1917–18 Montreal Canadiens season

1917–18 Montreal Canadiens
1917–18 record 10–4–0 (1st half), 3–5–0 (2nd half)
Goals for 115
Goals against 84
Team information
General Manager George Kennedy
Coach Newsy Lalonde
Captain Newsy Lalonde
Arena Montreal Arena/Jubilee Rink
Team leaders
Goals Joe Malone (44)
Penalties in minutes Joe Hall (60)
Goals against average Georges Vezina (4.0)
<1916–17 1918–19>

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.

Team business

the 1917–18 logo

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".

Regular season

Quebec did not ice a team for the season. Quebec's players were dispersed by draft and Montreal chose Joe Hall, Joe Malone and Walter Mummery.[1] 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.

Final standings

First Half
GP W L T Pts GF GA
Montreal Canadiens 14 10 4 0 20 81 47
Toronto Hockey Club 14 8 6 0 16 71 75
Ottawa Senators 14 5 9 0 10 67 79
Montreal Wanderers 6 1 5 0 2 17 35
Second Half
GP W L T Pts GF GA
Toronto Hockey Club 8 5 3 0 10 37 34
Ottawa Senators 8 4 4 0 8 35 35
Montreal Canadiens 8 3 5 0 6 34 37

[2] Note: 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.
The 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.[3]

Schedule and results

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 Torontos in a playoff to decide 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.

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
March 11Montreal Canadiens 3 Toronto 7
March 13Toronto 3 Montreal Canadiens 4

Toronto wins total goals series 10–7 for the O'Brien Cup

Player statistics

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 Malone7 20444483021010
Newsy Lalonde4 142373051242617
Didier Pitre5 201762329201113
Bert Corbeau2 21881641211211
Joe Hall3 218715100201113
Jack McDonald11 891101221010
Billy Coutu9 202244920000
Jack Laviolette6 18213620000
Louis Berlinguette8 202131220000
Evariste Payer12 10000-----
Billy Bell10 60006-----

†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 Vezina1 21128212908413.932120111005.00

Transactions

Roster

Source:

References

  1. "Pro League to Operate". The Globe. 1917-11-27. p. 13.
  2. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al., eds. THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  3. Holzman, Morey; Joseph Nieforth (2002). "Lichtenhein Loses the War". Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey. Toronto: Dundurn Press. pp. 169–70. ISBN 1-55002-413-2. The league did not accept the Wanderers' resignation immediately, electing to wait and see whether the team showed up for its scheduled match in Toronto on Saturday January 5. ... The deadline did expire, and the once-powerful team that had been known as the Little Men of Iron was thrown onto the scrap heap of hockey history. The Wanderers' scheduled games of January 2 and 5 were officially recorded in the standings as victories for their respective opponents, the Canadiens and Torontos.
  4. Holzman, Morey; Joseph Nieforth (2002). "Lichtenhein Loses the War". Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey. Toronto: Dundurn Press. pp. 169–70. ISBN 1-55002-413-2. The league did not accept the Wanderers' resignation immediately, electing to wait and see whether the team showed up for its scheduled match in Toronto on Saturday January 5. ... The deadline did expire, and the once-powerful team that had been known as the Little Men of Iron was thrown onto the scrap heap of hockey history. The Wanderers' scheduled games of January 2 and 5 were officially recorded in the standings as victories for their respective opponents, the Canadiens and Torontos.

See also

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