1917–18 Montreal Canadiens season


The 1917–18 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's ninth season and first as a member of the new National Hockey League. The Canadiens sided with other members of the National Hockey Association and voted to suspend the NHA and start the NHL to expel the Toronto Blueshirts ownership. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half of the season, but lost the playoff to the temporary Toronto franchise, made up of Blueshirts players.

Team business

The club changed its name to "Club de Hockey Canadien Ltd." from "Club Athletic Canadien". The logo on the jersey was changed to reflect this, substituting the "A" within the "C" with an "H".

Regular season

Quebec did not ice a team for the season. Quebec's players were dispersed by draft and Montreal chose Joe Hall, Joe Malone and Walter Mummery. Georges Vezina led the league in goals against average of 4 per game and Joe Malone had an outstanding 44 goals in 20 games to lead the league in goals.
The team was forced to return to its former arena the Jubilee Rink after the Montreal Arena burned down on January 2, 1918. The rival Montreal Wanderers folded after the fire, leaving only three teams to continue the season. The Wanderers' players were dispersed and the Canadiens picked up Billy Bell and Jack McDonald.
On January 28, 1918, when Canadiens visited Toronto, Toronto's Alf Skinner and Montreal's Joe Hall got into a stick-swinging duel. Both players received match penalties, $15 fines and were arrested by the Toronto Police for disorderly conduct, for which they received suspended sentences.

Final standings

Schedule and results

;First half
MonthDayVisitorScoreHomeScore
Dec.19Ottawa4Canadiens7
Dec.22Canadiens11Wanderers2
Dec.26Canadiens5Toronto7
Dec.29Toronto2Canadiens9
Jan.2†Wanderers–Canadiens–
Jan.5Ottawa5Canadiens6
Jan.9Canadiens4Toronto6
Jan.12Ottawa4Canadiens9
Jan.19Toronto1Canadiens5
Jan.21Canadiens5Ottawa3
Jan.23Ottawa4Canadiens3
Jan.28Canadiens1Toronto5
Jan.30Canadiens5Ottawa2
Feb.2Toronto2Canadiens11

† Montreal Arena burned down and Wanderers withdraw. Two Wanderers games count
as wins for Canadiens and Toronto.
;Second half
MonthDayVisitorScoreHomeScore
Feb.6Canadiens3Ottawa6
Feb.9Toronto7Canadiens3
Feb.16Ottawa4Canadiens10
Feb.18Canadiens9Toronto0
Feb.20Toronto4Canadiens5
Feb.25Canadiens0Ottawa8
Feb.27Ottawa3Canadiens1
Mar.2Canadiens3Toronto5

Playoffs

The Canadiens played the Torontos in a playoff to decide the league championship. In a two-game, total-goals series, Toronto won the first game 7–3 and Montreal won the second game 4–3. Toronto won the series 10–7 and proceeded to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
DateAwayScoreHomeScoreNotes
March 11Montreal Canadiens3Toronto7
March 13Toronto3Montreal Canadiens4

Toronto wins total goals series 10–7 for the O'Brien Cup

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Montreal. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice ; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Awards and records

Transactions

Source:
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