1917-18 NHL season

The 1917-18 NHL season was the first season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Four teams were scheduled to play 22 games each, except for the Montreal Wanderers whose season was cut short to six games due to their arena burning down. The championship trophy, the O'Brien Trophy, which was transferred to the new NHL from the defunct National Hockey Association became the league's championship trophy. It was awarded to the winner of the NHL playoffs and that winner then went on to play for the Stanley Cup in a challenge series against rival leagues. The NHL's Toronto Arenas won the Stanley Cup by defeating the PCHA's Vancouver Millionaires three games to two in a best-of-five series

Regular season

The National Hockey League, as it exists today, was formed on November 26, 1917 after a meeting between representatives of the National Hockey Association in Montreal's Windsor Hotel. The owners of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas decided to form a new league in order to exclude Edward J. Livingstone from being involved in their future hockey operations. Livingstone was the owner of the NHA's Toronto Ontarios and Toronto Blueshirts franchises. When he merged his two franchises in the NHA he became the centre of controversy. The other owners did not approve of his merger but Livingstone remained at odds with them. His actions are what prompted the owners of the other teams to convene and begin meetings to form their own National Hockey League. The decision to form the NHL nearly proved to be a disastrous one. The new league faced stiff competition from a number of other leagues including the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. Filling rosters was a challenge because the talent pool was decimated by World War I. Prior to the start of the 1917-18 season the Quebec Bulldogs suspended operations due to money problems and because they were unable to merge with a top amateur team. Early in the season the Montreal Wanderers demanded player help from the other NHL clubs but got little sympathy. Although they could have acquired Joe Malone in the draft they turned to the PCHA and signed goaltender Hap Holmes. The Wanderers loaned Holmes to the Seattle Metropolitans of the PCHA but he eventually found his way back to the NHL when Seattle loaned him to the Toronto Arenas. Negotiations were still in place when Montreal's Westmount Arena burned down leaving the Canadiens and Wanderers homeless. The Canadiens moved into the 3,250 seat Jubilee Rink and once again the Wanderers appealed for player help. Their appeals went unheard and the Wanderers were forced to disband. The Bulldogs though, would return two seasons later for the start of the 1919-20 season. The remaining three teams completed the inaugural season with the Toronto Arenas winning the league championship. They went on to defeat the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA in a best of five challenge series to claim the NHL's first Stanley Cup.

The first game of the season featured the Toronto Arenas versus the Montreal Wanderers. Montreal's Dave Ritchie scored the first goal in NHL history and Harry Hyland had four goals in the Wanderers 10-9 victory, which would be their only one in the NHL. The opening game was played in front of only 700 fans. The Wanderers lost three straight and then withdrew from the league after their Arena was destroyed by fire. The next two games were forfeited to the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.

The last active player from the inaugural season was Reg Noble, who retired following the 1933 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Major rule changes

Before the start of the inaugural season the league decided to allow goaltenders to drop to the ice surface in order to make saves. This was the first implemented and ammended rule change in the National Hockey League.

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

First Half	GP	W	L	Pts	GF	GA
Montreal Canadiens	14	10	4	20	81	47
Toronto Arenas	14	8	6	16	71	75
Ottawa Senators	14	5	9	10	67	79
Montreal Wanderers	6	1	5	2	17	35

Second Half	GP	W	L	Pts	GF	GA
Toronto Arenas	8	5	3	10	37	34
Ottawa Senators	8	4	4	8	35	35
Montreal Canadiens	8	3	5	6	34	37

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Joe Malone	Montreal Canadiens	20	44	4	48	30
Cy Denneny	Ottawa Senators	20	36	10	46	80
Reg Noble	Toronto Arenas	20	30	10	40	35
Newsy Lalonde	Montreal Canadiens	14	23	7	30	51
Corbett Denneny	Toronto Arenas	21	20	9	29	14
Harry Cameron	Toronto Arenas	21	17	10	27	28
Didier Pitre	Montreal Canadiens	20	17	6	23	29
Eddie Gerard	Ottawa Senators	20	13	7	20	26
Jack Darragh	Ottawa Senators	18	14	5	19	26
Frank Nighbor	Ottawa Senators	10	11	8	19	6
Harry Meeking	Toronto Arenas	21	10	9	19	28

Stanley Cup Playoffs

All dates in 1918

NHL Championship

Toronto had won the first half of the NHL split season and Montreal had won the second half. The two teams then played a two game total goals series for the NHL championship and the O'Brien Trophy. Toronto won the series and advanced to the Stanley Cup finals.

Toronto Arenas vs. Montreal Canadiens

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

Toronto wins total goals series 10-7 for the O'Brien Trophy

Stanley Cup Championship

The Seattle Metropolitans won the Pacific Coast Hockey League regular season, but the Vancouver Millionaires beat Seattle in that league's finals. Vancouver then headed east to play the Toronto Arenas. The entire series was played in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and the series alternated between NHL rules and PCHA rules. Two of the major differences between the two leagues was that the PCHA allowed forward passing and the PCHA played with seven players per side. The NHL didn't adopt forward passing until the following season, 1918-19. Toronto won all three games played under NHL rules and Vancouver won both games played under PCHA rules. Corbett Denneny scored the series winning goal and the Arenas won the Stanley Cup.

Vancouver Millionaires vs. Toronto Arenas

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score
March 20	Vancouver Millionaires	3	Toronto Arenas	5
March 23	Toronto Arenas	4	Vancouver Millionaires	6
March 26	Vancouver Millionaires	3	Toronto Arenas	6
March 28	Toronto Arenas	1	Vancouver Millionaires	8
March 30	Vancouver Millionaires	1	Toronto Arenas	2

Toronto wins best-of-five series 3 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup

NHL playoff scoring leader

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Alf Skinner	Toronto Arenas	7	8	3	11

References

National Hockey League seasons

NHL 1917/18 | Saison LNH 1917-18 | NHL-kausi 1917–1918

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