1916–17 Ottawa Senators season

The 1916–17 Ottawa Senators season was the Ottawa Hockey Club's 32nd season of play. This was the 8th and final season of the National Hockey Association. Teams were to play two half-seasons of 10 games each, though this was disrupted. Ottawa won the second half and played off against first-half winner Montreal Canadiens for the NHA title, but lost.

1916–17 Ottawa Senators
League1st (2nd half) NHA
1916–17 record7–3–0, 8–2–0
Goals for78
Goals against72
Team information
General managerTed Dey
CoachAlf Smith,
Eddie Gerard
ArenaThe Arena
Team leaders
GoalsFrank Nighbor (41)
Goals against averageClint Benedict (2.8)

Team business

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The Ottawa club wanted to suspend play for the season due to the war, but was voted down.

Regular season

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Suspending the Blueshirts

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On February 10, 1917, the Blueshirts played their final game, losing 4–1 at home to Ottawa. The following day, a meeting of the NHA executive in Montreal was held to deal with the 228th Battalion leaving for overseas. Toronto proposed continuing with a five-team league, but the other owners instead voted to suspend Toronto's team. The players were dispersed by a drawing of names.[1] The following day, President Robinson was quoted as stating that the players would return to the club after the season, but he would not guarantee that the club would be allowed to return to play, stating that would be decided at the NHA annual meeting.[2]

Continuing the season

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Ottawa, while not unhappy at the suspension of Toronto, nevertheless lost a game for the use of Cy Denneny in a game against the 228th, and saw the Wanderers and Quebec receive wins for games against the 228th. The club threatened to not play for the rest of the season.[3] However, cooler heads prevailed and Ottawa went back to work.[4]

Final standings

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National Hockey Association
First Half GP W L T GF GA
Montreal Canadiens 10 7 3 0 58 38
Ottawa Senators 10 7 3 0 56 41
Toronto 228th Battalion 10 6 4 0 70 57
Toronto Hockey Club 10 5 5 0 50 45
Montreal Wanderers 10 3 7 0 56 72
Quebec Bulldogs 10 2 8 0 43 80
Second Half GP W L T GF GA
Ottawa Senators 10 8 2 0 63 22
Quebec Bulldogs 10 8 2 0 54 46
Montreal Canadiens 10 3 7 0 31 42
Montreal Wanderers 10 2 8 0 38 65

[5]

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against
After the 228th Battalion dropped out, and Toronto suspended, the schedule was revised so that the remaining teams would play a 20 game schedule of two halves
containing 10 games each. Some of the games to that point were moved into the second half. The 'second half' standings therefore include some games that the
228th and Toronto played.


Results

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First half
Month Day Visitor Score Home Score
Dec. 27 Ottawa 7 228th 10
30 Canadiens 1 Ottawa 7
Jan. 3 Ottawa 10 Wanderers 5
6 Toronto 2 Ottawa 3
10 Ottawa 4 Quebec 5
13 228th 1 Ottawa 1
17 Ottawa 3 Canadiens 2
20 Wanderers 5 Ottawa 8
24 Ottawa 5 Toronto 8
27 Quebec 2 Ottawa 7
Second half
Month Day Visitor Score Home Score
Jan. 31 228th 0 Ottawa‡ 8
Feb. 3 Ottawa 2 Canadiens 1
7 Wanderers 5 Ottawa 8
10 Ottawa 4 Toronto 1
14 Canadiens 1 Ottawa 4
17 Ottawa 2 Quebec 3 (16' OT)
21 Ottawa 5 Wanderers 3
24 Wanderers 6 Ottawa 11
28 Ottawa 3 Canadiens 1
Mar. 3 Quebec 1 Ottawa 16

‡ Ottawa lost game on use of ineligible Cy Denneny.
† Wanderers given win for this game in revised second half.
* 228th was ordered overseas. Toronto club was suspended by league.

Scoring

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Player Team GP G
Frank Nighbor Ottawa 19 41
Jack Darragh Ottawa 20 26
Corb Denneny Toronto / Ottawa 20 19
Eddie Gerard Ottawa 19 17
Hamby Shore Ottawa 19 11
George Boucher Ottawa 18 10
Ed Lowrey Ottawa 19 3
Cy Denneny Ottawa 10 3
Horace Merrill Ottawa 18 1
Ernie Staveneau Ottawa 3 0
Jack Fournier Ottawa 8 0

Leading goaltenders

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Name Club GP GA SO Avg.
Clint Benedict Ottawa 18 50 1 2.8
Ossie Lang Ottawa 1 5 5.0
Sam Hebert Quebec/Ottawa 15 84 5.6

Playoffs

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Game-by-Game Winning team Score Losing team Location
1 March 7 Montreal Canadiens 5–2 Ottawa Senators Montreal Arena
2 March 10 Ottawa Senators 4–2 Montreal Canadiens The Arena, Ottawa
Canadiens win two-game playoff 7–6

The Montreal Canadiens won the O'Brien Cup, but lost to the Seattle Metropolitans of the PCHA in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Awards and records

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See also

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References

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  • Coleman, Charles (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc. NHL.
  1. ^ "Torontos Out of Pro League". The Globe. February 12, 1917. p. 9.
  2. ^ "NHA Asks $3,000 from 228th Battalion". The Globe. February 13, 1917. p. 9.
  3. ^ "Ottawa to Quit, Too, if NHA Ruling "Goes"". The Globe. February 13, 1917. p. 9.
  4. ^ "Ottawa Club Decides to Finish the Season". The Globe. February 14, 1917. p. 9.
  5. ^ Standings: Coleman, Charles (1966). Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 1, 1893-1926 inc. National Hockey League. p. 315.