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1917-1918 Toronto Arenas
Stanley Cup Champions
TALogo
Season: 1917-1918 Toronto Arenas
Division: N/A
Conference: N/A
Overall Record: 13-9-0
Home Record: 10-1-0
Away Record: 3-8-0
General Manager: Charles Querrie
Head Coach: Dick Carroll
Captain: N/A
Team Leaders
Goals: Reg Noble (28)
Assists: N/A
Points: Reg Noble (28)
Penalty Minutes: Ken Randall (55)
Wins: Hap Holmes (10)
Goals Against Average: Arthur Brooks (4.00)


Regular Season - Playoffs - Main Discussion


The 1917-1918 Toronto Arenas Season was the first season for the club in the newly created National Hockey League. The team itself was only meant to be a temporary placeholder for a more permanent Toronto franchise, but eventually finished the season as Stanley Cup champion, the first such championship for a Toronto franchise in the NHL.

Regular Season

The Toronto franchise, 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 cease league operations after just six games.

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. The Torontos were especially strong on home ice, earning a record of 10-1-0 at Arena Gardens.

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.

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 scored double-digit goal totals, 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.

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.

Final standings

First Half GP W L T Pts GF GA
Montreal Canadiens* 14 10 4 0 20 81 47
Toronto Arenas 14 8 6 0 16 71 75
Ottawa Senators 14 5 9 0 10 67 79
Montreal Wanderers 6 1 5 0 2 17 35


Second Half GP W L T Pts GF GA
Toronto Arenas* 8 5 3 0 10 37 34
Ottawa Senators 8 4 4 0 8 35 35
Montreal Canadiens 8 3 5 0 6 34 37
*=Playoff Berth GP=Games Played W=Wins L=Losses T=Ties PTS=Points GF=Goals For GA=Goals Against


Game Log

     Wins      Losses

Game # Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 December 19 Toronto Arenas 9–10 Montreal Wanderers 0–1–0 0
2 December 22 Ottawa Senators 4–11 Toronto Arenas 1–1–0 2
3 December 26 Montreal Canadiens 5–7 Toronto Arenas 2–1–0 4
4 December 29 Toronto Arenas 2–9 Montreal Canadiens 2–2–0 4
5 January 2 Toronto Arenas 6–5 Ottawa Senators 3–2–0 6
6 January 5 Montreal Wanderers 0–0 Toronto Arenas 4–2–0 8
7 January 9 Montreal Canadiens 4–6 Toronto Arenas 5–2–0 10
8 January 14 Toronto Arenas 6–9 Ottawa Senators 5–3–0 10
9 January 16 Ottawa Senators 4–5 Toronto Arenas 6–3–0 12
10 January 19 Toronto Arenas 1–5 Montreal Canadiens 6–4–0 12
11 January 26 Toronto Arenas 3–6 Ottawa Senators 6–5–0 12
12 January 28 Montreal Canadiens 1–5 Toronto Arenas 7–5–0 14
13 February 2 Toronto Arenas 2–11 Montreal Canadiens 7–6–0 14
14 February 4 Ottawa Senators 2–8 Toronto Arenas 8–6–0 16
15 February 9 Toronto Arenas 7–3 Montreal Canadiens 9–6–0 18
16 February 11 Ottawa Senators 1–3 Toronto Arenas 10–6–0 20
17 February 13 Toronto Arenas 6–1 Ottawa Senators 11–6–0 22
18 February 18 Montreal Canadiens 9–0 Toronto Arenas 11–7–0 22
19 February 20 Toronto Arenas 4–5 Montreal Canadiens 11–8–0 22
20 February 23 Ottawa Senators 3–9 Toronto Arenas 12–8–0 24
21 March 2 Montreal Canadiens 3–5 Toronto Arenas 13–8–0 26
22 March 6 Toronto Arenas 3–9 Ottawa Senators 13–9–0 26
  • Montreal Wanderers forfeit game on January 5.


Statistics

Players
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Reg Noble 20 28 0 28 23
Corbett Denneny 21 20 0 20 8
Harry Cameron 20 17 0 17 17
Alf Skinner 19 13 0 13 20
Ken Randall 20 12 0 12 55


Goaltenders
Player GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA
Arthur Brooks 4 220 2 1 0 23 0 4.00
Hap Holmes 16 965 10 7 0 76 0 4.73
Sammy Hebert 1 70 0 1 0 10 0 8.57

Playoffs

As the top teams from each halves of the season, 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 easily defeated the Canadiens, 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.


     Wins      Losses

Toronto Arenas 10 - Montreal Canadiens 7
Game # Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 11 Montreal Canadiens 3–7 Toronto Arenas 1–0
2 March 13 Toronto Arenas 3–4 Montreal Canadiens 1-1
  • Toronto wins by total goal differential.


Stanley Cup final

Toronto would face the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association to determine the winner of the 1918 Stanley Cup Finals in a best of 5 series, with all games being played at Mutual Street Arena. Toronto won the first game of the series by a 5-3 score. However, the Millionaires tied the series with a 6-4 win in the second game. The teams would again split the next two games, setting up a fifth and final game. The Torontos would hold off the Millionaires for a 2-1 victory, as Corbett Denneny scored the winning goal of the game and the series.


     Wins      Losses

Toronto Arenas 3 - Vancouver Millionaires 2
Game # Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 20 Vancouver Millionaires 3–5 Toronto Arenas 1–0
2 March 23 Toronto Arenas 4–6 Vancouver Millionaires 1-1
3 March 26 Vancouver Millionaires 3–6 Toronto Arenas 2–1
4 March 28 Toronto Arenas 1–8 Vancouver Millionaires 2–2
5 March 30 Vancouver Millionaires 1–2 Toronto Arenas 3–2
  • Games 1, 3, and 5 played with NHL rules, Games 2 and 4 played with PCHA rules.




Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup Championships
1917-1918 1921-1922 1931-1932 1941-1942 1944-1945
1946-1947 1947-1948 1948-1949 1950-1951 1961-1962
1962-1963 1963-1964 1966-1967
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