The 1931/32 NHL season was the 15th season in the National Hockey League . Eight teams played 48 games each. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup after a 3-0 win in the final series against the New York Rangers . For the first time since 1918 , fewer teams started a season than last year. The Philadelphia Quakers and the Ottawa Senators did not run this season. Ottawa paused for only a year, while Philadelphia had to do without the NHL for 36 years. Despite the recession , Conn Smythe invested in a new stadium. He was laughed at for this risk, but when 13,233 spectators attended the first game against Chicago on November 12, it was he who got the last laugh. The Bruins called for a rule change. After the Americans made 61 breaks in their 3-2 victory, they called for the introduction of today's " icing rule". The NHL refused and the Bruins thrashed the puck forward 87 times the next time they met the Americans. However, the required rule was not introduced until 1937