1923-24 was an eventful season for professional hockey. The lack of artificial ice at the arena in Quebec caused the cancellation of a game between the Champlains and Dukes and since both teams were far behind Ottawa & Montreal the NAHC decided to not reschedule. This cancellation sparked renewed calls for all NAHC facilities to have artificial ice plants (Quebec and Ottawa did not yet have one). In the USHA the New York Shamrocks fell hard while rumors got into the newspapers that owner Samuel Bigsby was openly discussing taking his team into the NAHC for 1924-25 (he denied it). And out west, it turned out to be the swansong for the TCHA. Simple economics had caught up with the Yeadon brothers in the Pacific Northwest. Portland ran out of money despite being the league's best team and cancelled its season-closing tilt with Vancouver.

The Transcontinental Hockey Association was born in 1911 when Bill & George Yeadon used their family's wealth to start a league of their own (after being soured on the NAHC in large part due to Jack Connolly). The league was a big success for its first decade, though it did struggle at times (such as when the Victoria club lost its arena due to the Army needing it for wartime training). But now, with the "Roaring Twenties" in full swing, things were booming in Eastern Canada and especially in the United States, leaving the NAHC and USHA teams with much more capital to spend on players than the TCHA could afford. Portland was in the worst situation as its owner, George Wilson, did not have a family fortune backing him up. He had built a title-worthy team in 1923-24 as the Reds won 16 of 23 contests, easily finishing ahead of Victoria (11-12-1) to claim the TCHA title while former powerhouse Vancouver fell into last place. 

Portland had both the league's top scoring offense with 77 goals and it's stingiest defense with just 49 goals allowed. Like the rest of the sport, the TCHA saw a decrease in goal scoring as the goaltenders became more adept and the defensive schemes more effective. Victoria's Jack Blaney led the league in goals, assists and (naturally) points - but his totals were a relatively modest 17 goals, 8 assists and 25 points. Portland's Roy Mitchell also scored 17 goals, and team mate Ben Laramee scored 16 with both tied for second in points (21). Vancouver struggled mightily, allowing 84 goals and winning just seven games against 15 losses and 1 tie.

Following the season, TCHA President George Yeadon suspended Portland for failing to complete the schedule, sending Victoria to the playoff with the USHA. And after the dust settled on the 1923-24 season, the TCHA ceased operations entirely, marking the end of major pro hockey on the west coast for decades.

The USHA saw its share of drama as well. The New York Shamrocks, who had been the class of the league for the first two seasons, dropped all the way into the basement in 1923-24, going just 8-15-1 on the year. The void at the top became a three-way fight as the other clubs were all close in talent and performance. Ultimately it was Boston who prevailed, going 14-10-0 to edge Philadelphia (13-10-1) by one point and Buffalo (11-11-2) by three points. Andre St. Laurent of Buffalo, in just his second season, took a step towards becoming his league's biggest star as he led the league in all three scoring categories with 23 goals, 13 assists and 36 points. Blending well with player-coach Gevis Murphy (9g, 9a in 17 games) and Al Carrier (18g, 5a) on the Bears top line, St. Laurent played brilliantly. 

Boston's Frank Gerow was nearly as dominant, finishing second across the board with 21 goals, 12 assists and 33 points for the league champions. Philadelphia's Charlie Gagnon was third with 20 goals and 11 assists for the runners-up. New York's Charles Tattler, who had been the league's best player in its first two campaigns, had a good year with 17 goals and 11 assists to finish fourth in scoring, but his team's defense was porous (91 goals allowed) and that, more than anything, led to its downfall. 

The cloud over New York's season was exacerbated by rumors in the city's papers that Samuel Bigsby was openly discussing taking the Shamrocks into the NAHC. Bigsby's uncle owned baseball's New York Gothams and had ties with Bert Thomas who owned the Toronto franchises in both the FABL and NAHC. The story was vehemently denied by both Bigsby and Thomas, but there was also a feeling across the hockey world of "where there's smoke, there's fire."

The NAHC meanwhile did not escape the season unscathed either - as mentioned earlier the arena situation in Quebec led to the cancellation of a game, something that had previously always resulted in a rescheduling. This time, due to the impending arrival of spring, and the Champlains' unwillingness to play the game in Toronto or Montreal, led to an outright cancellation that left two clubs with 23 games instead of 24. Ultimately it had no impact on the results as neither Ottawa (16-7-1) nor Montreal (15-9-0) were involved in the game and both Toronto (8-15-0) and Quebec (7-15-1) were out of contention.

The hub-bub surrounding the Bigsby story somewhat overshadowed the on-ice action, which had taken a definite defensive turn. Ottawa's Davey Vert turned in the greatest statistical performance to date by a netminder as he posted a GAA of 1.87 while Montreal's Al Juneau (2.42) and Quebec's Adam Turner (2.54) were also stellar. The impact on the offensive totals was widespread and very noticeable. Charlie Oliphant of the Athletics was the only player to top 20 goals as he scored 25 of them while team mate Harry Bernier's 11 assists was the sole mark in double-figures in that category. The breakout offensive star of the previous campaign, Toronto's Jack Barrell, suffered through an injury-plagued campaign as he personally scored 13 goals in 18 games and his team scored a dismal 49 total on the season.

The NAHC again featured a two-game, total-goals "playoff" between the top two clubs. With the newly rejuvenated Valiants finishing a close second there were some interesting storylines to the series between Montreal and Ottawa. The Athletics were seen as the old guard, powered by the talented Charlie Oliphant and the game's best goalie in Vert while the Valiants had two super-talented youngsters in Ernest Bernier (17g, 6a) and Rene Mailloux (16g, 5a). Then there was the fact that Ernest Bernier's brother Harry (15g, league-best 11a) played for Ottawa. It added up to an intriguing matchup and one that was won by the upstarts as Al Juneau outplayed Vert in a 1-0 win in the first game with Montreal then winning again, 3-2 in the second game to advance to the Cup finals.

The TCHA sent Victoria to play the Boston Bees for the right to face the Valiants. With Portland expelled, the Capitals, who went 11-12-1, were the TCHA champions by decree only. They put up a good fight in the best-of-three series with Boston, but the USHA finally broke through to the Challenge Cup Finals thanks to the Bees victory, 1-3, 3-2, 4-1. 

The Bees appeared to be "happy just to be there" and were outclassed by Juneau in what may have been the first example of a team "riding the hot goalie" as he shut down Boston in 2-0 and 3-0 victories by the Valiants. 

A new tradition began in the aftermath of the 1923-24 season as the player "judged to be the most valuable to his club" was awarded a brand-new trophy. The trophy, donated by the father of former player Al McDaniels, who was killed in France in 1918 while serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, and named the McDaniels Trophy, was awarded to Charlie Oliphant of Ottawa.

The capper to an eventful 1923-24 season was an editorial in Toronto's top newspaper, discussing the Bigsby rumors, noted that "anyone with a brain can well discern that the future of the sport depends in large part on our American cousins. The NAHC stands at the crossroads - the decision is now either 'once more unto the breach' by expanding into the States to take on the USHA head-to-head, or to take the more clandestine approach of co-opting the USHA's own clubs. But to do nothing is not an option."

NAHC TOP GOALIE

Davey Vert, OTT: 16-5-1, 1.87 GAA, 4 ShO

TCHA TOP GOALIE

Jesse Hart, POR: 16-7-0, 2.02 GAA, 2 ShO

TCHA TOP GOALIE

Louis Belanger, PHI: 13-10-1, 2.89 GAA, 0 ShO