March 3 1920: Canadiens Fire 16 into Quebec’s Net

Newsy Lalonde records four goals in a 16-3 win over the Quebec 03/03/1920.

A 16-3 score sounds like a preliminary IIHF match between Canada and Japan, but on March 3 1920 the Montreal Canadiens set an NHL record with 16 goals against the Quebec Bulldogs. The 13 goal differential also stands as a franchise record in Montreal.

Now to be fair the Bulldogs, despite the presence of scoring leader Joe Malone, were the basement dwellers of the league and would be playing their last season in Quebec before moving to Hamilton.

In the first half of the 1919-20 season, the Bulldogs surrendered 81 goals in a dozen games. Including the March 3 game, they allowed another 96 in the final twelve, wining just four games all season.

To add salt to the wound, Quebec would face the Canadiens that Wednesday evening with goaltender Frank Brophy playing with a strained ligament in his thigh.

So with their goalie’s mobility limited, the already weak defended Bulldogs were at the mercy of the defending NHL champions and their top-ranked scorers.

The lone injury for Montreal that night was defenseman Bert Corbeau, who took ill just before game time and had to be helped onto the train afterwards.

The game was pretty much over after the first period by which time Montreal had a 4-0 lead. Didier Pitre already had three goals in the first period, and Odie Cleghorn had the other.

Seven Goals in a Period

The second period would see another Canadiens benchmark. Newsy Lalonde would score three goals, rearguard Harry Cameron would score the first two of his record setting four goals and Cleghorn and Amos Arbour added singles to give Montreal a team record seven goals in the period. That record has been matched six other times, the most recent in 1987.

Four Habs Score Three or More Goals

Lalonde scored his fourth goal in the third period, and Cleghorn became the third Canadiens player to record three or more goals that evening.

Arbour notched his second of the night and Cameron’s third and fourth goals set a team record for Habs defensemen that has only been equaled once since (Sprague Cleghorn – 1922).

To date, no other NHL team has had a game in which four players recorded three or more goals.

Odie Cleghorn

Malone managed to get  one of his league leading 39 goals that night for Quebec, but on that March night he would have needed a whole team of Malones to match the Canadiens.

The Habs legend they called Cannonball

When Jack Laviolette was given the task of putting together a newly formed NHA team in the fall of 1909, the first man he recruited to join him was his good friend Didier Pitre.

Pitre, born on this day in 1883, had played with Laviolette in Valleyfield, QC and with the Michigan-Soo Indians in the IHL.

The 5’11” 190lb, muscular winger/blueliner was exceptionally fast for a man of his stature. The story goes that he could even skate just as fast backwards as he could going forwards.

His combination of speed and size, along with blistering shot that terrorized goalies, had earned him the nickname “Cannonball”.

Laviolette sent for Pitre, who had been working the off-season in Sault-Ste. Marie, ON, via telegram.

The key phrases of that telegram read, “New League formed. New Canadien team formed. Big Money available. Come to Montreal.”

Pitre immediately quit his job and hopped a the first train available to unite with his longtime friend.

Unbeknownst to Pitre, the Montreal Nationals of the CHA were also in the midst of recruiting him for their team.

Pitre met up with a Nationals representative on the train ride to Ottawa. Thinking this was the team Laviolette spoke of, he signed on with them en route.

Realizing his error on meeting Laviolette, Pitre signed with the Canadiens.

The Nationals filed legal action to prevent Pitre from playing with the Canadiens, but on January 5, 1910 , the night of their inaugural game, a judge ruled in favor of the Canadiens.

“The Flying Frenchmen” Jack Laviolette, Didier Pitre and Newsy Lalonde

Pitre scored 10 goals in the Canadiens first twelve-game season. he would score 19, 28, and 24 goals in the following three seasons.

He went to the Vancouver Millionaires for the 1913-14 season, but returned to Montreal the following year bagging 30 goals in a 20 game season.

He won his only Stanley Cup during the 1915-16 season after leading the NHA is scoring with 39 points.

While his offensive totals continued to be impressive, Pitre’s speed over the years was slowing tailing off.

In his final two seasons, Pitre found himself concentrating on playing as a defenseman.

His final game was the second game of a two-game total goals series, versus the Ottawa Senators, for the NHL title in 1923.

The Canadiens lost the series by one goal. Despite the losing effort, being overweight and used as a substitute during most of his final season, the 39 year-old saved his best defensive effort for his last game.

“Didier was sensational on defence,” wrote La Presse.

“One expected him to be exhausted after a few minutes, but he was like a wall against the Ottawa attack.”

The last of the original Canadiens announced his retirement after the series, finishing with 220 goals and 59 assists in 254 games with Montreal.

In light of his size and the brutal physical game of the era, Pitre played with a sportsmanlike attitude.

It is even said that he was once criticized by his coach for apologetically helping an opponent up after he had knocked him to the ice.

Elmer Ferguson, who wrote about Pitre through his career, had this to say.

“Many played brutally, but Pitre was not one of them. It is doubtful if the big, good-natured Frenchman ever did a mean, or unsportsmanlike thing in his whole career.”

“Pitre was a very loyal player with a generous heart,” wrote an unnamed journalist.

“The fans liked his lively character, his engaging repartee, his extraordinary drive and the unbelievable speed of his rushes.”

Pitre died in 1934 and was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.

Other notes about Didier Pitre

• Before his first Stanley Cup win, he competed in the Cup final in 1909 with Edmonton, and again with Montreal in 1917 and 1919.
• Hall of Famer Cy Dennehy called Pitre one of the fastest skaters of all time.
• In a January 16, 1919 game against the Ottawa, Pitre and Jack Darragh, of Ottawa, each had natural hat tricks in a 10-6 win for the Canadiens. That feat was not repeated until Jonathan Cheechoo, of the San Jose Sharks, and Ryan Smyth, of Edmonton Oilers, each did in a 6-4 Edmonton victory on October 19th, 2006
• Became a coach and referee in the Michigan-Soo area after his retirement as was also named to the NHL’s officiating staff.
• Played alongside 22 Hall-of-Fame players during his career.