Joe Malone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Position | Forward |
| Nickname | Phantom Joe |
| NHL Team F. Teams |
Retired Montreal Canadiens Quebec Bulldogs Hamilton Tigers |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | February 28, 1890, Quebec City, Quebec |
| Pro Career | 1908 – 1924 |
Maurice Joseph "Phantom Joe" Malone (born in Quebec City, Quebec February 28, 1890 - died, Montreal, Quebec, 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, and who scored the second most career goals recorded in major hockey's first half-century.
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[edit] Playing Career
Malone broke in at the age of nineteen for the Quebec Bulldogs of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association in the 1909 season, scoring eight goals in twelve games. The next season the NHA formed, but Quebec was left out of the loop, so he played for Waterloo 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 Tommy 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 twenty games in 1913 and 41 goals in 19 games in 1917.
When the NHL was founded in 1917, Quebec did not operate a team its first season, so Malone joined 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 twenty 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 season following Malone suffered an injured arm and missed most of the regular season, although he scored six 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 at age 33 his skills vanished, and 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.
He finished his career with 343 goals and 32 recorded assists over fifteen seasons.
Malone was controversially not elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame when it was founded in 1945, but was in 1950.
He died of a heart attack May 15,1969.
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.
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1917-18 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 20 | 44 | 0 | 44 | 12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1918-19 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 8 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1919-20 | Quebec Bulldogs | NHL | 24 | 39 | 6 | 45 | 12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1920-21 | Hamilton Tigers | NHL | 20 | 30 | 4 | 34 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1921-22 | Hamilton Tigers | NHL | 24 | 25 | 7 | 32 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1922-23 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1923-24 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| NHL Totals | 125 | 146 | 18 | 164 | 33 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 6 | ||||
[edit] Records
- Most goals in one game (7), January 31, 1920 at Quebec. Final score: Quebec 10, Toronto 6.
- Highest goals-per-game average, one season: 2.20 with Montreal, 1917-18 season (44 goals in 20 games).
- Elected to Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950.
- NHL scoring leader in 1918 and 1920.
[edit] References
| Preceded by None |
NHL Scoring Champion 1918 |
Succeeded by Newsy Lalonde |
| Preceded by Newsy Lalonde |
NHL Scoring Champion 1920 |
Succeeded by Newsy Lalonde |
[edit] External Links
Categories: 1890 births | 1969 deaths | Canada's Sports Hall of Fame | Canadian ice hockey players | Hamilton Tigers players | Hockey Hall of Fame | Canadians of Irish descent | Montreal Canadiens players | National Hockey League scoring leaders (prior to 1947-48) | Quebec Bulldogs players | Quebec sportspeople | People from Quebec City | Stanley Cup champions
