1917–18 NHL season
The 1917-18 NHL season was the 1st regular season of the National Hockey League. Each team played 22 games, except for the Montreal Wanderers whose season was cut short due to their arena burning down. They would play six games.
Regular Season
The National Hockey League, as it exists today, was formed on November 26, 1917 after a meeting between representatives of the National Hockey Association in Montreal's Windsor Hotel. The owners of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas decided to form a new league in order to exclude Edward J. Livingston, owner of the NHA Toronto Blueshirts franchise from being involved in their future hockey operations.
The decision to form the NHL nearly proved to be a disastrous one. The new league faced stiff competition from a number of other leagues including the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), and the talent pool was decimated by World War I. Prior to the start of the 1917-1918 season, the Quebec Bulldogs dropped out of the league, and early in the season, Montreal Wanderers were forced to disband. The remaining three teams completed the inaugural season, with Toronto winning the league championship, then beating the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA in a best of five series to claim the Stanley Cup.
Standings
First Half
Team---------------------W---L---T---GF--GA--PTS
Montreal Canadiens------10---4---0---81--47---20
Toronto Arenas-----------8---6---0---71--75---16
Ottawa Senators----------5---9---0---67--79---10
Montreal Wanderers-------1---5---0---17--35----2
Second Half
Team---------------------W---L---T---GF--GA--PTS
Toronto Arenas-----------5---3---0---37--34---10
Ottawa Senators----------4---4---0---35--35----8
Montreal Canadiens-------3---5---0---34--37----6
Leading Scorers
Player, Club------------GP--G--A-PTS
Joe Malone, Montreal----20-44--4--48
Cy Denneny, Ottawa------20-36-10--46
Reg Noble, Toronto------20-30-10--40
Newsy Lalonde, Montreal-14-23--7--30
Corb Denneny, Toronto---21-20--9--29
Harry Cameron, Toronto--21-17-10--27
Didier Pitre, Montreal--20-17--6--23
Eddie Gerard, Ottawa----20-13--7--20
Jack Darragh, Ottawa----18-14--5--19
Frank Nighbor, Ottawa---10-11--8--19
Harry Meeking, Toronto--21-10--9--19
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Stanley Cup Playoffs
All dates in 1918
League Finals
Toronto vs. Montreal
Toronto wins total goals series 10-7
Stanley Cup Championship
Toronto vs. Vancouver (PCHA)
- March 20: Toronto 5-3 Vancouver
- March 23: Vancouver 6-4 Toronto
- March 26: Toronto 6-3 Vancouver
- March 28: Vancouver 8-1 Toronto
- March 30: Toronto 2-1 Vancouver
Toronto wins series 3-2