Doraty was back with the Pats in 1924-25, racking up 9 points from 5 goals and 4 assists in only 4 games. He excelled in the playoffs, as he scored 13 times in 12 games. In addition, he had 7 assists for 20 points as Regina would defeat the Toronto Aura Lee club 2-1 in overtime and then Doraty scored the opening goal on a power play in an eventual 5-2 win in the second game to earn the Pats first Memorial Cup as junior hockey champions of Canada.
The 1925 Memorial Cup champion Regina Pats
For the 1925-26 season, Doraty turned professional and played with the second incarnation of the Portland Rosebuds in the Western Hockey League. He saw action in 30 games, scoring 4 goals and an assist.
Things were not well with pro hockey in the west however, and the entire WHL folded after the season. For the 1926-27 season, the NHL was expanding and the brand new Chicago Black Hawks roster was stocked with players from the defunct Rosebuds roster. Life in the NHL proved tough for Doraty, and after 18 scoreless games, he was sent to the Minneapolis Millers of the American Hockey Association, with whom he played an additional 7 games, but again failed to register a point.
Doraty, front and center, with the inaugural Black Hawks
For the 1927-28 season, Doraty joined the Kitchener Millionaires of the Canadian Professional Hockey League, where he regained his scoring touch with 19 goals and 25 points in 39 games. The Millionaires relocated to Toronto for the 1928-29 season and Doraty moved with them and increased his offensive output to 26 goals and 31 points in an identical 39 games.
In the fall of 1929, the league renamed itself the International Hockey League, and in a complicated bit of maneuvering, the franchise that replaced the Millionaires in Kitchener was moved to Cleveland, Ohio. However... it's players did not move with it, as they were assigned to the Doraty's Toronto Millionaires club, while Doraty and the Toronto roster found themselves on their way to Cleveland!
Doraty immediately led the new Cleveland Indians team with 27 goals and 41 points in 42 games as Cleveland won the 1929-30 IHL regular season with a 24-9-9 record and then won the league playoff championship over the Buffalo Bisons 3 games to 1.
He again led the Indians in scoring in 1930-31 with a career high 49 points from 25 goals and 24 assists as he finished second overall in league scoring. While his point total dropped to 36 from 21 goals and 15 assists, it was enough to Doraty to lead Cleveland in scoring for the third consecutive season.
A 1930-31 Cleveland Indians program
Six years after his last opportunity, Doraty earned his second chance at the NHL when he was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 1932-33 season based on his strong performances leading Cleveland. Doraty did play 10 games with the Syracuse Stars in the IHL, but spent the majority of his season with the Maple Leafs, appearing in 38 games, which included scoring 5 goals and 11 points during the regular season.
Doraty's second chance in the NHL came with Toronto
Toronto finished first in the Canadian Division and, in an odd playoff format but one that guaranteed the winner a spot in the finals, was immediately paired with the American Division winning Boston Bruins. The Bruins won Game 1 after 14 minutes of overtime 2-1 and in Game 2 Toronto evened the series on the road 1-0 after 15 extra minutes. Game 3 moved to Toronto and the Bruins again prevailed in a brief overtime of 4 minutes, again 2-1. Toronto went ahead 3 games to 1 after winning Game 4 in the only game decided in regulation by a score of 5-3. Needing one more win, Toronto hosted Boston on April 3rd for Game 5.
Doraty in the Maple Leafs plain white jersey
The teams both had a number of scoring chances but neither could solve Tiny Thompson in goal for the Bruins or Lorne Chabot for Toronto as regulation ended with no score for the second time in the series as the game moved to overtime for the fourth time in five games, thanks in no small part of an apparent goal by Boston's Alex Smith having been waived off because referee Odie Cleghorn had blown the play dead.
The first overtime passed without a winner, as did the second. Both goalies stood tall and the third extra period failed to produce a game winner as the teams had now played the equivalent of two full games. But still, the game continued and the fourth overtime saw the game become the longest in NHL history, surpassing the previous record of 68:52 of overtime in 1930. At one point early in the fourth overtime, it appeared that Toronto had scored the game winner as Joe Primeau fed King Clancy for a goal, but Clancy was ruled to have been offside and the game continued on. Eventually, the teams concluded the fourth overtime still scoreless. By now, midnight had passed and the game moved into April 4th. Amazingly, despite how tired the players were, no one made an error egregious enough that led to a goal in the fifth overtime as well.
Following the fifth overtime, both Conn Smythe of Toronto and Art Ross of Boston appealed to league president Frank Calder to suspend the game and continue after a night's sleep. With the circus coming to town soon, which would force them to vacate Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers, who were awaiting the winner and not wanting to lose a chance to play a home game in the finals, which was scheduled for what was now later that evening, objected and the decision was made to continue, but not after Ross suggested determining a winner by a coin toss!
