1915–16 NHA season

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1915–16 NHA season
LeagueNational Hockey Association
SportIce hockey
DurationDecember 18, 1915 – March 18, 1916
Number of games24
Number of teams5
Regular season
Top scorerNewsy Lalonde (28)
O'Brien Cup
ChampionsMontreal Canadiens
NHA seasons

The 1915–16 NHA season was the seventh season of the National Hockey Association. Five teams played a 24 game schedule. Montreal Canadiens won the league championship and defeated the Portland Rosebuds to win their first ever Stanley Cup.

League business[edit]

Toronto Blueshirts included the players from the Toronto Shamrocks/Ontarios/Tecumsehs franchise. Before the season, Ed Livingstone, the Shamrocks owner, purchased the Blueshirts franchise from Frank Robinson. At the annual meeting of November 9, 1915, he was ordered to sell the Shamrocks franchise but could not do so as the Pacific Coast Hockey Association 'raided' the franchise and signed its players.

Directors:

President Quinn instituted a rule that officials would be locked in their dressing rooms between periods to disallow influence from the press or players.

Regular season[edit]

Several players from the PCHA signed with NHA clubs:

Highlights[edit]

On January 23, 1916, Skene Ronan was arrested by Toronto police and charged with assault for hitting Alf Skinner.

On February 23, 1916, Gordon Roberts of the Wanderers drew a match penalty for cutting Ottawa's Frank Nighbor in a game in Montreal. On the next visit of the Wanderers to Ottawa, Roberts was pelted with bottles from the Ottawa fans.[1]

The race for the scoring championship was close between Newsy Lalonde of the Canadiens, Joe Malone of Quebec and Cy Denneny of Toronto. Lalonde finished with 31 goals in 25 games and Malone and Denneny tied for second with 26 goals. Clint Benedict of Ottawa had the best G.A.A. of 3.0 to surpass Georges Vezina's 3.2 goals per game. Gordon Keats of Toronto scored five goals in a game against Quebec on February 7, 1916, and finished the season with 22 goals in 24 games.

Final standings[edit]

National Hockey Association
GP W L T GF GA
Montreal Canadiens 24 16 7 1 104 76
Ottawa Senators 24 13 11 0 78 72
Quebec Bulldogs 24 10 12 2 91 98
Montreal Wanderers 24 10 14 0 90 116
Toronto Hockey Club 24 9 14 1 97 98

[2]

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against


Montreal was the O'Brien Cup champion by virtue of leading the league in its season.

Playoffs[edit]

The Canadiens hosted the Portland Rosebuds, champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), for the Stanley Cup.

Stanley Cup Finals[edit]

Champions Runners up Format Result
Montreal Canadiens Portland Rosebuds best of 5 3–2

Exhibitions[edit]

After the Stanley Cup playoff, Portland and Montreal traveled to New York for two exhibition games. The teams then played two games in Cleveland. Montreal then traveled to Boston to play the winner of an exhibition series played between Ottawa, Quebec and the Wanderers.[3]

Schedule and results[edit]

Month Day Visitor Score Home Score
Dec. 18 Canadiens 2 Toronto 1
18 Quebec 5 Wanderers 8
22 Toronto 1 Ottawa 7
22 Wanderers 3 Canadiens 2
25 Ottawa 2 Quebec 3
25 Wanderers 6 Toronto 5
29 Ottawa 0 Wanderers 4
29 Canadiens 2 Quebec 5
Jan. 1 Canadiens 4 Ottawa 2
1 Quebec 4 Toronto 3
5 Toronto 1 Canadiens 6
5 Wanderers 1 Quebec 6
8 Quebec 2 Ottawa 4
8 Canadiens 3 Wanderers 5
12 Ottawa 0 Toronto 1
12 Quebec 3 Canadiens 5
15 Ottawa 5 Canadiens 2
15 Toronto 3 Quebec 4
17 Wanderers 7 Ottawa 3
20 Toronto 4 Wanderers 7
20 Canadiens 2 Quebec 2 (20' OT)
23 Canadiens 1 Toronto 3
23 Quebec 2 Wanderers 1
25 Ottawa 6 Quebec 3
26 Toronto 1 Ottawa 2
26 Wanderers 4 Canadiens 5
29 Ottawa 5 Wanderers 4
29 Toronto 5 Quebec 6 (16'10" OT)
31 Wanderers 2 Toronto 8
Feb. 2 Quebec 0 Ottawa 4
2 Wanderers 9 Canadiens 5
5 Toronto 5 Canadiens 10
5 Wanderers 5 Quebec 8
7 Wanderers 1 Ottawa 3
7 Quebec 5 Toronto 11
9 Ottawa 2 Canadiens 3 (7'20" OT)
9 Toronto 3 Quebec 3 (20' OT)
12 Canadiens 3 Ottawa 1
12 Toronto 1 Wanderers 3
16 Ottawa 1 Toronto 3
16 Quebec 3 Canadiens 4
19 Toronto 2 Ottawa 5
19 Wanderers 3 Canadiens 1
23 Ottawa 4 Wanderers 3
23 Canadiens 3 Quebec 2
26 Ottawa 2 Toronto 9
26 Quebec 3 Canadiens 4 (15" OT)
28 Wanderers 2 Ottawa 6
Mar. 1 Wanderers 2 Quebec 6
1 Toronto 3 Canadiens 7
4 Canadiens 15 Wanderers 5
4 Quebec 5 Toronto 7
8 Quebec 5 Ottawa 8
8 Toronto 3 Wanderers 2
11 Ottawa 1 Canadiens 4
11 Wanderers 2 Toronto 10
13 Ottawa 4 Quebec 0
15 Canadiens 5 Ottawa 1
15 Quebec 6 Wanderers 1
18 Canadiens 6 Toronto 4

Player statistics[edit]

Scoring leaders[edit]

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Didier Pitre Montreal Canadiens 24 24 15 39 42
Joe Malone Quebec Bulldogs 24 25 10 35 21
Newsy Lalonde Montreal Canadiens 24 28 6 34 78
Duke Keats Toronto Blueshirts 24 22 7 29 112
Cy Denneny Toronto Blueshirts 24 24 4 28 57
Gordon Roberts Montreal Wanderers 21 18 7 25 64
Frank Nighbor Ottawa Senators 23 19 5 24 26
Corb Denneny Toronto Blueshirts 22 20 3 23 75
Rusty Crawford Quebec Bulldogs 22 18 5 23 54
Odie Cleghorn Montreal Wanderers 21 15 7 22 51

Leading goaltenders[edit]

Name Club GP GA SO Avg.
Clint Benedict Ottawa 24 72 1 3.0
Georges Vezina Canadiens 24 76 3.2
Paddy Moran Quebec 22 82 3.7
Percy LeSueur Toronto 23 92 1 4.0
Bert Lindsay Wanderers 23 110 1 4.8
Harry Holmes Toronto 1 6 6.0
Billy Hague Wanderers 1 6 6.0
Harry Rochon Quebec 2 16 8.0

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Coleman, Charles (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc. NHL.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Coleman, p. 290
  2. ^ Standings: Coleman, Charles (1966). Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 1, 1893-1926 inc. National Hockey League. p. 293.
  3. ^ "Canadiens and Rosebuds Leave for New York". Montreal Daily Mail. April 4, 1916. p. 10.
Preceded by NHA seasons
1915–16
Succeeded by