This Day in Hockey History – March 26, 1917 and 1919 – Stanley Firsts Part 1

By a twist of fate, during the late 1910s, the Stanley Cup championship ended on the same day every other year. In 1917, the final game was played on March 26, while in 1916 and 1918, that game took place on March 30. Then, in 1919, the game on March 26 ended in a draw that could not be counted towards the series, which never actually was finished. All four years held significance in the history of professional hockey.

In March 1917, the Montreal Canadiens, in their final season before the NHA made way for the NHL, played the top Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) team for the Stanley Cup. Although the Cup had originally been intended to reward “the championship hockey club in the Dominion of Canada,” the PCHA was represented by the Seattle Metropolitans, who hosted the championship series in the U.S. All games would begin at 8:30 p.m. at the Arena (on Fifth and University Streets, Seattle), which did not allow smoking. The teams would play a best-of-five series alternating between the Eastern rules and the Pacific Coast rules. The latter still used a rover and called off-side while the former allowed for any player called for a penalty to merely be swapped for another player (rather than skate shorthanded). Although this would be Seattle’s first title competition, they were considered to have a slight advantage (other than the Canadiens having top goalie Georges Vezina).

The Canadiens passed through Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 16 to arrive at Seattle in time for a workout before the first game on March 17. They brought ten men, including Newsy Lalonde, who was supposed to have been “ruled off the ice for the rest of the season for undue roughness.” He was allowed to play and earned himself the first penalty of the series. That first game was practically sold out, and young fans climbed on the roof to watch through the transoms. Following the Pacific Coast style with seven men, the Canadiens had 31 penalty minutes compared to just three for the Mets. However, Seattle had poor defense (especially in goalie Harry Holmes) and later claimed to have partied too hard coming into the game, resulting in their 8-4 loss to Montreal.

The second game followed Eastern rules on Tuesday, March 20. Seattle Coach Pete Muldoon promised, “It will be a different team that faces the Canadiens tonight.” Indeed, Holmes “evidently didn’t like what the fans said of his work in the first game,” so “he left nothing to be desired. Meanwhile, the Seattle Star reported, “The poor Canadiens looked like a bunch of wooden-legged men on skates compared to the flashy speed work of the local lads.” Lalonde again caused trouble, when during a third-period fight he hit the referee “below the belt” with his stick, earning himself a 10-minute penalty and $25 fine. Seattle won this round 6-1, which boosted public opinion on the Eastern style of play. “It seems faster and apparently leaves more room for action than the Pacific Coast brand,” claimed the Star.

For the third game, on Friday, March 23, the rules reverted to Pacific Coast style, and there were even more fans who were even more wild. Seattle’s “speed and youth triumphed over age and experience” because their “combination plays were put over with snap and zip and their long rushes down the ice were zig-zagged most successfully.” Poor Vezina felt like “some one was shooting pucks at him a basketful at a time out of a cannon.” Thus, Seattle won 4-1.

On Monday, March 26, 1917, the championship series came to a close. The Seattle Star commented, “Last night’s game lacked the dash and vim of the earlier contests. Members of both teams were evidently pretty much fagged with the pace they have been forced to go in this series.” They must have been too tired to fight because “not a man was sent off the ice for roughness.” The Mets blew away the Canadiens 9-1, so Seattle became the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup. That was also the last championship played without the NHL.

Jambornik, via Wikimedia Commons

Two years later, the Seattle Metropolitans and the Montreal Canadiens again played each other for the 1919 Stanley Cup championships. As before, the best-of-five series would be played at the Arena in Seattle with each game beginning at 8:30 and alternating between the two styles of play.

The first game, held on Wednesday, March 19, 1919 followed the Western rules. According to the Star, “The visitors, who are used to the six-man hockey, without the regulations governing center ice, were puzzled by the Mets’ passing game.” Seattle’s goalie, Holmes still, earned a shutout when he “put up the most finished goal-tending job that has ever been seen in the local rink.” The Mets scored seven goals while blanking the Canadiens.

Following Eastern rules, the second game was played on Saturday, March 22. This time, the “Easterners outskated and outplayed the Coast kings of the ice in every frame except the last ten minutes of the struggle.” Although fans booed the Canadiens for playing rough with much tripping, their “bad boy” Captain Lalonde was more concerned with offense and made all four of their goals. Thanks to him, the Canadiens won 4-2.

Newsy Lalonde, via Wikimedia Commons

That Monday, March 24, the teams played the third game by Western rules. It became obvious that the teams had the advantage in their own style of play as Seattle “played a dazzling combination game” while Montreal’s defense suffered. The Seattle Star wise-cracked, “Vezina, the Canadien goalie, stopped the puck last night with about as much effect as an eggshell fort would stop a ‘Big Bertha’ shell. If this bird is the best goalie in hockey, we would like to see the worst.” Seattle took the lead with a 7-2 victory.

