1917–18 Montreal Canadiens season
Encyclopedia
The 1917–18 Montreal Canadiens
season was the team's ninth
season
and first as a member of the new National Hockey League
(NHL). The Canadiens sided with other members of the National Hockey Association
(NHA) and voted to suspend the NHA and start the NHL to expel the Toronto Blueshirts
ownership. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half of the season, but lost the playoff to the temporary Toronto
franchise, made up of Blueshirts players.
The club 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".
, Joe Malone and Walter Mummery
. Georges Vezina
led the league in goals against average of 4 per game and Joe Malone had an outstanding 44 goals in 20 games to lead the league in goals.
The team was forced to return to its former arena the Jubilee Rink after the Montreal Arena
burned down on January 2, 1918. The rival Montreal Wanderers
folded after the fire, leaving only three teams (Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto) to continue the season. The Wanderers' players were dispersed and the Canadiens picked up Billy Bell and Jack McDonald.
On January 28, 1918, when Canadiens visited Toronto, Toronto's Alf Skinner and Montreal's Joe Hall
got into a stick-swinging duel. Both players received match penalties, $15 fines and were arrested by the Toronto Police for disorderly conduct, for which they received suspended sentences.
† Montreal Arena burned down and Wanderers withdraw. Two Wanderers games count
as wins for Canadiens and Toronto.
Second half
in a playoff to decided the league championship. In a two-game, total-goals series, Toronto won the first game 7–3 and Montreal won the second game 4–3. Toronto won the series 10–7 and proceeded to the Stanley Cup
playoffs.
Toronto wins total goals series 10–7 for the O'Brien Cup
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Montreal. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
Source:
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
season was the team's ninth
Montreal Canadiens seasons
This is a list of seasons completed by the Montreal Canadiens professional ice hockey club. This list documents the records and playoff results for all seasons the Canadiens completed in both the National Hockey Association and the National Hockey League .-NHA :Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins,...
season
Season (sports)
In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an...
and first as a member of the new National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL). The Canadiens sided with other members of the National Hockey Association
National Hockey Association
The National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...
(NHA) and voted to suspend the NHA and start the NHL to expel the Toronto Blueshirts
Toronto Blueshirts
The Toronto Hockey Club, known as the Torontos and the Toronto Blue Shirts were a professional National Hockey Association team that played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
ownership. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half of the season, but lost the playoff to the temporary Toronto
Toronto Arenas
The Toronto Arenas, Toronto Blueshirts or Torontos was a professional men's ice hockey team that played in the first two seasons of the National Hockey League . It was operated by the owner of the Arena Gardens, the Toronto Arena Company...
franchise, made up of Blueshirts players.
Team business
Regular season
Quebec did not ice a team for the season. Quebec's players were dispersed by draft and Montreal chose Joe HallJoe Hall
Joseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic...
, Joe Malone and Walter Mummery
Walter Mummery
Walter Mummery was a professional ice hockey player. He played for the Quebec Bulldogs from 1914 until 1917. His brother Harry also played professional hockey.-Playing career:...
. Georges Vezina
Georges Vézina
Joseph-Georges-Gonzague Vézina was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played seven seasons in the National Hockey Association and nine in the National Hockey League , all with the Montreal Canadiens...
led the league in goals against average of 4 per game and Joe Malone had an outstanding 44 goals in 20 games to lead the league in goals.
The team was forced to return to its former arena the Jubilee Rink after the Montreal Arena
Montreal Arena
The Montreal Arena, also known as Westmount Arena, was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the corner of St. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue. It was likely one of the first arenas designed expressly for hockey, opening in 1898...
burned down on January 2, 1918. The rival Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
folded after the fire, leaving only three teams (Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto) to continue the season. The Wanderers' players were dispersed and the Canadiens picked up Billy Bell and Jack McDonald.
On January 28, 1918, when Canadiens visited Toronto, Toronto's Alf Skinner and Montreal's Joe Hall
Joe Hall
Joseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic...
got into a stick-swinging duel. Both players received match penalties, $15 fines and were arrested by the Toronto Police for disorderly conduct, for which they received suspended sentences.
Final standings
- Wanderers defaulted scheduled games against the Canadiens (Jan. 2, 1918) and Toronto (Jan. 5, 1918), when their arena burned down. These appear as losses in the standings, but the games were not played.
Game log
First half| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. | 19 | Ottawa | 4 | Canadiens | 7 |
| 21 | Canadiens | 11 | Wanderers | 2 | |
| 26 | Canadiens | 5 | Toronto | 7 | |
| 29 | Toronto | 2 | Canadiens | 9 | |
| Jan. | 2† | Wanderers | - | Canadiens | - |
| 5 | Ottawa | 5 | Canadiens | 6 (27' OT) | |
| 9 | Canadiens | 4 | Toronto | 6 | |
| 12 | Ottawa | 4 | Canadiens | 9 | |
| 19 | Toronto | 1 | Canadiens | 5 | |
| 21 | Canadiens | 5 | Ottawa | 3 | |
| 23 | Ottawa | 4 | Canadiens | 3 | |
| 28 | Canadiens | 1 | Toronto | 5 | |
| 30 | Canadiens | 5 | Ottawa | 2 | |
| Feb. | 2 | Toronto | 2 | Canadiens | 11 |
† Montreal Arena burned down and Wanderers withdraw. Two Wanderers games count
as wins for Canadiens and Toronto.
