1919–20 Ottawa Senators season

1919–20 Ottawa Senators
1919–20 Ottawa Senators
Stanley Cup champions
O'Brien Trophy winners
1919–20 record	9–3–0 (1st half); 10–2–0 (2nd half)
Home record	12–1–0
Road record	7–4–0
Goals for	121
Goals against	64
Team information
General manager	Tommy Gorman
Coach	Pete Green
Captain	Eddie Gerard
Arena	The Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Frank Nighbor (26)
Assists	Frank Nighbor (7)
Points	Frank Nighbor (33)
Penalty minutes	Sprague Cleghorn (62)
Wins	Clint Benedict (19)
Goals against average	Clint Benedict (2.66)
	← 1918–19 1920–21 →

The 1919–20 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 35th season of play and third season in the NHL. It was a very successful season, as they set an NHL record for wins (19), points (38), and won both halves of the season, therefore the Sens automatically were awarded the O'Brien Cup and the right to play in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Senators defeated Seattle to win their eighth Stanley Cup title.

Regular season

The Quebec Bulldogs team was relaunched and added to the league and the schedule changed from 18 games to 24. Also, the Toronto Arenas would get new ownership and be renamed the Toronto St. Pats.

Frank Nighbor led the Sens offensively with 26 goals, good for 3rd in the NHL, and his 33 points ranked him 4th. Clint Benedict would set an NHL record with 5 shutouts, and he led the league in both wins (19) and GAA (2.66).

Final standings

First half
	GP	W	L	Pts	GF	GA
Ottawa Senators	12	9	3	18	59	23
Montreal Canadiens	12	8	4	16	62	51
Toronto St. Patricks	12	5	7	10	52	62
Quebec Athletics	12	2	10	4	44	81

Second half
	GP	W	L	Pts	GF	GA
Ottawa Senators	12	10	2	20	62	41
Toronto St. Patricks	12	7	5	14	67	44
Montreal Canadiens	12	5	7	10	67	62
Quebec Athletics	12	2	10	4	47	96

^[1] 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

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	December 23	Toronto St. Pats	0–3	Ottawa Senators	1–0–0	2
2	December 27	Montreal Canadiens	0–2	Ottawa Senators	2–0–0	4
3	January 1	Ottawa Senators	3–2	Quebec Bulldogs	3–0–0	6
4	January 3	Ottawa Senators	3–4	Toronto St. Pats	3–1–0	6
5	January 7	Montreal Canadiens	3–4	Ottawa Senators	4–1–0	8
6	January 10	Quebec Bulldogs	1–7	Ottawa Senators	5–1–0	10
7	January 14	Ottawa Senators	2–1	Quebec Bulldogs	6–1–0	12
8	January 17	Ottawa Senators	2–3	Montreal Canadiens	6–2–0	12
9	January 21	Quebec Bulldogs	1–12	Ottawa Senators	7–2–0	14
10	January 24	Ottawa Senators	3–5	Toronto St. Pats	7–3–0	14
11	January 28	Toronto St. Pats	0–7	Ottawa Senators	8–3–0	16
12	January 31	Montreal Canadiens	3–11	Ottawa Senators	9–3–0	18
13	February 4	Ottawa Senators	5–0	Quebec Bulldogs	10–3–0	20
14	February 7	Toronto St. Pats	4–3	Ottawa Senators	10–4–0	20
15	February 11	Montreal Canadiens	3–4	Ottawa Senators	11–4–0	22
16	February 14	Ottawa Senators	3–2	Montreal Canadiens	12–4–0	24
17	February 18	Quebec Bulldogs	3–9	Ottawa Senators	13–4–0	26
18	February 21	Ottawa Senators	5–3	Toronto St. Pats	14–4–0	28
19	February 25	Montreal Canadiens	3–6	Ottawa Senators	15–4–0	30
20	February 28	Ottawa Senators	1–0	Toronto St. Pats	16–4–0	32
21	March 3	Toronto St. Pats	4–7	Ottawa Senators	17–4–0	34
22	March 6	Ottawa Senators	4–3	Montreal Canadiens	18–4–0	36
23	March 8	Quebec Bulldogs	6–11	Ottawa Senators	19–4–0	38
24	March 10	Ottawa Senators	4–10	Quebec Bulldogs	19–5–0	38

Playoffs

Ottawa won both halves of the schedule, and no NHL playoffs were played.

Stanley Cup Finals

The Senators would face the Seattle Metropolitans for the Stanley Cup, with all games scheduled to be played in Ottawa. However an unseasonably warm spring in the Ottawa area led to some problems with the ice at Dey's Arena, and the final two games were moved to Toronto's Arena Gardens, which had artificial ice equipment.

Despite playing in a neutral arena, the Senators would hold on, and win the series 3 games to 2 over Seattle, including a convincing 6–1 victory in the deciding game, to win the Stanley Cup for the first time as a member of the NHL.

Ottawa Senators 3, Seattle Metropolitans 2

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	March 22	Seattle Metropolitans	2–3	Ottawa Senators	1–0
2	March 24	Seattle Metropolitans	0–3	Ottawa Senators	2–0
3	March 27	Seattle Metropolitans	3–1	Ottawa Senators	2–1
4	March 30	Seattle Metropolitans	5–2	Ottawa Senators	2–2
5	April 1	Seattle Metropolitans	1–6	Ottawa Senators	3–2

Game 4 and Game 5 played at Arena Gardens in Toronto, Ontario.

Player stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Frank Nighbor	23	26	7	33	18
Jack Darragh	22	22	5	27	22
Punch Broadbent	20	19	4	23	39
Sprague Cleghorn	21	16	5	21	62
Cy Denneny	22	16	2	18	21

Goaltending

Player	GP	MinI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Jack Darragh	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Clint Benedict	24	1443	19	5	0	64	5	2.66

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Ottawa Senators 1920 Stanley Cup champions

Players

Centres

Wingers

Defencemen

Goaltenders

Clint Benedict

Coaching and administrative staff

Ted Dey, (president)
Frank Ahearn, (hon. president)
Tommy Gorman, (manager/secretary)
Pete Green, (coach)
Frank Dolan, (trainer)
Lorne Graham, (team doctor)^[2]

‡ Played rover position in the Stanley Cup Finals

Stanley Cup engraving

The Senators did not engrave their name on the Cup for the 1920 championship. When the trophy was redesigned in 1948 the words "1920 Ottawa Senators" were engraved onto a new collar.

References

SHRP Sports
The Internet Hockey Database
National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

^ 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.
^ "All Pro Players Under Similar Obligation". The Globe. January 1, 1920. p. 12.

[1] 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.

[2] "All Pro Players Under Similar Obligation". The Globe. January 1, 1920. p. 12.

[1]

[2]

v t e Ottawa Hockey Club / Ottawa Senators (original) seasons
1880s	1880–81 . 1881–82 . 1882–83 . 1883–84 1884–85 . 1885–86 . 1886–87 . 1887–88 . 1888–89 1889–90
1890s	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00
1900s	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 . 1931–32 . 1932–33 1933–34 St. Louis
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 1919–20 NHL season
NHL	Montreal Ottawa Quebec Toronto
See also	Stanley Cup Finals Transactions