The era spanning January 1, 1920, through October 29, 1929, is often referred to as the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition in the United States was accompanied by bootleg brooze, shorter skirts were deployed in new dances, jazz was discovered by a wider, mixed audience; a general joie de vivre seemed a natural antidote to the hangover left behind after World War I ended. At first the National Hockey League responded slowly to the explosion in sports (along with everything else) that accompanied the 1920s. It wasn't until the 1924-25 season that the league expanded to include its first American team, the Boston Bruins. A year later, the deluge of new teams began with the New York Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates, soon to be followed by entries from Chicago, Detroit and a second from Manhatten, the Rangers. When league owners convened for their annual meeting in September 1929, they could not have predicted the economic disaster that was so near at that point. They prepared for a 1929-30 campaign that would feature new rules that accented the offense as the Boston Bruins prepared to defend the Stanley Cup. Then came October 29, 1929, and all bets were off, everywhere. WALL STREET LAYS AN EGG, shouted a headline in Variety, the show business weekly, as just one example. Between 1929 and 1931, stock losses alone were estimated at $50 billion. The Great Depression quickly overcame North American life and would have a profound effect on the NHL too. The massive unemployment that was part and parcel of the Great Depression meant that hockey fans, like almost everyone else, had less to spend on entertainment – that is, if they had any money at all, or a source of it, i.e. a job. At first the league weathered the economic storm with no significant negative effects, but as the Depression lengthened, attendance dropped and clubs folded. In 1930, the Pittsburgh franchise was moved to Philadelphia – with little success. The Quakers suffered through an abysmal 1930-31 season with four wins, four ties and 36 losses before they asked permission to cease operations at the September 26, 1931, club owners meeting. Ottawa did likewise even though the Senators had enjoyed a more successful season. And considering the city's rich hockey heritage, the loss of Ottawa sent shockwaves throughout the hockey world. The franchise requested permission to lease its players until it could resume operations and Ottawa rejoined the league after a one-year absence, but the NHL board of governors later gave the Senators permission to move the franchise to St. Louis and the St. Louis Eagles were born in 1934. No less affected by the Depression, the Eagles also suffered mightily at the gate and on the ice. At the time, the team had one outstanding line: Syd Howe (no relation to Gordie) on left wing, Frank Finnigan on right wing and Bill Cowley at Center. Howe was among the league's top scorers. Finnigan was a cagey and reliable veteran and Cowley displayed all the potential of a budding star. But the struggling franchise needed financial support and its first move was to deal Howe to Detroit for cash and Finnigan to Toronto for more cash. Eventually, Syd Howe and Bill Cowley ended up in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The St. Louis Eagles did not. Playing their final game of the season in St. Louis on March 12, 1935, the Eagles closed at home with a flourish by defeating the Red Wings 3-2. The last game of that miserable year was on the road at Maple Leafs Gardens, where St. Louis lost 5-3. The standings at season's end showed the Eagles with 11 wins, six ties and 31 defeats – the year's worst in the league. Obviously, the St. Louis franchise was in desperate trouble. On September 28, 1935, the club asked the NHL board of governors for permission to suspend operations for one year. The board refused and instead proposed that the league buy the rights to players under option to St. Louis, with the understanding that the money would be paid to the club if the league managed to sell the franchise. At a second meeting on October 15, 1935, the league agreed to buy the franchise and its players. The board of governors then assigned a cash value to each of the Eagles players and held a draft in which the league's lowest-placed teams had first crack at the available talent. Such setbacks notwithstanding, the NHL was able to plod through the harsh years of the 1930s and survive with no less than two franchises in New York (the Americans and Rangers) and Montreal (the Canadiens and Maroons). Still, at a time when the continent's hit tunes were "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" and "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues," novel methods were used to lure fans to hockey rinks. In Atlantic City, they were invited to bring a bag of food to Convention Hall in lieu of cash to see an exhibition game between the Rangers and the Atlantic City Sea Gulls. The result was the largest crowd ever to witness a hockey game to that point – 22,157. Meanwhile, Detroit registered one of the smallest crowds – 2,000. It was a barometer of things to come for the rest of the decade.

