1915–16 NHA season

The 1915–16 NHA season was the seventh season of the National Hockey Association. Five teams would play a 24 game schedule. Montreal Canadiens would win the league championship and defeat the Portland Rosebuds to win their first ever Stanley Cup.

1915–16 NHA season
LeagueNational Hockey Association
SportIce hockey
DurationDecember 18, 1915 – March 18, 1916
Number of games24
Number of teams5
Regular season
Top scorerNewsy Lalonde (28)
O'Brien Cup
ChampionsMontreal Canadiens

League business

Toronto Blueshirts included the players from the Toronto Shamrocks/Ontarios/Tecumsehs franchise. Before the season, Ed Livingstone, the Shamrocks owner, purchased the Blueshirts franchise from Frank Robinson. At the annual meeting of November 9, 1915, he was ordered to sell the Shamrocks franchise but could not do so as the Pacific Coast Hockey Association 'raided' the franchise and signed its players.

Directors:

President Quinn instituted a rule that officials would be locked in their dressing rooms between periods to disallow influence from the press or players.

Regular season

Several players from the PCHA signed with NHA clubs:

Highlights

On January 23, 1916, Skene Ronan was arrested by Toronto police and charged with assault for hitting Alf Skinner.

On February 23, 1916, Gordon Roberts of the Wanderers drew a match penalty for cutting Ottawa's Frank Nighbor in a game in Montreal. On the next visit of the Wanderers to Ottawa, Roberts was pelted with bottles from the Ottawa fans.[1]

The race for the scoring championship was close between Newsy Lalonde of the Canadiens, Joe Malone of Quebec and Cy Denneny of Toronto. Lalonde would finish with 31 goals in 25 games and Malone and Denneny would tie for second with 26 goals. Clint Benedict of Ottawa would have the best G.A.A. of 3.0 to best Georges Vezina's 3.2 goals per game. Gordon Keats of Toronto would score five goals in a game against Quebec on February 7, 1916. He would finish the season with 22 goals in 24 games.

Final standings

National Hockey Association
GP W L T GF GA
Montreal Canadiens 24167110476
Ottawa Senators 24131107872
Quebec Bulldogs 24101229198
Montreal Wanderers 241014090116
Toronto Hockey Club 2491419798

[2]

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against

Montreal is the champion of the O'Brien Cup.

Playoffs

The Canadiens hosted the Portland Rosebuds, champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) in the 'World Series' for the Stanley Cup.

Stanley Cup Finals

ChampionsRunners upFormatResult
Montreal CanadiensPortland Rosebudsbest of 53–2

Exhibitions

After the Stanley Cup playoff, Portland and Montreal travelled to New York for two exhibition games. The teams then played two games in Cleveland. Montreal then travelled to Boston to play the winner of an exhibition series played between Ottawa, Quebec and the Wanderers.[3]

Schedule and results

Month Day Visitor Score Home Score
Dec. 18Canadiens2Toronto1
18Quebec5Wanderers8
22Toronto1Ottawa7
22Wanderers3Canadiens2
25Ottawa2Quebec3
25Wanderers6Toronto5
29Ottawa0Wanderers4
29Canadiens2Quebec5
Jan. 1Canadiens4Ottawa2
1Quebec4Toronto3
5Toronto1Canadiens6
5Wanderers1Quebec6
8Quebec2Ottawa4
8Canadiens3Wanderers5
12Ottawa0Toronto1
12Quebec3Canadiens5
15Ottawa5Canadiens2
15Toronto3Quebec4
17Wanderers7Ottawa3
20Toronto4Wanderers7
20Canadiens2Quebec2 (20' OT)
23Canadiens1Toronto3
23Quebec2Wanderers1
25Ottawa6Quebec3
26Toronto1Ottawa2
26Wanderers4Canadiens5
29Ottawa5Wanderers4
29Toronto5Quebec6 (16'10" OT)
31Wanderers2Toronto8
Feb. 2Quebec0Ottawa4
2Wanderers9Canadiens5
5Toronto5Canadiens10
5Wanderers5Quebec8
7Wanderers1Ottawa3
7Quebec5Toronto11
9Ottawa2Canadiens3 (7'20" OT)
9Toronto3Quebec3 (20' OT)
12Canadiens3Ottawa1
12Toronto1Wanderers3
16Ottawa1Toronto3
16Quebec3Canadiens4
19Toronto2Ottawa5
19Wanderers3Canadiens1
23Ottawa4Wanderers3
23Canadiens3Quebec2
26Ottawa2Toronto9
26Quebec3Canadiens4 (15" OT)
28Wanderers2Ottawa6
Mar. 1Wanderers2Quebec6
1Toronto3Canadiens7
4Canadiens15Wanderers5
4Quebec5Toronto7
8Quebec5Ottawa8
8Toronto3Wanderers2
11Ottawa1Canadiens4
11Wanderers2Toronto10
13Ottawa4Quebec0
15Canadiens5Ottawa1
15Quebec6Wanderers1
18Canadiens6Toronto4

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Didier PitreMontreal Canadiens2424153942
Joe MaloneQuebec Bulldogs2425103521
Newsy LalondeMontreal Canadiens242863478
Duke KeatsToronto Blueshirts2422729112
Cy DennenyToronto Blueshirts242442857
Gordon RobertsMontreal Wanderers211872564
Frank NighborOttawa Senators231952426
Corb DennenyToronto Blueshirts222032375
Rusty CrawfordQuebec Bulldogs221852354
Odie CleghornMontreal Wanderers211572251

Leading goaltenders

Name Club GP GA SO Avg.
Clint Benedict Ottawa247213.0
Georges Vezina Canadiens24763.2
Paddy Moran Quebec22823.7
Percy LeSueur Toronto239214.0
Bert Lindsay Wanderers2311014.8
Harry Holmes Toronto166.0
Billy Hague Wanderers166.0
Rochon Quebec2168.0

See also

References

  1. Coleman, p. 290
  2. Standings: Coleman, Charles (1966). Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 1, 1893-1926 inc. National Hockey League. p. 293.
  3. "Canadiens and Rosebuds Leave for New York". Montreal Daily Mail. April 4, 1916. p. 10.
  • Coleman, Charles (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc. NHL.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.