They called him Leo "The Big Lion" Morey. He was the second of three sons. His elder brother, Elmer "The Eel" Morey was nine years older than Leo and a long-established star in the NAHC (as of 1933-34 Elmer was playing in Chicago). His younger brother Joe was a 17-year-old phenom playing junior hockey and looked to be a future star in his own right. But the 1933-34 season belonged to Leo Morey and his Toronto Dukes.
The Dukes had been a work in progress over recent seasons. After Bert Thomas had been forced to sell the team following the Stock Market crash, a group headed by distiller David Welcombe had taken over. The first thing the new owners had done was hire Jack Barrell, still an active player at the time, as the club's new coach. Barrell's first three seasons saw the club move down in the standings - a 2nd-place finish in 1930-31 was followed by a 3rd-place finish and then a 4th-place finish. The 4th-place finish inspired one of the minority owners of the club, Charles Tattler, to take over as General Manager. Tattler's biggest move was to swap netminders with the Montreal Valiants, acquiring Cal Laberge for Dutch Lenz, a move that was widely ridiculed at the time.
Whether Tattler's presence made any difference is an argument that rages to this day, but what is not arguable is that the 1933-34 Dukes took the NAHC by storm. The club finished with a 35-6-7 mark and 77 points in the 48-game season. They scored 173 goals while allowing 102, the first mark topped the league by 30 and the second was good for third place. The aforementioned Leo Morey was the league's top scorer, scoring 34 goals and adding 22 assists for 56 points. Morey's linemates, centerman Pepper Plaget (13g, 29a) and left winger Eddie Spooner (22g, 20a) each tallied 42 points. Morey won the Masters Trophy, top blueliner Ace Anderson won the Yeadon Trophy and goalie Cal Laberge was in net for every game, posted a 2.10 GAA and won the Juneau Trophy, a clean sweep for the Dukes.
The Dukes swept the American champion Eagles in the semi-final contest in three games, then took the Cup Final against the Montreal Nationals in four contests. It was, in every way, a nearly perfect season for the Dukes. And it was a scary proposition for the rest of the NAHC because this club was stocked with players just entering their prime... a group led by a lion.
Both divisional races ended up looking like a haves-vs-have-nots situation. The American was dominated (again) by the two New York clubs with the Eagles this time outpacing the Shamrocks, 61 points to 57. Boston, the third-place finisher, was a distant 20 points behind the Shamrocks. A similar situation evolved in the Canadian Division where the Dukes dominant season was joined by a strong 56-point effort from the Montreal Nationals. The Quebec Champlains edged out Ottawa for third place while the Valiants, after acquiring Dutch Lenz to anchor what they believed would be a championship defense, failed to gel on the ice and dropped into the basement with a poor 12-29-7, 31-point season.
North American Hockey Confederation Standings 1933-34 |
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| American Division | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | Canadian Division | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | |
| New York Eagles | 48 | 28 | 15 | 5 | 61 | 143 | 100 | Toronto Dukes | 48 | 35 | 6 | 7 | 77 | 173 | 102 | |
| New York Shamrocks | 48 | 24 | 15 | 9 | 57 | 123 | 107 | Montreal Nationals | 48 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 56 | 111 | 95 | |
| Boston Bees | 48 | 13 | 24 | 11 | 37 | 94 | 129 | Quebec Champlains | 48 | 16 | 24 | 8 | 40 | 104 | 128 | |
| Chicago Packers | 48 | 12 | 25 | 11 | 35 | 90 | 120 | Ottawa Athletics | 48 | 18 | 28 | 2 | 38 | 97 | 124 | |
| Montreal Valiants | 48 | 12 | 29 | 7 | 31 | 83 | 113 | |||||||||
| 1934 NAHC PLAYOFFS | ||||||
| Quarter-Finals | ||||||
| Shamrocks v Nationals | Nationals win 1-0-1, 4 goals to 2 | |||||
| Champlains v Bees | Bees win 1-1-0, 2 goals to 1 | |||||
| Semi-Finals | ||||||
| Dukes v Eagles | Toronto wins 3 games to none | |||||
| Nationals v Bees | Nationals win 2 games to none | |||||
| Challenge Cup Finals | ||||||
| Dukes v Nationals | Dukes win 3 games to 1 | |||||
NAHC SCORING LEADERS 1933-34 |
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| Player | Goals | Player | Assists | Player | Points | |||
| Leo Morey, TOR | 34 | Buck Bernier, NYE | 36 | Leo Morey, TOR | 56 | |||
| Ralph Speyer, BOS | 23 | Hal Granquist, NYE | 31 | Buck Bernier, NYE | 53 | |||
| Rollie Smith, NYS | 22 | Pepper Plaget, TOR | 29 | Hal Granquist, NYE | 46 | |||
| Corny Coughlin, QUE | 22 | Dick Elwin, CHI | 22 | Pepper Plaget, TOR | 42 | |||
| Eddie Spooner, TOR | 22 | Leo Morey, TOR | 22 | Eddie Spooner, TOR | 42 | |||
| Chauncey Guerard, NAT | 21 | Gant Wanless, NYS | 20 | Gant Wanless, NYS | 39 | |||
| Bernie St. Laurent, NYE | 21 | Eddie Spooner, TOR | 20 | Bernie St. Laurent, NYE | 39 | |||
| Ivan Popoff, CHI | 20 | Dave Thomas, TOR | 20 | Ivan Popoff, CHI | 36 | |||
| Herm Schneider, NYE | 20 | Hank Lawrence, NAT | 19 | Rollie Smith, NYS | 36 | |||
| Three Players Tied | 19 | Bert Cordier, NAT | 19 | Hank Lawrence, NAT | 35 | |||
NAHC GOALIE LEADERS 1933-34 |
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| Player | W | L | T | ShO | GAA |
| Everette McDargh, VAL/NAT | 16 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 1.49 |
| John Murphy, QUE | 13 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 1.99 |
| Gus Lithgow, NYE | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 2.07 |
| Cal Laberge, TOR | 35 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 2.10 |
| George Dinsmore, NYS | 24 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 2.19 |