At Madison Square Garden, the Rangers-Americans rivalry thrived although management reluctantly agreed to a one-third reduction in prices to adjust to the lower cost of living and reduced salaries. And Garden officials, headed by Tom Lockhart, found yet another way to draw fans. Lockhart had organized the Eastern Amateur Hockey League, including a team in New York (the Rovers) which featured graduates from the Canadian juniors who were willing to play on the senior level as a stepping stone to the NHL. A Rangers farm team, the Rovers played on Sunday afternoons at the Garden for half the price of an NHL ticket and became so popular that crowds averaging 11,000 were not unusual during the Depression. Meanwhile, as if to outface the Depression, Conn Smythe orchestrated construction of a new ice palace in Toronto. Defying doubters – and probably logic – Maple Leaf Gardens opened on schedule on November 12, 1931. On March 6, 1933, all banks in the United States were ordered closed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whereupon Congress passed New Deal social and economic measures to ease the country through its economic woes. Only the repeal of Prohibition on December 5, 1933, offered some solace to the embattled nation – although not to Americans owner William "Big Bill" Dwyer, who had made his fortune as a bootlegger. Fortunately, the quality of NHL hockey remained high. Marquee players such as Howie Morenz, Eddie Shore, King Clancy and Frank Boucher excited the crowds. Some of them resisted the league's plea for fiscal prudence, however, the most notable being crack defenseman Eddie Shore. At one point, he announced to the Boston media that he'd quit before taking a salary cut, as suggested by Bruins management. He eventually signed a contract for $7,500, the maximum allowed by the NHL in 1933. By 1935, it had become apparent that the Depression was not letting up. Without Dwyer's bankroll, the Americans hit the financial skids but remained competitive. In desperation, the league set a collective salary limit for clubs at $62,500, while no individual player would be permitted a contract in excess of $7,000. The American Congress passed the Social Security Act that same year. Hockey fans still had a good deal to cheer about, particularly in Detroit, where a dynasty was in the making under the orchestration of Jack Adams. In 1936, the Motor City sextet won its first two consecutive Stanley Cup titles, and en route engaged in one of the most memorable games in NHL annals. On March 26, 1936, the Red Wings and Montreal Maroons played the longest NHL game ever. The playoff match lasted into a ninth period, by which time the veterans on both teams were fatigued beyond recovery. It became essential to employ the players with the most stamina left; naturally, those were the inexperienced young skaters like Moderre "Mud" Bruneteau, a fresh-faced Red Wing rookie – the youngest man in the longest game. At the 16-minute mark of the sixth overtime period, Bruneteau went to work. He surrounded the puck in the Detroit zone and passed to Hec Kilrea. The two teammates proceeded to challenge the Montreal defense, Kilrea faking a return pass, then sliding it across the blue line. Bruneteau cut behind the defense, retrieved the puck in front of goalie Larne Chabot and banged it in for the winning goal. "Thank God Chabot fell down as I drove it in the net," said Bruneteau. "It was the funniest thing. The puck just stuck there in the twine and it didn't fall to the ice." After 116 minutes and 30 seconds of overtime, the Red Wings had at last defeated the Maroons – thanks to Mud Bruneteau. The marathon game – still the longest in NHL history – was one of a number of memorable events sprinkled throughout the Depression. While the economic crisis continued unabated through the late 1930s, big-league hockey was making big news. Some of it was sad, as in the case of its once greatest star, Howie Morenz, and some of it was glad, as in the emergence of fresh talent and sparkling new forwards line that – unlike today's game – often stayed together for a full season or more. The years 1936, 1937 and 1938 were filled with such incidents. During the 1936-37 season, Morenz had regained his stardom with the Canadiens and appeared on target for a banner season when he suffered a badly broken leg and was hospiralized, where he died unexpectedly on March 8, 1937. Prior to an all-star game to benefit his family, some of Howie's equipment was auctioned off and the star's jersey was presented to his son, Howie Jr. Played at the Montreal Forum on November 2, 1937, the game featured a team of NHL stars against a squard that combined Canadiens and Maroons stars. The All-Stars won 6-5.