Joe Malone
Montreal Canadiens 1918
Hand Tinted Photo

When the NHL was founded in 1917, Quebec did not operate a team its first season and the team's players were dispersed amongst the other teams. Malone was claimed by the Montreal Canadiens. Playing on what was one of the most powerful forward lines of all time with Newsy Lalonde and Didier Pitre, Malone shifted to left wing to accommodate the great Lalonde, and was the NHL's first scoring leader, registering 44 goals in 20 games, a record total that would stand as the NHL's single season goal scoring mark until 1945 and a record per-game average that stands to this day.

Malone scored at least one goal (and a total of 35 goals) in his first 14 NHL games to set the record for the longest goal-scoring streak to begin an NHL career.
This streak still stands as the second-longest goal-scoring streak in NHL history.

At the start of the season, the Montreal Canadiens changed its name to "Club de Hockey Canadien Ltd." from "Club Athletic Canadien". The logo on the jersey was changed to reflect this, substituting the "A" within the "C" with an "H".