1917–18 NHL season facts for kids

The 1917–18 NHL season was the very first season for the National Hockey League (NHL). This exciting season was split into two parts. The first part ran from December 19 to February 4, and the second part from February 6 to March 6. The Montreal Canadiens won the first half of the season. The team from Toronto won the second half.

Sadly, the Montreal Wanderers team had to leave the league early in January 1918. Their home rink, the Westmount Arena, burned down. After the playoffs, Toronto won the NHL championship. They then went on to win the famous Stanley Cup! They beat the PCHA's Vancouver Millionaires in a best-of-five series, winning three games to two.

How the League Started

On November 10, 1917, a big meeting happened for the NHA (National Hockey Association). Frank Calder, who was the NHA secretary, led the meeting. At this meeting, the NHA teams decided to stop playing.

A week later, on November 17, 1917, it was announced that the Quebec Bulldogs team would not play the next season. But people still thought the NHA season would continue.

Then, on November 26, 1917, representatives from the NHA clubs met again. This time, they met at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal. They made a big decision: to start a brand new league! They named it the National Hockey League, or NHL.

They also decided on some important things for the new NHL:

• The rules for the new league would be the same as the old NHA.
• Frank Calder was chosen to be the first president and secretary.
• M. J. Quinn from Quebec was named an honorary president.
• The first teams in the NHL would be the Ottawa Senators, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Montreal Wanderers.
• The players from the Quebec Bulldogs team were sent to play for the other teams.

A team from Toronto was also part of the new league. The Arena Gardens company would manage this team for a while. This was because there was a problem with who truly owned the Toronto team. The team had players from the Toronto Blueshirts. Some of these players had been sent to other NHA teams before.

The person who owned the Toronto teams, Eddie Livingstone, agreed to this plan. However, the other NHL owners did not want to share any money with him. Livingstone later sued for the Toronto team's earnings in 1918. George Kennedy, who owned the Canadiens, later said that the Toronto players belonged to the NHL. He said they were only "loaned" to the Arena Company.

The Toronto team played without a special nickname for this first season. Later, they would become known as the "Toronto Arenas."

The NHL was not planned to be a permanent league at first. It was only supposed to exist until the NHA could sort out its team problems. The NHA was involved in a lawsuit against a team called the 228th Battalion. This team had played in the NHA the year before. The NHA could not stop operating until that lawsuit was finished.

New Rules for the NHL

The O'Brien Cup was given to the new NHL from the NHA. This trophy became the league's championship award. The team that won the NHL playoffs would get the O'Brien Cup. That team would then go on to play for the Stanley Cup against teams from other leagues.

On January 9, 1918, the league made an important new rule. They decided to let goaltenders drop to the ice to make saves. This was the first rule change ever made in the National Hockey League. They made this rule because of Ottawa's goalie, Clint Benedict. He would often fall to the ice to stop the puck, even though it was against the old rules.

The Regular Season

The new NHL had some trouble finding enough players. This was because there were other hockey leagues at the time, like the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. Also, many young men were fighting in World War I. This meant they could not play hockey.

The Montreal Wanderers team faced problems right from the start of the season. They won their first home game, but only about 700 people came to watch. The Wanderers then lost their next three games. The team owner, Lichtenhein, said he would pull the team out of the league unless he could get more players.

They could have picked Joe Malone, who was a top scorer, in the player draft. But instead, they looked to the PCHA and signed a goalie named Hap Holmes. They were also allowed to sign other players like Frank Foyston and Jack Walker. The Wanderers loaned Holmes to a PCHA team, but he eventually came back to the NHL to play for Toronto.

A league meeting was planned to talk about the Wanderers' problems. But on January 2, 1918, something else happened that changed everything. The Montreal Arena burned down! This left both the Canadiens and the Wanderers without a place to play. The Canadiens moved to the smaller Jubilee Rink. The Hamilton arena offered to let the Wanderers play there. But instead, the Wanderers' owner decided to shut down the team on January 4. This happened after the other clubs refused to give him any more players. The remaining three teams finished the season.

The last player from this first NHL season to play in the league was Reg Noble. He retired after the 1933 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Important Moments

The very first game of the season was between Toronto and the Wanderers. Montreal's Dave Ritchie scored the first goal in NHL history! Harry Hyland scored four goals in the Wanderers' 10–9 victory. This would be their only win in the NHL. Only 700 people watched this opening game.

On January 28, when the Canadiens visited Toronto, players Alf Skinner and Joe Hall started swinging their sticks at each other. Both players were given big penalties and $15 fines. The Toronto Police even arrested them for getting into trouble. They were later given suspended sentences.

Final Standings

The Wanderers did not play their scheduled games against the Canadiens (January 2, 1918) and Toronto (January 5, 1918). This was because their arena burned down. These games were counted as losses for the Wanderers in the standings, even though they were not played.

As author Holzman wrote, "The league did not accept the Wanderers' resignation right away. They waited to see if the team would show up for its game in Toronto on Saturday, January 5. ... The deadline passed, and the once-powerful team was gone from hockey history. The Wanderers' games on January 2 and 5 were officially recorded as wins for the Canadiens and Torontos."

Game Results

First half

† The Montreal Arena burned down and the Wanderers left the league. Two Wanderers games were counted as wins for the Canadiens and Toronto.

Second half

Top Scorers

Here are the players who scored the most points during the season. GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes

Best Goalies

Here are the top goaltenders from the season.

Playoffs

All dates in 1918

NHL Championship

The Montreal Canadiens won the first half of the NHL season. Toronto won the second half. These two teams then played a two-game series to decide the NHL champion. The team with the most total goals after both games would win the O'Brien Cup. Toronto won this series and moved on to the Stanley Cup finals.

Toronto vs. Montreal Canadiens

Toronto won the total goals series 10–7 and received the O'Brien Cup.

Stanley Cup Finals

After winning the NHL Championship, Toronto played against the Vancouver Millionaires for the Stanley Cup.

Vancouver Millionaires vs. Toronto

Toronto won the best-of-five series 3 games to 2 and lifted the Stanley Cup!

Top Playoff Scorers

Here are the players who scored the most points during the playoffs. GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

New Players

Here is a list of important players who played their very first NHL game in the 1917–18 season. This list does not include players who had already played in the NHA.

• Jack Adams, Toronto

Last Games

Here is a list of important players who played their last game in the NHL during the 1917–18 season.

• Jack Laviolette, Montreal Canadiens
• Art Ross, Montreal Wanderers
• Harry Hyland, Ottawa Senators

Images for kids

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  Ruins of the Montreal Arena after the fire.

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  1917–18 season Toronto Arenas team. Top row, from left: Rusty Crawford, Harry Meeking, Ken Randall, Corbett Denneny, Harry Cameron. Middle row, from left: Dick Carroll, Jack Adams, Charles Querrie, Alf Skinner, Frank Carroll. Bottom row, from left: O'Brien Cup, Harry Mummery, Harry "Hap" Homes, Reg Noble, Stanley Cup.