Congrats to the Swans!

1934-35 MHL Season: Second Half

The second half of the season saw lots of movement, and it made for a very intriguing playoff picture in the end. There will be rivalries old and new in the postseason.

Finishing atop the west for the first time are the London Locomotives. This was what they needed, as the division win bonus could be enough for them to stay afloat. It was nervy to the end, but they finished with a 2-point gap. Jack Lilly exploded in goals to finish out the year, and he became London’s first major stat leader when he finished atop the league in goals, with 28. Will Breton also played strong after Simon Peters suffered an injury, finishing 2nd in points. The Locomotives’ fate is still up in the air, and an Abbott Cup win will guarantee their survival. They finished at 24-13-13.

Finishing second and having home ice for the single-game round 1 game are the Chicago Wildcats. They were neck-and-neck with London and Toronto at the end, but they remained in the same position they were in at the halfway point. The offense died down a little, but it was still enough to finish second overall. However, of all the playoff teams, their defense struggled the most. They will definitely need to make some adjustments if they want to go far. The Wildcats finished at 25-16-9.

Finishing third were the Toronto Lakers, who fell but still finished 23 points clear of missing the playoffs. Their second half wasn’t pretty, as their second half record was below 0.500. However, of the Western playoff teams, they had the best road record, so being the lowest seed may be an unexpected advantage. Young centre Benoit Cyr had his best year in the 1C role, finishing in the top 5 in both assists and points. Second-year winger Ajax Sorensen also finished top 5 in goals, so the Lakers aren’t without individual talent. Toronto finished at 23-15-12.

Finishing fourth are the Detroit Guardians, who had a much better second half. However,

1933-34 MHL Season: First Half

The 1934-35 season had a bit of a different atmosphere to it, with the shortened schedule. That being said, there were still some surprises, disappointments, and teams doing the expected over the course of the first 25 games.

Sitting atop the Western Division are the Toronto Lakers. Defense has been their success so far, allowing just over 2 goals a game. 22-year-old D Patrick Stone, fresh off of a large deal, has been arguably the best defender in the league. Second-year forward Ajax Sorensen has looked good as well, currently sitting third in goals. With Toronto’s young talent shining, they are looking like they could be turning a corner, and back in contention soon. Toronto sits at 13-4-7 at the halfway point.

Sitting in second are the Chicago Wildcats, who are still an easy playoff bet. They’ve been the opposite of Toronto, having the #1 offense and a shakier defense. Despite the bad overall defensive numbers, a few players have shown individual defensive brilliance. Like Always, C Trevor Alrick has been one of the best two-way forwards, and the first-line pairing of Alex Klassen and Lawrence Tabor has been nothing short of great. If the rest of the team can get their act together, watch out. The Wildcats sit at 13-8-5.

Sitting in third, and hoping for that playoff bonus were the London Locomotives. Their stars were playing like stars, specifically Simon Peters. At the halfway mark, Peters is the league leader in assists with 16, and tied for the lead in points, with 25. Their play at home has been great, and with almost ⅔ of their remaining games being at home, this should give them a good standings bump. Barring a collapse, the Locomotives are looking like they’ll be in the postseason once again, as they sit at 11-8-8, 8 points clear.

In fourth are the Washington Bats. They’ve improved over their skid last year, but still aren’t quite looking like playoff contenders. In f

MitchSwanson94 wrote:

So, has every surviving original team won the Abbot Cup at least once now?

Yep! Interestingly, all but one Abbott Cup have been won by original teams, with Boston being the exception.

1934 MHL Offseason: Off the Ice

Minutemen move to state-of-the-art new arena

The Minutemen spent the 1933-34 season in a smaller venue, in preparation for the opening of the Philadelphia County World War Memorial Arena (that’s a mouthful). This brand-new facility immediately is on the high end of MHL Arenas, seating 15,000 in comfortable cushioned seats. This will certainly be a bucket list facility for a long time. Ownership now hopes the players on the ice can give fans the same experience.

1933-34 Hackatt Trophy Winner unveiled

The MHL’s Third winner of the Hackatt Trophy was announced as Nassau’s Harold Henderson, who led the league in goals, with 37. This was seen as a bit of a surprise. Not that Henderson was not deserving, but other players such as the Barons’ Frank Pangos were seen as more likely to win. Nevertheless, it was a great year for Henderson, who at 25, may end up winning another later in his career.



3 teams make branding changes

Three MHL teams tweaked/changed parts of their visual identities over the offseason.

First, the Brooklyn Kings upgraded their B Crown logo to a new, fancier one. The B is now in a script font, and the crown melds nicer to the letter. They also tweaked their jerseys, thickening the arm stripes, and adding a white hem below the original stripe.

Next, the Chicago Wildcats changed their away to better match their home. However, they made the interesting decision to make the away blue instead of white or cream. While it does match the overall set, it seems like there will be few opportunities to use it league-wide.

Lastly, the Montreal Greys went from the tan leather pants to new black pants with a grey stripe. It d

1934 MHL Playoffs: First Round

(W2) Toronto Lakers (32-23-7) vs (W3) London Locomotives (25-24-13)

Toronto and London met in the Western edition of the first round of the expanded playoff format, a winner-take-all single game to decide who would match up against Chicago in the semifinals. Toronto had everything in their favour, but the Locomotives had nothing to lose, and were going to lay it all out there.

Despite the low odds, the visitors shocked the home crowd just 56 seconds into the game, when Lennie Triplett made a great move to the front of the net, and went around Trevor Walker to give London a 1-0 lead. 7 minutes later, London again shocked and silenced the building when Jeff Smith made an unbelievable move to fool Walker and go top shelf, drawing many gasps of amazement. Writer Frederick Winton called it “one of the most dazzling displays of skill I’ve ever seen”. Nobody expected London up after 20, and certainly not by multiple goals, or by looking as good as they had.

In the second, Toronto had more control of the puck. However, sloppy defensive play on the penalty kill led to London’s 3rd goal of the game, Where Jack Lilly once again made a nice move around Walker to deposit the puck. After that, a switch seemed to flip for the Lakers, since it was do-or-die. 28 seconds after London’s 3rd, Brent Colsavage beat Alberto Esposito on a sweet shot, getting Toronto on the board. The Lakers dominated the remainder of the frame, but couldn’t get anything more. London held their two-goal lead through 40 minutes.

In the third, it was pure domination for Toronto. They got a good look early, but Esposito made a nice save to keep it 3-1. Soon after, Toronto would get a power play, and Claude Brown got in front and shoveled a puck home, getting the home team within a goal, and the crowd was back into it. At the halfway point, Brown once again had the puck, and had space, and he sniped his second of the ga