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Cy Denneny

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Cy Denneny
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1959
Born (1891-12-23)December 23, 1891
Farran's Point, Ontario, Canada
Died September 10, 1970(1970-09-10) (aged 78)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight 168 lb (76 kg; 12 st 0 lb)
Position Left wing
Shot Left
Played for Toronto Shamrocks
Toronto Blueshirts
Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins
Playing career 1914–1929

Cyril Joseph Denneny (December 23, 1891 – September 10, 1970) was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League from 1917 to 1929 and the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association from 1914 to 1917. He won the Stanley Cup five times, four time with Ottawa and once with Boston, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1959.

His younger brother Corbett Denneny also played in the NHL.[1]

Early life

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Cy Denneny was born in Farran's Point, Ontario, near Cornwall. He was the son of James Israel Denneny who was a top lacrosse player in the late 19th century and was descended from the Dennenys of County Monaghan, Ireland.

Playing career

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Denneny, standing third from the left, with the 1912–13 Montreal Canadiens (pre-season).

Denneny played senior hockey in Cornwall, starting with the Cornwall Sons of England of the Lower Ottawa Valley hockey league in 1909–10. His professional playing career began with the Toronto Ontarios/Shamrocks of the National Hockey Association (NHA) in 1914 (The name of the team changed during the season). He had tried out for the Montreal Canadiens in 1912 but failed to make the team and he returned to senior hockey. He was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 1916 and he would play with the Senators until 1928.

Denneny with the Ottawa Senators.

With the Senators during the 1917–18 season, Denneny set an NHL record by opening the season with four straight multi-goal games, a record that was tied in 2013 by San Jose Sharks' forward Patrick Marleau.[2] Denneny was a member of four Senators Stanley Cup-winning teams; in 1920, 1921, 1923 and 1927. He faced his brother Corbett during the 1923 Stanley Cup playoffs, a series which also featured brothers Frank and Georges Boucher. This marked the first time two different sets of brothers faced each other in an NHL or Big Four championship series.[1]

Denneny was sold to Boston in 1928, where he would be an assistant playing-coach of the Bruins' 1929 Stanley Cup-winner. In 1929, Denneny retired to become an NHL on-ice official. In 1932, he re-joined the Senators as head coach, but the team was in decline due to financial difficulties which forced management to sell top players in order to survive. The team finished last and Denneny was not retained as coach.

Denneny was one of the top scorers in the NHL from 1917 through 1925. While leading the league in scoring during the 1923–24 NHL season, he did so by recording 22 goals and one assist for a total of 23 points, the lowest winning total in NHL history.[3] When he retired, he was the all-time top scorer in NHL history. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1959. In 1998, he was ranked number 62 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. He was the first and fastest player in NHL history to score 200 goals (181 GP). During a six-week span in the 1920–21 NHL season, Cy and his brother Corbett (Toronto St. Patricks), each scored six goals during a game—a feat accomplished by only five other players in the history of the NHL.

Playing style

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Despite not being a swift skater, Denneny had one of the most deceptive and accurate shots in the league, which enabled him to achieve his scoring feats so rapidly.[4] He was one of the first known players to use opposing defencemen as screens,[5] and would beat goaltenders with head fakes and subsequently with shots that often would not leave the ice.[6] Denneny was also one of the first players to use a curved blade, which he used to take high-rising shots as well as "sinkers" that would fool goaltenders.[4][7] He was a very physical player who often acted as an enforcer for his linemates, Jack Darragh and Frank Nighbor.[5]

Personal life

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Denneny was married twice. His first wife Melvina died, and Denneny remarried. He was the father of two daughters with his second wife Isobel. After Denneny retired from hockey, he worked for the Canadian federal government. He retired from the civil service in 1959. He died on September 10, 1970, and is buried in Ottawa's Pinecrest Cemetery.[8]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1909–10 Cornwall Sons of England LOVHL — — — — — — — — — —
1910–11 Cornwall Internationals LOVHL 8 4 0 4 — — — — — —
1911–12 Cornwall Internationals LOVHL 8 9 0 9 16 — — — — —
1912–13 Russell Athletics LOVHL — — — — — — — — — —
1913–14 Cobalt Mines COMHL 9 12 0 12 8 — — — — —
1914–15 Russell HC LOVHL 3 3 0 3 — — — — — —
1914–15 Toronto Shamrocks NHA 8 6 0 6 43 — — — — —
1915–16 Toronto Blueshirts NHA 24 24 4 28 57 — — — — —
1916–17 Ottawa Senators NHA 10 3 0 3 17 2 1 0 1 8
1917–18 Ottawa Senators NHL 21 36 10 46 80 — — — — —
1918–19 Ottawa Senators NHL 18 18 4 22 58 5 3 2 5 6
1919–20 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 16 6 22 31 — — — — —
1919–20 Ottawa Senators St-Cup — — — — — 5 0 2 2 3
1920–21 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 34 5 39 10 2 2 0 2 5
1920–21 Ottawa Senators St-Cup — — — — — 5 2 2 4 13
1921–22 Ottawa Senators NHL 22 28 12 39 20 2 2 0 2 4
1922–23 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 21 11 34 28 2 2 0 2 2
1922–23 Ottawa Senators St-Cup — — — — — 6 1 2 3 10
1923–24 Ottawa Senators NHL 22 22 2 24 10 2 2 0 2 2
1924–25 Ottawa Senators NHL 29 27 15 42 16 — — — — —
1925–26 Ottawa Senators NHL 36 24 12 36 18 2 0 0 0 4
1926–27 Ottawa Senators NHL 42 17 6 23 16 6 5 0 5 0
1927–28 Ottawa Senators NHL 44 3 0 3 12 2 0 0 0 0
1928–29 Boston Bruins NHL 23 1 2 3 2 2 0 0 0 0
NHA totals 42 33 4 37 117 2 1 0 1 8
NHL totals 329 247 85 333 301 25 16 2 18 23
St-Cup totals — — — — — 16 3 6 9 26

Coaching record

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National Hockey League

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Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
Boston Bruins 1928-29 44 26 13 5 57 1st in American Won league semi-finals (3-0 vs. MTL)
Won Stanley Cup (2-0 vs. NYR)
Ottawa Senators 1932-33 48 11 27 10 32 5th in Canadian Did not qualify
NHL totals 92 37 40 15 89 1 division title 5-0 (1.000 - 1 Stanley Cup)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b McEvoy, Colin (February 9, 2023). "The Ultimate Sibling Rivalry: 8 Sets of Brothers Who Faced Off in Sports Championships". Biography. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  2. ^ "Marleau has 4th straight multigoal game". Sportsnet.ca. Associated Press. January 26, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  3. ^ Dryden, Steve (2000). The Hockey News: Century Of Hockey. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. p. 26. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
  4. ^ a b "Cy Denneny biography". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  5. ^ a b Weir, Glenn; Chapman, Jeff; and Weir, Travis. Ultimate Hockey (1999) p. 161-163
  6. ^ Montreal Gazette – February 6, 1934
  7. ^ Montreal Gazette – February 3, 1943
  8. ^ "Hockey Hall of Famer dies at 78". Toronto Star. September 11, 1970. p. 15.
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Preceded by NHL Scoring Champion
1924 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Head Coach of the Ottawa Senators (Original Era)
1932–1933 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ottawa Senators captain
(Original Era)
1923–26 		Succeeded by
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