As of Wednesday, March 26, 1919, the series was completely thrown off course. “The play was rough and both teams put up a defensive, close-checking game that made scoring impossible,” summarized the Star. The teams had a scoreless tie after regulation and two ten-minute overtime sessions. According to Eastern rules, the game should be called a draw at that point, and despite debating the issue, the officials chose to adhere. That meant that the game would not count towards the series and the fourth game essentially had to be played again on Saturday, March 29. Since it was a do-over, the game stuck with Eastern rules. Both teams were injury-ridden, but Seattle was deemed slightly worse off. Still, the Mets led 3-0 until Montreal rallied up a tie during the third period. After 15 minutes of overtime, Jack McDonald scored the winner for Montreal. That tied up the series to force a fifth (and deciding) game.

Unfortunately, the deciding game was never played. Thanks to the delay with the fourth game, the final was rescheduled from Friday, March 28 to Tuesday, April 1. Before it could be played, Canadiens manager George Kennedy and five of his players came down with the influenza sweeping across the globe. Captain Newsy Lalonde, Louis Berlinquette, and Billy Coutu were confined to their beds, while Joe Hall and Jack McDonald were sent to the local hospital. Hall died in mere days, and Kennedy’s weakness from the flu led to his death in a few years. Kennedy had offered to borrow players from Victoria to finish the series or to forfeit, but Seattle and the PCHA refused both offers. Instead, officials decided to distribute payments for the series evenly to all the players (instead of the intended 60-40 split between the winners and losers). The Seattle Star reported on April 2, “There is absolutely no chance of the series being finished, as the lease on the Arena has expired and the ice has been taken up.” All exhibition games were also canceled.

The 1918-19 season was the first of only two in which the Stanley Cup was not awarded and the only one in which the playoffs were not completed. For 1919, the Stanley Cup was engraved, “Montreal Canadiens, Seattle Metropolitans, series not completed.”

The Seattle Metropolitans folded in 1924, but the NHL recently awarded Seattle a franchise to begin play in the 2021-22 season. Perhaps someday Seattle will face the Montreal Canadiens again to claim the Stanley Cup.

Stay tuned (on March 30) for Part 2!

 Additional Sources:

• Mike Commito, Hockey 365: Daily Stories from the Ice (Toronto: Dundurn, 2018), kindle edition.
• “Canadiens Won Title Series Last Season,” Seattle Star, 15 March 1917, p. 9.
• Edward Hill, “First Game of Ice Hockey Series on Tonight,” Seattle Star, 17 March 1917, p. 5.
• “Hockey,” Seattle Star, 19 March 1917, p. 9.
• “Second Game of Ice Hockey World’s Series Scheduled in Arena Tonight,” Seattle Star, 20 March 1917, p. 9.
• Edward Hill, “Seattle Beats Montreal Canadien Hockey Team in Arena, 6 to 1,” Seattle Star, 21 March 1917, p. 9.
• “Seattle and Montreal Teams Tangle in Third World’s Series Game Tonight,” Seattle Star, 23 March 1917, p. 13.
• “Seattle Winner in Third World’s Series Ice Hockey Contest in Arena, 4 to 1,” Seattle Star, 24 March 1917, p. 7.
• “Seattle Squad Wins World’s Ice Hockey Championship from Fast Montreal Canadiens in 4 Games,” Seattle Star, 27 March 1917, p. 9.
• Leo H. Lassen, “Seattle Mets Trounce Flying Frenchmen, 7-0, in the First Title Game,” Seattle Star, 20 March 1919, p. 11.
• Leo H. Lassen, “Les Canadiens Annex Second Ice Title Mix,” Seattle Star, 24 March 1919, p. 10.
• Leo H. Lassen, “Mets Trounce Les Canadiens in Third Mix,” Seattle Star, 25 March 1919, p. 10.
• “Les Canadiens Fighting With Backs to Wall,” Seattle Star, 26 March 1919, p. 10.
• Leo H. Lassen, “Crucial Mix of Puck Classic Ends in Draw,” Seattle Star, 27 March 1919, p. 12.
• “Seattle Mets May Win Hockey Title Tonight; Teams Are Banged Up,” Seattle Star, 29 March 1919, p. 10.
• Leo H. Lassen, “Frenchmen, With Backs to Wall, Stage Heroic Rally and Cop Ice Tilt,” Seattle Star, 31 March 1919, p. 10.
• “Greatest Ice Series a Tie; ‘Flu’ Did It,” Seattle Star, 2 April 1919, p. 10.
• https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/remembering-when-the-nhl-canceled-the-1919-cup-final-due-to-flu-pandemic/