tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
1927 - How big of a deal were Shore's penalties, especially in the Finals? Does this season count as a positive or a negative?
First let's look at how they got there:
First round vs Chicago:
Game 1
A penalty-filled blowout that all but ended the series early, with a 5-goal Boston advantage going into the second game. Shore took the brunt of the physicality dished out by Duke Dutkowski, and took a couple of non-offsetting penalties. He scored one of Boston's insurance goals.
Game 2
Chicago’s hopeless situation took some of the heat out of the matchup, but Shore continued to mix it up by turning his attention primarily to Cully Wilson. Shore drew 3 penalties (including two in a row for a 5-on-3) and took one of his own, a tripping call late in the game.
Second round vs Rangers:
Game 1
Shore was noted as one of only a handful of players who created meaningful offense in a 0-0 tie. His other noteworthy feature was a penalty taken shortly after a Jimmy Herberts minor, which put the Bruins down 3-on-5 and led to a lengthy delay when angry Boston fans started throwing garbage on the ice. Both teams were sent to the dressing room as a message to the fans to knock it off.
Game 2
One of the most penalty-filled NHL games to that point, and Shore was a major participant in dialing up the temperature. New York took a 1-0 lead in the first period… and that’s when things got interesting.
Immediately after the 1-0 goal was scored, Shore took Ching Johnson to the box on matching roughing calls. He had barely returned to play when he was sent off for going right back at Johnson with a cross-check. After intermission, Shore kept going – of the 14 penalties called in the middle period, he was involved in 5 of them. BUT, and here’s the caveat, there was apparently a method to what he was doing.
- Shore took Abel with him to the box for roughing in the early minutes of the 2nd
- Moments later, Sprague Cleghorn slashed Johnson across the nose, putting him out
- Shore and Bun Cook went to the box for scrapping (listed as a hook and trip)
- Johnson had barely returned when Shore took him to the box for roughing AGAIN
- At the end of the period Shore took Taffy Abel to the box for roughing AGAIN
Now, remember… there were no offsetting minors during those days. Nearly the entire period was played at less than 5v5. During the penalty parade, Boston feasted on the open ice and scored 3 times for a lead that was near-insurmountable by 1927 standards. They locked it down in the third period and coasted to a series win.
Finals vs Ottawa
Game 1
A cleanly played, 0-0 tie. Shore took one penalty, then drew one. Most of his energies were focused on rushing the puck, which he did very effectively against a stifling Ottawa D.
Game 2
Interesting contrast to the prior game: Shore melted down with five minor penalties. One lead eventually to a 5v3 goal by King Clancy (which, to be fair, was a long shot that had little to do with the defense). The box scores make it hard to pin down, but it appears he took Buck Boucher to the box for roughing in the 1st and he definitely took Kilrea with him in the 2nd. Despite an uncredited assist on Boston’s only goal, Shore came in for intense criticism after missing 10 minutes due to penalties in such a crucial game. It’s worth pondering whether this was a failed attempt to open up Ottawa’s defense with the same trick that he pulled on NYR.
Game 3
Shore continued an ongoing feud with Boucher, adding to the heavy exchange of penalties. His penalty balance for the game: 4 taken, 4 drawn, one goal against. That includes taking Boucher and Alex Smith to the box with coincidentals. However, he took a costly penalty in the 2nd with Boston clinging to a 1-0 lead, leading to the game-tying goal. The Boston Globe suggested Shore may have been making himself a target for the Sens and the refs by this point.
Game 4
This was the infamous Billy Coutu ref-attack game... ironically it was Shore’s cleanest game of the playoffs. He drew an early power play, and focused on trying to crack Ottawa’s defensive blockade. He didn’t take a single penalty until the very end of the game, with the series lost, when he went after Smith for knocking out Harry Oliver. Shore was recognized as the best Bruin on the ice, in part because so few Bruins played well.
Summary
Lots of ups and downs here. It’s quite clear that in the Chicago and New York series, he was given a mandate to step up to the physicality of players like Dutkowski/Wilson and Johnson/Abel.
Game 2 of the Rangers series is a fascinating case of an agitator turning a playoff game on its ear. I really wonder how much of this was by design. I suspect it was mostly intentional, given that Art Ross would have known he could beat the Rangers’ depth defenders in open ice if he could get Johnson-Abel off the ice. And, I don’t see any way he would have kept Shore on the ice if he were taking that many penalties against coach’s orders.
The Ottawa series makes an interesting contrast. Games 1 and 4 showed us a highly focused, disciplined Eddie Shore who was the catalyst for Boston’s (failed) offensive strategy to beat Ottawa with rushes from the back end. Then there were Games 2 and 3, where he either 1) melted down psychologically, or 2) tried the Rangers trick against a team that couldn’t be beaten using that tactic. Ottawa was deep, and very good defensively. It looks a lot like Shore went after Boucher and Smith systematically, mirroring his targeting of Johnson and Abel. But just getting those two D off the ice wasn’t enough to beat Ottawa, even giving him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn’t just being reckless.
Shore took a lot of heat in the press because of those two Finals games, which put a spoiler on what was otherwise a reasonably impressive NHL playoff debut.
