The 1918-19 NHL season was the second season of the National Hockey League. Three teams played 18 games each. Only three teams started the 1918-19, the fewest in NHL history. A major rule change was adopted at the beginning of the season allowing forward passing. The NHL the also implemented the blue line for the first time, a rule that was first introduced in the PCHA. The Stanley Cup was not awarded in 1918-19 due to an outbreak of Spanish Influenza.
Regular season
The regular season proceeded with three teams and a twenty-game split-season schedule. However, the second half of the season was cut short to eight games when the Toronto Arenas suspended operations for the year following financial difficulties. Left with only two teams, the league had its first ever best-of-seven series to determine who would meet the Pacific Coast Hockey Association champions for the Stanley Cup.
When the Toronto Arenas won the Cup in 1917-18, a monkey wrench had been thrown into the other owners scheme to get rid of Eddie Livingstone. His team was estimated now to be $20,000, and Livingstone demanded that. The Mutual Street Arena offered $7,000, but this was far from the amount he wanted, and Livingstone sued the Arena and Charlie Querrie for the $20,000. In the meantime, Hubert Vearncombe became the new owner of the Arenas. A league meeting of the old NHA proved futile; all it produced was angry exchanges between George Kennedy, Sam Lichtenhein, and Eddie Livingstone.
Percy Quinn tried to purchase the Quebec Bulldogs. He put down a downpayment, but because he tried to get with Livingstone and form a rival league, the other owners were cool to him. When Calder issued a deadline for Quinn to declare his intentions, Quinn could not meet it and the Quebec franchise was suspended for the season. Livingstone and Quinn found that the NHL had already locked up ice time for the season, and the rival league was extinguished.
Toronto was far from impressive this year. Players regularly broke training and they lost some badly played games. Worse, fans began to stay away, and after 17 games, the Arenas wanted to fold its franchise, now in bankruptcy. Calder persuaded Vearncombe to play the 18th game and then the NHL season ended at 18 games.
Major rule changes
- For minor fouls (penalties), substitutes were not allowed until the penalized player had served three minutes. For major fouls, no substitutes were allowed for five minutes. For match fouls, no substitutes were allowed for the remainder of the game.
- Two lines were added to the ice, painted twenty feet from center, creating three playing zones. Forward passing and kicking the puck were permitted in the middle neutral zone.
Final standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
| First Half | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 57 | 50 |
| Ottawa Senators | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 39 | 39 |
| Toronto Arenas | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 42 | 49 |
| Second Half | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Senators | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 32 | 14 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 31 | 28 |
| Toronto Arenas | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 43 |
Leading scorers
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsy Lalonde | Montreal Canadiens | 17 | 22 | 10 | 32 | 40 |
| Odie Cleghorn | Montreal Canadiens | 17 | 22 | 6 | 28 | 22 |
| Frank Nighbor | Ottawa Senators | 18 | 19 | 9 | 28 | 27 |
| Cy Denneny | Ottawa Senators | 18 | 18 | 4 | 22 | 58 |
| Didier Pitre | Montreal Canadiens | 17 | 14 | 5 | 19 | 12 |
| Alf Skinner | Toronto Arenas | 17 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 26 |
| Harry Cameron | Toronto / Ottawa | 14 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 35 |
| Jack Darragh | Ottawa Senators | 14 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 33 |
| Ken Randall | Toronto Arenas | 15 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 27 |
| Sprague Cleghorn | Montreal Canadiens | 18 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 27 |
Leading goaltenders
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, TOI = Time On Ice (minutes), GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average
| Player | Team | GP | W | L | T | TOI | GA | SO | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clint Benedict | Ottawa Senators | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1152 | 53 | 2 | 2.76 |
| Georges Vezina | Montreal Canadiens | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1117 | 78 | 1 | 4.19 |
| Bert Lindsay | Toronto Arenas | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 998 | 83 | 0 | 4.99 |
Stanley Cup Playoffs
All dates in 1919
With the NHL reduced to two teams eighteen games into its 20-game season, a decision was made to have the two remaining teams, coincidentally the two teams leading each half of the season, compete in a best-of-seven series to see which team would head west to battle against the Pacific Coast Hockey Association champions. Montreal would eventually win the series and face the Seattle Metropolitans for the Cup.
With the series tied after five games (with one tie), the sixth game was slated for April 1, 1919 when the Spanish Flu epidemic forced the cancellation of the series. Several players on both sides were sick because of it, and it would eventually claim the life of Canadiens' star Joe Hall four days later. Canadiens manager George Kennedy(Georges Kendall) would not recover completely. This was the only time in history when the Stanley Cup was not awarded after the playoffs began. (Interestingly, in 2001, many Minor League Baseball playoff series were also cancelled after they had begun because of terrorist attacks. In those instances, split champions were awarded.)
NHL Championship
Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 22 | Ottawa Senators | 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 8 | |
| February 27 | Ottawa Senators | 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 5 | |
| March 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 5 | Ottawa Senators | 3 | |
| March 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | Ottawa Senators | 6 | |
| March 6 | Ottawa Senators | 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 |
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1 for the O'Brien Trophy
Stanley Cup Championship
Montreal Canadiens vs. Seattle Metropolitans
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 19 | Montreal Canadiens | 0 | Seattle Metropolitans | 7 | |
| March 22 | Seattle Metropolitans | 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | |
| March 24 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | Seattle Metropolitans | 7 | |
| March 26 | Seattle Metropolitans | 0 | Montreal Canadiens | 0 | 20:00 OT |
| March 30 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | Seattle Metropolitans | 3 | 15:57 OT |
Series ended 2-2-1 and no winner awarded – playoffs were curtailed due to the influenza epidemic
NHL Playoff scoring leader
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsy Lalonde | Montreal Canadiens | 10 | 17 | 1 | 18 |
See also
References