Philly's 1st NHL Team - Philadelphia Quakers

The Flyers weren't the 1st Philly
NHL team to wear Orange & Black

The Philadelphia Quakers have the dubious distiction of being one of the worst teams in the history of the NHL. Their .136 winning percentage was the worst ever until the Washington Captials .131 in 1974-75. Team owner Benny Leonard transferred the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates and moved the team playing in the even-then-old Philadelphia Arena. He promised to build an ice palace that would even eclipse New York's Madison Square garden (it never happened). He hired referee Cooper Smeaton to be the team's GM and coach , which he gladfully accepted since the referee's life was truly in danger in those days. The team played a season filled with brawls but not wins. It was so bad that Smeaton returned to his life-threatening job at seasons end (and for which he earned a place in the hockey hall of fame). The team was cash strapped very early as Philly fans did not want to support such a poor team. Players started to be sold off and the Quakers folded after their first and only season. The Quaker players were dispursed to the weaker teams. The only player to have had a successful career from this team was Syd Howe, who is also in the hall of fame (as a player).

Photo Courtesy Hockey Online

All-Time Quakers Games

Date	Road			Home
11-Nov-30	Rangers	3	@	Quakers	0
15-Nov-30	Quakers	0	@	Toronto	4
16-Nov-30	Quakers	1	@	Detroit	5
18-Nov-30	Ottawa	2	@	Quakers	2 (ot)
23-Nov-30	Quakers	2	@	Rangers	5
25-Nov-30	Toronto	1	@	Quakers	2
29-Nov-30	Rangers	6	@	Quakers	3
2-Dec-30	Canadiens	2	@	Quakers	0
4-Dec-30	Quakers	2	@	Ottawa	5
6-Dec-30	Boston	4	@	Quakers	3
9-Dec-30	Americans	2	@	Quakers	1
13-Dec-30	Detroit	3	@	Quakers	2
16-Dec-30	Quakers	0	@	Americans	3
20-Dec-30	Quakers	1	@	Montreal	5
23-Dec-30	Chicago	3	@	Quakers	2
25-Dec-30	Quakers	0	@	Boston	8
28-Dec-30	Quakers	2	@	Rangers	4
1-Jan-31	Quakers	3	@	Chicago	10
3-Jan-31	Ottawa	5	@	Quakers	4 (ot)
4-Jan-31	Quakers	0	@	Americans	5
8-Jan-31	Chicago	4	@	Quakers	0
10-Jan-31	Montreal	3	@	Quakers	4 (ot)
13-Jan-31	Canadiens	2	@	Quakers	1
17-Jan-31	Detroit	5	@	Quakers	2
20-Jan-31	Quakers	2	@	Detroit	5
22-Jan-31	Quakers	2	@	Chicago	5
24-Jan-31	Boston	4	@	Quakers	2
27-Jan-31	Quakers	3	@	Boston	3 (ot)
29-Jan-31	Quakers	1	@	Canadiens	7
31-Jan-31	Quakers	2	@	Toronto	3
5-Feb-31	Quakers	1	@	Chicago	6
10-Feb-31	Rangers	3	@	Quakers	1
14-Feb-31	Americans	1	@	Quakers	1 (ot)
17-Feb-31	Quakers	2	@	Detroit	0
22-Feb-31	Quakers	1	@	Rangers	6
24-Feb-31	Boston	5	@	Quakers	1
28-Feb-31	Quakers	1	@	Montreal	4
3-Mar-31	Toronto	5	@	Quakers	1
7-Mar-31	Quakers	2	@	Boston	7
10-Mar-31	Quakers	3	@	Ottawa	5 (ot)
12-Mar-31	Detroit	5	@	Quakers	7
14-Mar-31	Montreal	3	@	Quakers	2
17-Mar-31	Chicago	4	@	Quakers	0
21-Mar-31	Quakers	4	@	Canadiens	4 (ot)

Key Personnel

Coach & GM

Cooper Smeaton

Captain

Gerry Lowrey

W-L-T Record

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Win%	GF	GA	Division
Overall	44	4	36	4	26	0.136	76	184	5th

Playoff Games

-none-

Leaders

Goals

Hib Milks - 17

Assists

Gerry Lowrey - 14

Points

Gerry Lowrey - 27

Scoring Stats

Name	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gerry Lowrey	L	42	13	14	27	27
Hib Milks	C	44	17	6	23	42
Syd Howe	C	44	9	11	20	20
Wally Kilrea	C	44	8	12	20	22
Cliff Barton	R	43	6	7	13	18
James Jarvis	L	43	5	7	12	30
Allan Shields	D	43	7	3	10	98
Ron Lyons	L	22	2	4	6	8
Wilfred White	R	9	3	0	3	2
Eddie McCalmon	R	16	3	0	3	6
Harold Darragh	L	10	1	1	2	2
Bill Hutton	D	21	1	1	2	4
Johnny McKinnon	R	39	1	1	2	46
Herbert Drury	D	24	0	2	2	10
Jake Forbes	G	2	0	0	0	0
Rennison Manners	C	4	0	0	0	0
Gord Fraser	D	5	0	0	0	22
Rodger Smith	D	9	0	0	0	0
Joe Miller	G	12	0	0	0	0
Stanley Crossett	D	21	0	0	0	10
D'Arcy Coulson	D	28	0	0	0	103
Wilf Cude	G	29	0	0	0	0

Goaltending Stats

Name	GP	Mins	GA	Avg	W	L	T	EN	SO
Jake Forbes	2	120	7	3.50	0	2	0	0	0
Joe Miller	12	740	47	3.81	2	9	1	0	0
Wilf Cude	30	1850	130	4.22	2	25	3	0	1

Shutouts

Date	Opponent	Score	Goalie	#
2/17/31	Detroit Falcons	2-0	Wilf Crude	1
# = career number as a Quaker P = playoffs

Opening Games

Season & Home

Quakers 0 - NY Rangers 3 (L)

Trades

Date	To Quakers	Other Team	From Quakers
10/18/30	Ron Lyons & Bill Hutton	Boston	Harold Darrough
11/6/30	Syd Howe, Wally Kilrea & Al Shields	Ottawa	$35,000
12/8/30	cash	Detroit (IAHL)	Bill Hutton
12/16/30	cash	Pitts. (IAHL)	Rodger Smith
2/1/31	cash	Boston	Ron Lyons