1937 MHL Offseason: Off the Ice

Quebec saved from folding, relocates to the United States

The amazing playoff run Les Bleus went on was enough to save them from folding, but unfortunate for the fans in the provincial capital, it was not enough to keep them within the city long-term. However, their play caught the attention of American businessman Cyril Calvin, who owns multiple manufacturing companies in Rochester, New York. The League and Calvin agreed to a deal for him to purchase the club, and move them stateside. Calvin, a proud Rochesterian, announced the team would be rebranded as the Rochester Blues, as a homage to both the flag of the city, and the original incarnation from Quebec. However, this caught the attention of the New York Blue Birds, who contested having a team in the same state with a similar name and logo. However, Calvin is very rich, and after a generous cash offer, they backed down and allowed the name to stand.

The team logo consists of the crane from the flag of the city, with the city name arched overtop. The jerseys consist of a navy blue base, with gold arms and a blue stripe on each. Similar to Quebec, they will only have one jersey, worn both home and away.



MHL adds overtime to the fold, restructures divisions

The MHL headquarters announced in the summer that the league would now be adding one 20-minute overtime period following ties in the regular season. This came in response to many complaints about the abundance of ties in the regular season, taking away from potential wins. While there will still be ties if there is no scoring after the extra period, the goal is to add more wins to teams’ records.

As well, with Quebec moving to Rochester, the league moved back to a West-East divisional structure, with Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Rochester, Washington and Philadelphia joining the West, and the 3 New York teams, 2 Montreal teams, and Boston joining the East. The schedule went down from 64 to 62 games, meaning teams will play each divisional opponent 7-8 times, and each other team 3-4 times.

1936-37 Award Winners unveiled

The MHL has its first two-time Hackatt Trophy Winner, as Barons G Frank Pangos surprisingly won the sweepstakes. It’s not that he had a bad season, as he was 1-2 in GAA and SV%, but on a team that didn’t make the playoffs. David Pelletier was expected for his great play with the Detroit Guardians, but Pelletier himself said that Pangos was a fine and deserving choice when asked.



As well, the MHL announced for the first time, there would be first and second all-star teams, voted on by each team’s chief columnist. Each player would receive a small plaque for the honour. The Montreal Greys led the way with 2 first-team players and 1 second-team, while Detroit was close behind with Pelletier being a first-team and having 2 second-team players.\



3 Jersey changes in the offseason

It was a quieter offseason in terms of design changes, with 3 teams making changes, all relatively minor.

First, the Chicago Wildcats continued their tradition of not sticking with any design long-term, by once again switching their home uniform to be more simplified. The stripes are now thicker, and the shoulder stripes get moved toward the hem, while the arms go from two stripes down to one.

In Detroit, the Guardians reversed their puzzling decision to make their away lettering green, instead bringing it back to the original blue.

Lastly, the Montreal Greys made an ever-so-slight change to their striping, adjusting the thickness of their stripes on the home and away.