Smythe actually agreed, but the chorus of boos from those in attendance at Maple Leaf Gardens convinced the teams to continue the game. While many of the original fans in attendance had left, others listening to the game on the radio in Toronto came down to the arena to watch the conclusion of the marathon game after being encouraged by broadcaster Foster Hewitt! Calder suggested that both sides pull their goalies to speed up the result, but neither team agreed, so the sixth overtime began.
Finally, thankfully, mercifully, Andy Blair took the puck away from Eddie Shore as he was about to cross his own blueline and fed Doraty, who beat Thompson to end the marathon at 4:46 of the sixth overtime for a total game time of 104 minutes and 46 seconds. One of the smallest players in the league at 128 pounds had scored one of it's biggest goals ever! The endurance contest ended at 1:48 AM and was so draining that it was reported that legendary broadcaster Hewitt passed out once and lost 8 pounds during the game! One can only imagine the physical toll on the players that night without the knowledge of modern recovery methods and sports drinks.
Doraty's goal made headlines that day
The win gave Toronto the series 3 games to 1 and triggered the start of the Finals in New York later that same day. The Maple Leafs then boarded a train at 3 AM for a 13 hour journey to Manhattan, arriving at 4:10 PM, less than three hours before game time. To no ones surprise, the contest went to the well rested Rangers by a score of 5-1. The Rangers won two of the next three games to claim the Stanley Cup 3 games to 1.
Doraty returned to play with the Maple Leafs in 1933-34, which included a game against the Ottawa Senators on this date in 1934 that saw him set an NHL record first. The game ended tied at 4-4 and moved to the then 10 minute overtime. Doraty beat Senators goalie Bill Beveridge, but the rules at the time were not of a sudden death format and required that the entire ten minutes of the overtime be played regardless of how many goals were scored. A few minutes after his first goal, Doraty added an insurance goal and then entered the record books when 5 minutes and 9 seconds after his first goal, Doraty completed the first and only overtime hat trick in NHL history! Needless to say, Toronto won the game 7-4.
Doraty in an unusual outdoor publicity shot
The extra 10 minute format lasted until 1943 when overtime was dropped completely. When it returned to the NHL in 1983, it was in a sudden death format and has remained that way ever since, ensuring that Doraty's overtime hat trick will remain the only one in league history.
He finished the season with 34 games played with 9 goals and 19 points and also saw 4 games of action with the Buffalo Bisons of the IHL. Doraty played on final season with the Maple Leafs, limited to 11 games with a goal and 5 points. He spent the majority of the 1934-35 season with the Syracuse Stars of the IHL, averaging nearly a point per game with 12 goals and 29 points in 30 games. In the interested of completeness, he also skated in one game for the New Haven Eagles of the Can-Am league that season.
In addition to playing 7 games with Syracuse in 1935-36, Doraty returned to Cleveland to rejoin his old Indians club, which had now been renamed the Falcons. He finished second in team scoring with 27 goals and 45 points in 39 games.
The 1935-36 Cleveland Falcons
In 1936-37, the league was now known as International American Hockey League after the shrinking IHL and the Can-Am leagues merged to survive. After six games with the Falcons, Doraty became a member of the Pittsburgh Hornets, scoring 13 goals and 13 assists in 39 games.
Doraty with the Pittsburgh Hornets
Doraty played 48 games for Pittsburgh, scoring 12 goals and 29 assists, but also returned briefly in the NHL when he played two games for the Detroit Red Wings, registering one assist.
His final season as a player in 1938-39 was out west with the Seattle Seahawks of the Pacific Coast Hockey League, going out on a fine note with 25 goals and 42 points in 48 games played.
Doraty's final NHL totals were 103 games played with 15 goals and 26 assists for 41 points, with 20% of his career goals coming in the form of his record setting overtime hat trick on this date in 1934. Additionally, he scored 7 goals and 2 assists in 15 NHL playoff games, which included scoring the game winner in what was the longest game in NHL history at the time and still remains the second longest today.
Today's featured jersey is a 1934-35 Toronto Maple Leafs Ken Doraty jersey. Doraty played three seasons with the Maple Leafs, famously ending the longest game in NHL history and becoming the only player in league history to score an overtime hat trick among just 22 regular season and playoff goals scored while with the Maple Leafs.
Toronto had worn a different style sweater for Doraty's first two seasons with a different style crest originally worn since they changed their name to Maple Leafs from St. Patricks during the 1926-27 season. For the 1927-28 season, the adopted their new blue color, wearing a heavily striped blue sweater and a completely white alternate one for games against the New York Rangers. For the 1934-35 season, they added groups of three stripes to their white jerseys above and below the crest and on the arms in the art deco style of the day, while simplifying their blue jerseys to just two white stripes on the arms and waist.
Today's video section is a brief clip of the Maple Leafs and the Rangers in the 1933 Stanley Cup Final.
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