1924-25

• The NHL expands to the United States for the first time, with the Boston Bruins joining the league. This is also the first season for the Montreal Maroons.

• On December 17, the Hamilton Tigers and Toronto St. Pats play to the NHL's first-ever scoreless tie.

• The Tigers finished with the NHL's best regular season record -- and essentially eliminated themselves from the playoffs. Tigers players demanded $200 from owner Percy Thompson for each of the additional six games they would play in the season, which expanded from 24 to 30 games, threatening not to participate in the NHL Finals if they were not paid the additional money. Thompson would not budge, noting that the players' contracts called for them to receive the same amount of money for all games played between December 1, 1924, and March 31, 1925, no matter how many games are played. NHL president Frank Calder threatened to fine or suspend the players if they did not participate in the Finals. Calder and Tigers player Shorty Green met to try to reach an agreement, but the meeting was unsuccessful. Calder fined the Tigers players $200 each and suspended them, effectively eliminating them from the playoffs. The incident also marked the end of NHL hockey in Hamilton, Ontario.

• With the Tigers out of the mix, that left the Montreal Canadiens, who beat the Toronto St. Pats in what was effectively the NHL championship series, to play the Western Canada Hockey League (later Western Hockey League) champion Victoria Cougars for the Stanley Cup. The Cougars became the final non-NHL team to win the Cup, beating the Canadiens, three games to one.