1917–18 Toronto Hockey Club season

NHLTeamSeason
Season=1917–18
Team=Toronto
Conference=
ConferenceRank=
Division=
DivisionRank=
Record=13–9–0
HomeRecord=10–1–0
RoadRecord=3–8–0
GoalsFor=108
GoalsAgainst=109
GeneralManager=Charles Querrie
Coach=Dick Carroll
Captain=
AltCaptain=
Arena=Mutual Street Arena
Attendance=
GoalsLeader=Reg Noble (28)
AssistsLeader=
PointsLeader=
PlusMinusLeader=
PIMLeader=Ken Randall (55)
WinsLeader=Hap Holmes (10)
GAALeader=Arthur Brooks (4.00)
StanleyCup=Yes

The 1917–18 Toronto Hockey Club season was the first season of the Toronto franchise in the newly organized National Hockey League (NHL). While intended as a 'temporary' franchise, and operated by the arena management where they played, the team came together to win the Stanley Cup, the first in Toronto NHL franchise history.

Regular season

The Torontos, Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, and Ottawa Senators were the original four teams of the league. The Wanderers would not finish the season, as the Montreal Arena burned down on January 2, 1918, and the club would fold after just six games. [cite book | last=Holzman | first=Morey | coauthors=Joseph Nieforth | title=Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey | year=2002 | publisher=Dundurn Press | location=Toronto | isbn=1-55002-413-2 | pages=pp. 169-70|chapter=Lichtenhein Loses the War|quote=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.]

The Torontos would finish the first half of the season with a 8-6-0 record, finishing second to the Montreal Canadiens, however, Toronto put up a league best 5-3-0 record in the second half of the season, earning a spot in the O'Brien Cup finals against the Canadiens. Overall, the Torontos finished 13-9-0, tied with the Montreal Canadiens with the best record in the NHL. [ [http://www.shrpsports.com/nhl/stand/1918.htm Final NHL Standings 1917-18 ] ]

During a game on January 28, 1918, Alf Skinner of the Torontos and Joe Hall of the Montreal Canadiens were involved in a stick swinging duel. Both players received match penalties, $15 fines, and were arrested by the Toronto Police for disorderly conduct, in which they received suspended sentences. [ [http://www.geocities.com/kinhobo/hall.html Kenora Thistles: 1907 Stanley Cup Champions: Joe Hall ] ]

Reg Noble led the Torontos with 28 goals, which placed him third in the league, while Corbett Denneny had 20 goals, and Harry Cameron scored 17 goals. Alf Skinner, Ken Randall, and Harry Meeking would each get into double digits with goals, scoring 13, 12, and 10 respectively. Randall led the club with 55 penalty minutes, while Rusty Crawford earned 51 penalty minutes in only 9 games after being acquired from Ottawa. [ [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/nhl19271918.html 1917-18 National Hockey League [NHL standings at hockeydb.com ] ]

In goal, Hap Holmes played the majority of games, earning a club high 10 victories, while backup Arthur Brooks posted a team best 4.00 GAA. [ [http://www.goaliesarchive.com/z/arenas/holmes.html Toronto Arenas goaltending history : Harry "Hap" Holmes ] ]

Final standings

"GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against"
"Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold"
* Montreal Wanderers forfeit game on January 5.

Playoffs

The Torontos would face the Canadiens for the O'Brien Cup, and the winner would represent the NHL in the Stanley Cup finals in a two game total goal series. In the opening game at Mutual Street Arena, Toronto would have no problems defeating Montreal, winning the game by a 7-3 score. The series moved over to Jubilee Arena in Montreal for the second game, and while the Canadiens won the game 4-3, the Torontos outscored Montreal 10-7 in the series, and advanced to the Stanley Cup finals.

;Toronto 10, Montreal Canadiens 7

Goaltending

Awards and records

* O'Brien Cup - NHL league champions

Transactions

Torontos 1918 Stanley Cup champions

Stanley Cup champion
goaltenders=*1 Harry Hap Holmes
*1 Arthur Brooks(sub)
defence=*2 Harry Cameron
*3 Ken Randall‡
*7 Harry Mummery
centers=*4 Reg Noble‡
*5 Corb Denneny
*9 Jack Adams
wingers=*6 Alf Skinner
*8 Rusty Crawford
*8 Jack Coughlin
*10 Harry Meeking
* Jack Marks
non-players=
*Charlie Querrie (President/Manager), Dick Carroll (Coach)
*Frank Carroll (Trainer)‡ Played Rover a position in the Stanley Cup Finals
engraving-notes=

Even though they officially did not win the Cup during this season, the Vancouver club had the words "Vancouver/Defeated Seattle/1917–18/Score 1–0" engraved on the Cup after winning the PCHA championship over the Metropolitans, who won the previous year's Cup finals. This was similar to the practice prior to 1915 when the trophy was officially passed on to the winner of the league championship of the previous Cup champion's league.

However, the Toronto club never did engrave their name on the Cup to memorialize their series victory over Vancouver. At the time, the NHL club was in a dispute with the owner of the NHA Toronto franchise holder over the Stanley Cup revenues. In 1948, the NHL engraved "1918 Toronto Arenas" on the Cup.

ee also

* 1917–18 NHL season
* List of Stanley Cup champions

References

ources

* [http://shrpsports.com/nhl/teamseas.php?link=Y&team=Tor&season=1918 SHRP Sports]
* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0011661918.html The Internet Hockey Database]
* [http://www.rauzulusstreet.com/hockey/nhlrecords/nhl1918.htm Rauzulu's Street]
* [http://goaliesarchive.com/z/arenas/ Goalies Archive]
*National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007