (2015). Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815633839.
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007