Sources: Boston Globe, Montreal Gazette, and road papers for each series (Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Ottawa Citizen)
First let's look at how they got there:
First round vs Chicago:
Game 1
A penalty-filled blowout that all but ended the series early, with a 5-goal Boston advantage going into the second game. Shore took the brunt of the physicality dished out by Duke Dutkowski, and took a couple of non-offsetting penalties. He scored one of Boston's insurance goals.
Game 2
Chicago’s hopeless situation took some of the heat out of the matchup, but Shore continued to mix it up by turning his attention primarily to Cully Wilson. Shore drew 3 penalties (including two in a row for a 5-on-3) and took one of his own, a tripping call late in the game.
Second round vs Rangers:
Game 1
Shore was noted as one of only a handful of players who created meaningful offense in a 0-0 tie. His other noteworthy feature was a penalty taken shortly after a Jimmy Herberts minor, which put the Bruins down 3-on-5 and led to a lengthy delay when angry Boston fans started throwing garbage on the ice. Both teams were sent to the dressing room as a message to the fans to knock it off.
Game 2
One of the most penalty-filled NHL games to that point, and Shore was a major participant in dialing up the temperature. New York took a 1-0 lead in the first period… and that’s when things got interesting.
Immediately after the 1-0 goal was scored, Shore took Ching Johnson to the box on matching roughing calls. He had barely returned to play when he was sent off for going right back at Johnson with a cross-check. After intermission, Shore kept going – of the 14 penalties called in the middle period, he was involved in 5 of them. BUT, and here’s the caveat, there was apparently a method to what he was doing.
- Shore took Abel with him to the box for roughing in the early minutes of the 2nd
- Moments later, Sprague Cleghorn slashed Johnson across the nose, putting him out
- Shore and Bun Cook went to the box for scrapping (listed as a hook and trip)
- Johnson had barely returned when Shore took him to the box for roughing AGAIN
- At the end of the period Shore took Taffy Abel to the box for roughing AGAIN
Now, remember… there were no offsetting minors during those days. Nearly the entire period was played at less than 5v5. During the penalty parade, Boston feasted on the open ice and scored 3 times for a lead that was near-insurmountable by 1927 standards. They locked it down in the third period and coasted to a series win.
Finals vs Ottawa
Game 1
A cleanly played, 0-0 tie. Shore took one penalty, then drew one. Most of his energies were focused on rushing the puck, which he did very effectively against a stifling Ottawa D.
Game 2
Interesting contrast to the prior game: Shore melted down with five minor penalties. One lead eventually to a 5v3 goal by King Clancy (which, to be fair, was a long shot that had little to do with the defense). The box scores make it hard to pin down, but it appears he took Buck Boucher to the box for roughing in the 1st and he definitely took Kilrea with him in the 2nd. Despite an uncredited assist on Boston’s only goal, Shore came in for intense criticism after missing 10 minutes due to penalties in such a crucial game. It’s worth pondering whether this was a failed attempt to open up Ottawa’s defense with the same trick that he pulled on NYR.
Game 3
Shore continued an ongoing feud with Boucher, adding to the heavy exchange of penalties. His penalty balance for the game: 4 taken, 4 drawn, one goal against. That includes taking Boucher and Alex Smith to the box with coincidentals. However, he took a costly penalty in the 2nd with Boston clinging to a 1-0 lead, leading to the game-tying goal. The Boston Globe suggested Shore may have been making himself a target for the Sens and the refs by this point.
Game 4
This was the infamous Billy Coutu ref-attack game... ironically it was Shore’s cleanest game of the playoffs. He drew an early power play, and focused on trying to crack Ottawa’s defensive blockade. He didn’t take a single penalty until the very end of the game, with the series lost, when he went after Smith for knocking out Harry Oliver. Shore was recognized as the best Bruin on the ice, in part because so few Bruins played well.
Summary
Lots of ups and downs here. It’s quite clear that in the Chicago and New York series, he was given a mandate to step up to the physicality of players like Dutkowski/Wilson and Johnson/Abel.
Game 2 of the Rangers series is a fascinating case of an agitator turning a playoff game on its ear. I really wonder how much of this was by design. I suspect it was mostly intentional, given that Art Ross would have known he could beat the Rangers’ depth defenders in open ice if he could get Johnson-Abel off the ice. And, I don’t see any way he would have kept Shore on the ice if he were taking that many penalties against coach’s orders.
The Ottawa series makes an interesting contrast. Games 1 and 4 showed us a highly focused, disciplined Eddie Shore who was the catalyst for Boston’s (failed) offensive strategy to beat Ottawa with rushes from the back end. Then there were Games 2 and 3, where he either 1) melted down psychologically, or 2) tried the Rangers trick against a team that couldn’t be beaten using that tactic. Ottawa was deep, and very good defensively. It looks a lot like Shore went after Boucher and Smith systematically, mirroring his targeting of Johnson and Abel. But just getting those two D off the ice wasn’t enough to beat Ottawa, even giving him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn’t just being reckless.
Shore took a lot of heat in the press because of those two Finals games, which put a spoiler on what was otherwise a reasonably impressive NHL playoff debut.
Sources: Boston Globe, Montreal Gazette, and road papers for each series (Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Ottawa Citizen)
