1930 NHL Season
10 teams competed during the regular season
Montreal Canadiens defeated Boston Bruins for the championship
League President
RetroSeasons
RetroSeasons recaps past sports seasons through stories, photos, videos, and stats from every team, league, and stadium in history. Coverage includes the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, as well as vintage media from defunct teams and leagues.
National Hockey League (NHL)
1929-30 NHL Season Overview
To increase scoring, the NHL changed its rulebook to allow forward passing in the offensive zone, instead of only in the defensive and neutral zones. It worked too well. Players began to park themselves in front of the opposition goal to wait for passes.
Scoring went up so much that another rule change was made in December to prohibit an attacking player from entering the offensive zone ahead of the puck, the beginning of the modern offside rule.
The Boston Bruins had the league's leading scorer in Hart Trophy winner Cooney Weiland and the best goalie in Vezina winner Tiny Thompson. Weiland's 73 points shattered the previous NHL record. Boston's .875 winning percentage on a 38-5-1 mark is still the NHL record.
After sweeping the Montreal Maroons to reach the Stanley Cup finals, the Bruins were upset by the Montreal Canadiens, who took both games in the best-of-three series. Boston had never lost two straight games during the regular season.