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More Hamilton Tigers History:![]() Logos shown are for each time period. ![]() ![]() 1922/23: Before the season the Tigers named Art Ross as their new head coach, but that was only minor compared to the moves Percy Thompson had in mind for the club. His first move surrounding the players of his team, Thompson signed former St Pats goalie Jake Forbes to replace "Holes" Lockhart in goal, and then signed future Hall-of-Famer Billy Burch away from the New Haven Westministers of the United States Amateur Hockey Association. The most controversial move of the season was the trading away of star forward Joe Malone to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Bert Corbeau and Edmond Bouchard. The controversy quickly quieted; as Malone would only go on to score 1 goal in 20 games with the Habs in 1922/23, while Bouchard led the league with 12 assists. Still in a re-building process the Tigers finished the season in last place for a 3rd straight season with a record of 6-18-0. Head Coach Art Ross was let go after the season in favor of Percy LeSueur. ![]() 1924/25: The addition of the four Wolves players made a world of difference for the Tigers, as NHL clubs only had 10 players per team in the 1920s. Under new head coach Jimmy Gardiner, the Tigers roared off to a 10-4-1 start by the mid-point of the season, and held off a late charge by the Toronto St. Pats to finish first in the NHL with a record of 19-10-1, earning them a birth in the NHL Finals. While the St. Pats and Canadiens began their semi-final series to determine the Tigers opponent in the NHL Finals, the 10 players of the Hamilton Tigers informed Percy Thompson that they would not take place in the NHL Finals unless they would receive an additional $200 each. Under their contracts the Tigers players were to receive the same amount of money no matter how many games they played from December 1, 1924 - March 31, 1925 (even though the season started on November 29, 1924). NHL President Frank Calder was not amused stating the players would be fined or suspended if they did not play in the final series, but the players stated they would rather retire than to be taken advantage of. The day of the final game of the Semi-Final Shorty Green met with Calder to try and reach an agreement, but to no avail. The players were all suspended and fined $200 each, therefore eliminating themselves from the playoffs. The NHL awarded its league title to the Montreal Canadiens who had defeated the St. Pats in the semi-final, the Habs went on to be defeated by the Victoria Cougars in the Stanley Cup Final, the only time an NHL team lost in the final series. Summer 1925: With the NHL expanding to the United States for the first time by placing a team in Boston, "Big Bill" Dwyer, New York's most-celebrated prohibition bootlegger purchased the Tigers from Percy Thompson for $75,000 and swiftly relocated them to New York's newly completed 18,000-seat Madison Square Garden, now known as the Americans, all of the Tigers players received raises, with many players salaries jumping almost 200%. |