1917–18 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1917–18 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's ninth season and first as a member of the new National Hockey League (NHL). The Canadiens sided with other members of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and voted to suspend the NHA and start the NHL to expel the Toronto Blueshirts ownership. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half of the season, but lost the playoff to the temporary Toronto franchise, made up of Blueshirts players.

1917–18 Montreal Canadiens
League1st (1st half), 3rd (2nd half) NHL
1917–18 record10–4–0 (1st half), 3–5–0 (2nd half)
Goals for115
Goals against84
Team information
General managerGeorge Kennedy
CoachNewsy Lalonde
CaptainNewsy Lalonde
ArenaMontreal Arena/Jubilee Rink
Team leaders
GoalsJoe Malone (44)
Penalty minutesJoe Hall (60)
Goals against averageGeorges Vezina (4.00)

Team business

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the 1917–18 logo

The club changed its name to "Club de Hockey Canadien Ltd." from "Club Athletic Canadien". The logo on the jersey was changed to reflect this, substituting the "A" within the "C" with an "H".

Regular season

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Quebec did not ice a team for the season. Quebec's players were dispersed by draft and Montreal chose Joe Hall, Joe Malone and Walter Mummery.[1] Georges Vezina led the league in goals against average of 4 per game and Joe Malone had 44 goals in 20 games to lead the league in goals.

The team was forced to return to its former arena the Jubilee Rink after the Montreal Arena burned down on January 2, 1918. The rival Montreal Wanderers folded after the fire, leaving only three teams (Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto) to continue the season. The Wanderers' players were dispersed and the Canadiens picked up Billy Bell and Jack McDonald.

On January 28, 1918, when Canadiens visited Toronto, Toronto's Alf Skinner and Montreal's Joe Hall got into a stick-swinging duel. Both players received match penalties, $15 fines and were arrested by the Toronto Police for disorderly conduct, for which they received suspended sentences.

Final standings

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First half
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Montreal Canadiens 14 10 4 0 81 47 +34 20 Qualification for the playoffs
2 Toronto Hockey Club 14 8 6 0 71 75 −4 16
3 Ottawa Senators 14 5 9 0 67 79 −12 10
4 Montreal Wanderers 6 1 5 0 17 35 −18 2 Withdrew from the season[a]
Source: Hockey-reference
Notes:
  1. ^ The Wanderers defaulted scheduled games against the Canadiens (January 2, 1918) and Toronto (January 5, 1918), while their arena burned down, these appear as losses in the standings, but the games were not played.

    "The league did not accept the Wanderers' resignation immediately, electing to wait and see whether the team showed up for its scheduled match in Toronto on Saturday January 5. ... The deadline did expire, and the once-powerful team that had been known as the Little Men of Iron was thrown onto the scrap heap of hockey history. The Wanderers' scheduled games of January 2 and 5 were officially recorded in the standings as victories for their respective opponents, the Canadiens and Torontos." — Holzman.[2]

Second half
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Toronto Hockey Club 8 5 3 0 37 34 +3 10 Qualification for the playoffs
2 Ottawa Senators 8 4 4 0 35 35 0 8
3 Montreal Canadiens 8 3 5 0 34 37 −3 6

Record vs. opponents

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1917–18 NHL Records [3]
Team MTL MTW OTT TOR
M. Canadiens 2–0 6–4 5–5
M. Wanderers 0–2 0–2 1–1
Ottawa 4–6 2–0 3–7
Toronto 5–5 1–1 7–3


Schedule and results

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First half
Month Day Visitor Score Home Score
Dec. 19 Ottawa 4 Canadiens 7
22 Canadiens 11 Wanderers 2
26 Canadiens 5 Toronto 7
29 Toronto 2 Canadiens 9
Jan. 2† Wanderers Canadiens
5 Ottawa 5 Canadiens 6 (27' OT)
9 Canadiens 4 Toronto 6
12 Ottawa 4 Canadiens 9
19 Toronto 1 Canadiens 5
21 Canadiens 5 Ottawa 3
23 Ottawa 4 Canadiens 3
28 Canadiens 1 Toronto 5
30 Canadiens 5 Ottawa 2
Feb. 2 Toronto 2 Canadiens 11

† Montreal Arena burned down and Wanderers withdraw. Two Wanderers games count as wins for Canadiens and Toronto.

Second half
Month Day Visitor Score Home Score
Feb. 6 Canadiens 3 Ottawa 6
9 Toronto 7 Canadiens 3
16 Ottawa 4 Canadiens 10
18 Canadiens 9 Toronto 0
20 Toronto 4 Canadiens 5
25 Canadiens 0 Ottawa 8
27 Ottawa 3 Canadiens 1 (at Quebec)
Mar. 2 Canadiens 3 Toronto 5

Playoffs

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The Canadiens played the Torontos in a playoff to decide the league championship. In a two-game, total-goals series, Toronto won the first game 7–3 and Montreal won the second game 4–3. Toronto won the series 10–7 and proceeded to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
March 11 Montreal Canadiens 3 Toronto 7
March 13 Toronto 3 Montreal Canadiens 4

Toronto wins total goals series 10–7 for the O'Brien Cup

Player statistics

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Skaters

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Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
Joe Malone 7 20 44 4 48 30 2 1 0 1 0
Newsy Lalonde 4 14 23 7 30 51 2 4 2 6 17
Didier Pitre 5 20 17 6 23 29 2 0 1 1 13
Bert Corbeau 2 21 8 8 16 41 2 1 1 2 11
Joe Hall 3 21 8 7 15 100 2 0 1 1 13
Jack McDonald 11 8 9 1 10 12 2 1 0 1 0
Billy Coutu 9 20 2 2 4 49 2 0 0 0 0
Jack Laviolette 6 18 2 1 3 6 2 0 0 0 0
Louis Berlinguette 8 20 2 1 3 12 2 0 0 0 0
Evariste Payer 12 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
Billy Bell 10 6 0 0 0 6 - - - - -

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Montreal. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.

Goaltenders

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Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player # GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA GP TOI W L GA SO GAA
Georges Vezina 1 21 1282 12 9 0 84 1 3.93 2 120 1 1 10 0 5.00

Awards and records

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Transactions

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References

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  1. ^ "Pro League to Operate". The Globe. 1917-11-27. p. 13.
  2. ^ Holzman 2002, pp. 169–70.
  3. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

Works cited

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  • Holzman, Morey; Nieforth, Joseph (2002). Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey. Toronto, ON: Dundurn Press.

See also

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