Cy Denneny

 ( 1891 Births ) 

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 times 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.

---

Early life 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 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 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. 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. 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 Boucher and Georges Boucher. This marked the first time two different sets of brothers faced each other in an NHL or Big Four championship series.

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.

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 Denneny (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 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. He was one of the first known players to use opposing defencemen as screens,Weir, Glenn; Chapman, Jeff; and Weir, Travis. Ultimate Hockey (1999) p. 161-163 and would beat goaltenders with head fakes and subsequently with shots that often would not leave the ice.Montreal Gazette – February 6, 1934 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.Montreal Gazette – February 3, 1943 He was a very physical player who often acted as an enforcer for his linemates, Jack Darragh and Frank Nighbor.

---

Personal life

Denneny was married twice. After his first wife Melvina died, Denneny remarried and fathered 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.

---

Career statistics

---

Regular season and playoffs

1909–10	Cornwall Sons of England	LOVHL	—	—
1910–11	Cornwall Internationals	LOVHL	—	—
1911–12	Cornwall Internationals	LOVHL	16	—
1912–13	Russell Athletics	LOVHL	—	—
1913–14	Cobalt Mines	COMHL	8	—
1914–15	Russell HC	LOVHL	—	—
1914–15	Toronto Shamrocks	NHA	43	—
1915–16	Toronto Blueshirts	NHA	57	—
1916–17	Ottawa Senators	NHA	17	8
1917–18	Ottawa Senators	NHL	80	—
1918–19	Ottawa Senators	NHL	58	6
1919–20	Ottawa Senators	NHL	31	—
1919–20	Ottawa Senators	Stanley Cup	—	3
1920–21	Ottawa Senators	NHL	10	5
1920–21	Ottawa Senators	St-Cup	—	13
1921–22	Ottawa Senators	NHL	20	4
1922–23	Ottawa Senators	NHL	28	2
1922–23	Ottawa Senators	St-Cup	—	10
1923–24	Ottawa Senators	NHL	10	2
1924–25	Ottawa Senators	NHL	16	—
1925–26	Ottawa Senators	NHL	18	4
1926–27	Ottawa Senators	NHL	16	0
1927–28	Ottawa Senators	NHL	12	0
1928–29	Boston Bruins	NHL	2	0

---

Coaching record

---

National Hockey League

---

See also

• List of players with five or more goals in a National Hockey League game

---

Further reading

---

External links

Categories: 1891 Births, 1970 Deaths, Boston Bruins Coaches, Boston Bruins Players, Canadian Expatriate Ice Hockey Players In The United States, Canadian Ice Hockey Coaches, Canadian Ice Hockey Left Wingers, Canadian Sportspeople Of Irish Descent, Hockey Hall Of Fame Inductees, Ice Hockey Player-coaches, National Hockey League Scoring Leaders, Ottawa Senators Players, 20th-century Canadian Sportsmen, Ottawa Senators Coaches, Ice Hockey People From Cornwall, Ontario, Stanley Cup Champions, Stanley Cup Championship–winning Head Coaches, Toronto Blueshirts Players, Toronto Shamrocks Players

Post Comment