1918–19 Montreal Canadiens season

1918–19 Montreal Canadiens
1918–19 Montreal Canadiens
O'Brien Trophy winners
League	1st (1st half), 2nd (2nd half) NHL
1918–19 record	7-3-0 (1st half), 3-5-0 (2nd half)
Goals for	88
Goals against	78
Team information
General manager	George Kennedy
Coach	Newsy Lalonde
Captain	Newsy Lalonde
Arena	Jubilee Rink
Team leaders
Goals	Odie Cleghorn (23); Newsy Lalonde (23)
Assists	Newsy Lalonde (9)
Points	Newsy Lalonde (32)
Penalty minutes	Joe Hall (85)
Goals against average	Georges Vezina (4.3)
	← 1917–18 1919–20 →

The 1918–19 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's tenth season and second as a member of the new National Hockey League (NHL). The Canadiens would win the NHL title and go to Seattle to face off for the Stanley Cup. However, a Spanish flu epidemic broke out in Seattle and both teams would abandon the series after several Canadiens fell ill. Montreal defenceman Joe Hall would die from the flu.

Prior to the season, another attempt was made by Eddie Livingstone to revive the National Hockey Association. Livingstone did not wish to sell his team for less than $20,000, more than the Arena Company was willing to pay. On September 20, 1918, the NHA owners, including the Canadiens, voted to permanently suspend the NHA. Livingstone forced another meeting on December 11, 1918, hoping to get Canadiens' minority shareholder Brunswick to vote with him, but at the meeting, Brunswick officials affirmed their loyalty to the Canadiens and the meeting ended with the Canadiens, Brunswick, Ottawa and Wanderers simply leaving the meeting.^[1]

Regular season

Georges Vezina came second in the league in goals against average of 4.3 per game. Odie Cleghorn returned to professional play and he had an outstanding 24 goals in 17 games to lead the league in goals for the Canadiens.

The Toronto Arenas folded on March 20, 1919, leaving only Montreal and Ottawa in the league. The teams proceeded to play off for the league title.

Final standings

First half
	GP	W	L	Pts	GF	GA
Montreal Canadiens	10	7	3	14	57	50
Ottawa Senators	10	5	5	10	39	39
Toronto Arenas	10	3	7	6	42	49

Second half
	GP	W	L	Pts	GF	GA
Ottawa Senators	8	7	1	14	32	14
Montreal Canadiens	8	3	5	6	31	28
Toronto Arenas	8	2	6	4	22	43

^[2] Note: 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.

Game log

Regular season results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	December 21, 1918	2–5	Ottawa Senators (1918–19)	0–1–0
2	W	December 23, 1918	4–3	@ Toronto Arenas (1918–19)	1–1–0
3	W	December 28, 1918	6–3	Toronto Arenas (1918–19)	2–1–0
4	L	January 2, 1919	2–7	@ Ottawa Senators (1918–19)	2–2–0
5	W	January 4, 1919	5–2	Ottawa Senators (1918–19)	3–2–0
6	W	January 7, 1919	7–6	@ Toronto Arenas (1918–19)	4–2–0
7	W	January 11, 1919	13–4	Toronto Arenas (1918–19)	5–2–0
8	W	January 16, 1919	10–6	@ Ottawa Senators (1918–19)	6–2–0
9	W	January 18, 1919	5–3	Ottawa Senators (1918–19)	7–2–0
10	L	January 21, 1919	3–11	@ Toronto Arenas (1918–19)	7–3–0
Second half
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
11	L	January 25, 1919	0–1	Ottawa Senators (1918–19)	0–1–0
12	L	January 30, 1919	2–3 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (1918–19)	0–2–0
13	W	February 1, 1919	10–0	Toronto Arenas (1918–19)	1–2–0
14	L	February 4, 1919	3–6	@ Toronto Arenas (1918–19)	1–3–0
15	W	February 8, 1919	4–3	Ottawa Senators (1918–19)	2–3–0
16	L	February 11, 1919	4–6	@ Toronto Arenas (1918–19)	2–4–0
17	L	February 13, 1919	0–7	@ Ottawa Senators (1918–19)	2–5–0
18	W	February 15, 1919	8–2	Toronto Arenas (1918–19)	3–5–0

^[3]

Playoffs

Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score
February 22	Ottawa Senators	4	Montreal Canadiens	8
February 27	Ottawa Senators	3	Montreal Canadiens	5
March 1	Montreal Canadiens	5	Ottawa Senators	3
March 3	Montreal Canadiens	3	Ottawa Senators	6
March 6	Ottawa Senators	2	Montreal Canadiens	4

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1 for the O'Brien Cup

Finals

Montreal Canadiens vs. Seattle Metropolitans

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 19	Montreal Canadiens	0	Seattle Metropolitans	7
March 22	Seattle Metropolitans	2	Montreal Canadiens	4
March 24	Montreal Canadiens	2	Seattle Metropolitans	7
March 26	Seattle Metropolitans	0	Montreal Canadiens	0	20:00 OT
March 30	Montreal Canadiens	4	Seattle Metropolitans	3	15:57 OT

Series ended 2–2–1 and no winner awarded – playoffs were curtailed due to the influenza epidemic

Player statistics

Skaters

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
Newsy Lalonde	4	17	23	10	33	42	10	17	1	18	18
Odie Cleghorn	6	18	21	6	27	33	10	8	1	9	9
Didier Pitre	5	17	14	4	18	15	10	2	6	8	6
Jack McDonald	10	17	8	4	12	9	10	1	4	5	6
Joe Malone	7	8	7	2	9	3	5	5	1	6	3
Joe Hall	3	16	7	2	9	135	10	0	0	0	26
Louis Berlinguette	8	18	5	4	9	12	10	1	3	4	9
Bert Corbeau	2	16	2	3	5	54	10	1	1	2	20
Billy Coutu	9	17	1	2	3	21	10	0	2	2	8
Amos Arbour	12	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Billy Bell	11	1	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
Fred Doherty	11	2	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-

Goaltenders

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	T	GA	SO	GAA
Georges Vezina	1		18	1117	10	8	0	78	1	4.19		10	636	6	3	1	37	1	3.49

Awards and records

O'Brien Cup - NHL champions

Transactions

signed Odie Cleghorn as a free agent, December 9, 1918
signed Fred Doherty as a free agent, December 13, 1918
signed Amos Arbour as a free agent, January 23, 1919

Roster

Source: Mouton, p. 153

References

Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 1 1893–1926 inc. National Hockey League.
McFarlane, Brian (1996). The Habs. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing. ISBN 077372981X.
Mouton, Claude (1987). The Montreal Canadiens. Key Porter Books.
O'Brien, Andy (1971). Les Canadiens: the story of the Montreal Canadiens. Toronto, New York: McGrawHill-Ryerson. ISBN 0070929509. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)

^ Coleman (1966), pp. 348-350.
^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
^ "1918–19 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-04.

v t e Montreal Canadiens
Founded in 1909 Based in Montreal, Quebec
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v t e Montreal Canadiens seasons
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Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 1918–19 NHL season
NHL	Montreal Ottawa Toronto
See also	Stanley Cup Finals Transactions