Second half
| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. | 6 | Canadiens | 3 | Ottawa | 6 |
| 9 | Toronto | 7 | Canadiens | 3 | |
| 16 | Ottawa | 4 | Canadiens | 10 | |
| 18 | Canadiens | 9 | Toronto | 0 | |
| 20 | Toronto | 4 | Canadiens | 5 | |
| 25 | Canadiens | 0 | Ottawa | 8 | |
| 27 | Ottawa | 3 | Canadiens | 1 (at Quebec) | |
| Mar. | 2 | Canadiens | 3 | Toronto | 5 |
Playoffs
The Canadiens played the TorontosToronto Arenas
The Toronto Arenas, Toronto Blueshirts or Torontos was a professional men's ice hockey team that played in the first two seasons of the National Hockey League . It was operated by the owner of the Arena Gardens, the Toronto Arena Company...
in a playoff to decided the league championship. In a two-game, total-goals series, Toronto won the first game 7–3 and Montreal won the second game 4–3. Toronto won the series 10–7 and proceeded to the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
playoffs.
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 11 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | Toronto | 7 | |
| March 13 | Toronto | 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 |
Toronto wins total goals series 10–7 for the O'Brien Cup
O'Brien Trophy
The O'Brien Trophy, or O'Brien Cup, as labelled on the trophy itself, is a retired trophy that was awarded in the National Hockey Association and the National Hockey League ice hockey leagues of North America from 1910 to 1950. It was originally donated to the NHA by Canadian Senator M.J....
Skaters
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | # | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| Joe Malone | 7 | 20 | 44 | 4 | 48 | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Newsy Lalonde Newsy Lalonde Édouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League and a professional lacrosse player, regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse's greatest players of the first half of the 20th century and one of sport's most colourful characters... |
4 | 14 | 23 | 7 | 30 | 51 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 17 | ||
| Didier Pitre Didier Pitre Joseph George Didier "Cannonball" Pitre was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He was nicked named "Cannonball". One of the first players to join the Montreal Canadiens, Pitre's French-Canadian heritage helped give his line-mates the nickname the Flying Frenchmen, brought upon by his... |
5 | 20 | 17 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | ||
| Bert Corbeau Bert Corbeau Bertram Orian "Pig Iron" Corbeau was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, Hamilton Tigers, Toronto St. Pats, and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a member of the Montreal Canadiens first Stanley Cup championship... |
2 | 21 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 41 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | ||
| Joe Hall Joe Hall Joseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic... |
3 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 100 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | ||
| Jack McDonald† | 11 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Billy Coutu Billy Coutu Wilfrid Arthur Coutu was a professional Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, the Hamilton Tigers, and the Boston Bruins... |
9 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 49 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jack Laviolette Jack Laviolette Jean-Baptiste "Jack" Laviolette was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played nine seasons for the Montreal Canadiens hockey club and was their first Captain, Coach, and General Manager.... |
6 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Louis Berlinguette | 8 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Evariste Payer Evariste Payer Evariste Payer was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey Association and one game for the Canadiens in the National Hockey League .... |
12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Billy Bell† | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||||||
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Montreal. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | # | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | GAA | ||
| Georges Vezina Georges Vézina Joseph-Georges-Gonzague Vézina was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played seven seasons in the National Hockey Association and nine in the National Hockey League , all with the Montreal Canadiens... |
1 | 21 | 1282 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 84 | 1 | 3.93 | 2 | 120 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 5.00 | ||
Transactions
- acquired Joe HallJoe HallJoseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic...
, Joe Malone and Walter MummeryWalter MummeryWalter Mummery was a professional ice hockey player. He played for the Quebec Bulldogs from 1914 until 1917. His brother Harry also played professional hockey.-Playing career:...
from Quebec BulldogsQuebec BulldogsThe Quebec Bulldogs were a men's senior-level ice hockey team officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club, later as the Quebec Athletic Club. Their recorded play goes back as far as the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1889, although the Quebec Hockey Club is known to have played since 1880...
in Dispersal Draft, November 26, 1917 - acquired Billy Bell and Jack McDonald from Montreal WanderersMontreal WanderersThe Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
in Dispersal Draft, January 4, 1918 - signed Evariste PayerEvariste PayerEvariste Payer was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey Association and one game for the Canadiens in the National Hockey League ....
as a free agent, January 29, 1918
Roster
- Georges VezinaGeorges VézinaJoseph-Georges-Gonzague Vézina was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played seven seasons in the National Hockey Association and nine in the National Hockey League , all with the Montreal Canadiens...
- Billy Bell, Louis BerlinquetteLouis BerlinquetteLouis Dieudonné Berlinguette was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 8 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Maroons and Pittsburgh Pirates...
, Bert CorbeauBert CorbeauBertram Orian "Pig Iron" Corbeau was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, Hamilton Tigers, Toronto St. Pats, and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a member of the Montreal Canadiens first Stanley Cup championship...
, Billy CoutuBilly CoutuWilfrid Arthur Coutu was a professional Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, the Hamilton Tigers, and the Boston Bruins...
, Joe HallJoe HallJoseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic...
, Newsy LalondeNewsy LalondeÉdouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League and a professional lacrosse player, regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse's greatest players of the first half of the 20th century and one of sport's most colourful characters...
, Jack LavioletteJack LavioletteJean-Baptiste "Jack" Laviolette was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played nine seasons for the Montreal Canadiens hockey club and was their first Captain, Coach, and General Manager....
, Joe Malone, Jack McDonald, Evariste PayerEvariste PayerEvariste Payer was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey Association and one game for the Canadiens in the National Hockey League ....
, Didier PitreDidier PitreJoseph George Didier "Cannonball" Pitre was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He was nicked named "Cannonball". One of the first players to join the Montreal Canadiens, Pitre's French-Canadian heritage helped give his line-mates the nickname the Flying Frenchmen, brought upon by his...
Source:
See also
- 1917–18 NHL season
- List of Stanley Cup champions