Joe Malone (ice hockey)

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Joe Malone
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1950
JoeMaloneTigers192021.jpg
Born (1890-02-28)February 28, 1890
Quebec City, QC, CAN
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Montreal, QC, CAN
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 150 lb (68 kg; 10 st 10 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
Hamilton Tigers (NHL)
Quebec Bulldogs (NHL)
Quebec Bulldogs (NHA)
Waterloo Colts (OPHL)
Playing career 1910–1924

Maurice Joseph Cletus "Phantom Joe" Malone (February 28, 1890 – May 15, 1969) was a professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey Association and National Hockey League. He was notable for his scoring feats and his clean play. He scored the second-most career goals of any player in major hockey's first half-century and is the only player in the history of the NHL to score seven goals in a single game.

Playing career

Malone broke in at the age of 19 for the Quebec Bulldogs of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association in the 1909 season, scoring eight goals in 12 games. The next season the NHA formed, but Quebec was left out of the loop, so he played for the Waterloo Colts in the Ontario Professional Hockey League. Rejoining Quebec in 1911, he was named the team captain and so served for the Bulldogs' seven NHA seasons. Centering linemates such as Eddie Oatman and Jack Marks, he led the Bulldogs to the Stanley Cups in 1912 and 1913 - rampaging for a career-best nine goals in a Cup match against Sydney - while recording remarkable scoring marks of 43 goals in 20 games in 1913. His brother Jeff Malone was also played for Quebec in 1913 when they won the Stanley Cup. In 1917 Joe scored 41 goals in 19 games for Quebec.

When the NHL was founded in 1917, Quebec did not operate a team its first season and the team's players were dispersed amongst the other teams. Malone was claimed by the Montreal Canadiens. Playing on what was one of the most powerful forward lines of all time with Newsy Lalonde and Didier Pitre, Malone shifted to left wing to accommodate the great Lalonde, and was the NHL's first scoring leader, registering 44 goals in 20 games, a record total that would stand as the NHL's single season goal scoring mark until 1945 and a record per-game average that stands to this day. (If such an average was sustained over today's 82-game schedule, it would result in 180 goals, nearly double Wayne Gretzky's record of 92.) Malone scored at least one goal (and a total of 35 goals) in his first 14 NHL games to set the record for the longest goal-scoring streak to begin an NHL career.[1] This streak still stands as the second-longest goal-scoring streak in NHL history.

The following season Malone suffered an injured arm and missed most of the regular season, although he scored five goals in five games in the league final series against the Ottawa Senators; the lingering injury held him out of the ill-fated Cup finals against the Seattle Metropolitans.

Quebec revived its franchise in 1919 and Malone rejoined his club, once more leading the league in scoring with 39 goals, and setting a single game goal-scoring mark which still stands of seven against Toronto on January 31, 1920. However, the team was very weak on the ice—its goaltender had the poorest goals-against average the NHL would ever see (7.13 GAA) - and recorded a 4-20 record on the season.

The team was relocated to Hamilton for the 1921 season. Despite missing the first four games of the season as well as the franchise's continued poor performance, Malone still finished fourth in league scoring with 28 goals. He finished fourth in scoring the following season as well.

After trading Lalonde, the Canadiens traded for Malone in 1923, but he scored only a single goal that season while generally playing as a substitute. He played nine games without scoring the next season, playing his last game on January 23 against his former mates in Hamilton, before retiring. The Canadiens did not include his name on the Cup in 1924, because he did not play in the playoffs. However, he is credited by the NHL as winning his third Stanley Cup that season.

Malone finished his career with 343 goals and 32 assists over 15 professional seasons.

Legacy

Malone was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950, and is also a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.[2]

In 1998, he was ranked number 39 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. The list was announced 74 years after his last game and 91 years after his professional debut, making him the earliest player on the list.[3]

Malone died of a heart attack on May 15, 1969, in Montreal, Quebec.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1907–08 Quebec Crescents QAHA
1908–09 Quebec Bulldogs ECHA 12 8 0 8 17
1909–10 Quebec Bulldogs CHA 2 5 0 5 3
1909–10 Waterloo Colts OPHL 12 10 0 10 16
1910–11 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 13 9 0 9 3
1911–12 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 18 21 0 21 0
1911–12 Quebec Bulldogs St-Cup 2 5 0 5 0
1912–13 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 20 43 0 43 34
1912–13 Quebec Bulldogs St-Cup 1 9 0 9 0
1913–14 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 17 24 4 28 20
1914–15 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 12 16 5 21 21
1915–16 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 24 25 10 35 21
1916–17 Quebec Bulldogs NHA 19 41 8 49 15
1917–18 Montreal Canadiens NHL 20 44 4 48 30 2 1 0 1 3
1918–19 Montreal Canadiens NHL 8 7 2 9 3 5 5 2 7 3
1919–20 Quebec Bulldogs NHL 24 39 10 49 12
1920–21 Hamilton Tigers NHL 20 28 9 37 6
1921–22 Hamilton Tigers NHL 24 24 7 31 4
1922–23 Montreal Canadiens NHL 20 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
1923–24 Montreal Canadiens NHL 10 0 0 0 0
NHA totals 123 179 27 206 114
NHL totals 126 143 32 175 57 9 6 2 8 6
St-Cup totals 3 14 0 14 0

Awards

  • Elected to Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950.
  • NHL scoring leader in 1918 and 1920.
  • Stanley Cup Champion: 1912 and 1913 Quebec Bulldogs, 1924 Montreal Canadiens.

Records

  • Most goals in one game (7), January 31, 1920 at Quebec. Final score: Quebec 10, Toronto 6.
  • Most games played with 5 goals or more: 5.
  • Highest goals-per-game average, one season: 2.20 with Montreal, 1917–18 season (44 goals in 20 games).
  • Highest goals-per-game average, career: 1.135.°
  • Fastest player in NHL history to score 100 goals - 62 games
  • Most consecutive three-or-more goal games: 3 (1917–18 and again later in that season), tied with Mike Bossy (1980–81)
  • Longest consecutive goal-scoring streak from start of NHL career: 14 games (1917–18)

°This is unofficial, as the official statistic requires that the player have played at least 200 games. Nonetheless, if Malone's games in the NHA are included in his total (as the NHA is the direct predecessor of the NHL), this would raise the number of games he played to 250. As such, his goals-per-game average would still be the highest in NHL/NHA history at 1.288.

See also

References

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External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Unknown
Quebec Bulldogs captain
1910-17, 1919–20
Succeeded by
Relocated as
Hamilton Tigers
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
None
NHL Scoring Champion
1918
Succeeded by
Newsy Lalonde
Preceded by NHL Scoring Champion
1920
Succeeded by
Newsy Lalonde