1918–19 Ottawa Senators season

1918–19 Ottawa Senators
1918–19 record 5–5–0 (1st half)
7–1–0 (2nd half)
Home record 8–1–0
Road record 4–5–0
Goals for 71
Goals against 53
 Team information
General Manager Tommy Gorman
Coach Eddie Gerard(playing)
Captain Jack Darragh
Arena The Arena
Team leaders
Goals Cy Denneny and Frank Nighbor (18)
Assists Sprague Cleghorn and Eddie Gerard (6)
Points Cy Denneny and Frank Nighbor (22)
Penalties in minutes Cy Denneny (43)
Wins Clint Benedict (12)
Goals against average Clint Benedict (2.91)
<1917–18 1919–20>

The 1918–19 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 34th season, second in the National Hockey League (NHL), and they would see much improvement over the previous season. The season was cut short by the Toronto Arenas suspending operations, leaving the Senators and Montreal Canadiens to play the first best-of-seven playoff series to determine the NHL championship, won by Montreal.

Team business

The club's ownership and arena arrangements changed in the off-season. Prior to the season, Ted Dey, as arena owner, held out the use of The Arena in negotiations with the Ottawa Hockey Club, of which he was one-third partner. Martin Rosenthal and Tommy Gorman, his hockey club partners, tried to use the Aberdeen Pavilion again. Meanwhile, Dey signed an agreement with Percy Quinn, who held an option on the Quebec city hockey club to rent The Arena for a new 'Canadian Hockey Association' league. This however was a ruse. However, his ruse worked to his advantage in negotiating with the Ottawa HC. When it became clear that the Aberdeen would not be converted back to hockey, Rosenthal gave up his share of the hockey club. As part of an agreement reached out, Dey and Gorman now became equal partners in the new 'Ottawa Arena Club' which would operate the Ottawa hockey club in the NHL. The Ottawas were now bound to the Arena for the next five years as well. Rosenthal was provided $500 as compensation for his share.[1]

Dey was sued by Percy Quinn for his actions and trial took place in December 1918 and January 1919 in Toronto. Quinn lost his legal case as the option on the Arena was not enough of a contract to prove legal fraud on Dey's part, who continued to offer a place in the Arena to Quinn. By this time, Quinn's proposed league had failed as the players had signed with Dey and Gorman and elsewhere with the NHL.[2]

Regular season

Senators player Hamby Shore would die of pneumonia before the season began on October 14, 1918. He was a victim of the influenza epidemic that spread across North America from 1918 to 1919. Shore was 32 years old.

After a 5–5–0 record in the first half of the season, the Senators would go on to a 7–1–0 record in the second half.

Cy Denneny and Frank Nighbor would lead the team with 18 goals and 22 points each, while Clint Benedict would win a league best 12 games, along with his NHL leading 2.91 GAA.

After the season, the club travelled to Vancouver to play a best-of-three against the Millionaires, winning the exhibition series three games to two.

Final standings

First Half
GP W L T Pts GF GA
Montreal Canadiens 10 7 3 0 14 57 50
Ottawa Senators 10 5 5 0 10 39 39
Toronto Arenas 10 3 7 0 6 42 49
Second Half
GP W L T Pts GF GA
Ottawa Senators 8 7 1 0 14 32 14
Montreal Canadiens 8 3 5 0 6 31 28
Toronto Arenas 8 2 6 0 4 22 43

[3] 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.

Playoffs

The Senators went against the Canadiens for the championship and they lost 13 goals to 7, or 7–13.

Schedule and results

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
First half
1 December 21 Ottawa Senators 5–2 Montreal Canadiens 1–0–0 2
2 December 26 Toronto Arenas 2–5 Ottawa Senators 2–0–0 4
3 December 31 Ottawa Senators 2–4 Toronto Arenas 2–1–0 4
4 January 2 Montreal Canadiens 2–7 Ottawa Senators 3–1–0 6
5 January 4 Ottawa Senators 2–5 Montreal Canadiens 3–2–0 6
6 January 9 Toronto Arenas 2–4 Ottawa Senators 4–2–0 8
7 January 14 Ottawa Senators 2–5 Toronto Arenas 4–3–0 8
8 January 16 Montreal Canadiens 10–6 Ottawa Senators 4–4–0 8
9 January 18 Ottawa Senators 3–5 Montreal Canadiens 4–5–0 8
10 January 23 Toronto Arenas 2–3 Ottawa Senators 5–5–0 10
Second half
11 January 25 Ottawa Senators 1–0 Montreal Canadiens 1–0–0 2
12 January 28 Ottawa Senators 2–1 Toronto Arenas 2–0–0 4
13 January 30 Montreal Canadiens 2–3 Ottawa Senators 3–0–0 6
14 February 6 Toronto Arenas 1–3 Ottawa Senators 4–0–0 8
15 February 8 Ottawa Senators 3–4 Montreal Canadiens 4–1–0 18
16 February 13 Montreal Canadiens 0–7 Ottawa Senators 5–1–0 10
17 February 18 Ottawa Senators 4–3 Toronto Arenas 6–1–0 12
18 February 20 Toronto Arenas 3–9 Ottawa Senators 7–1–0 14

Playoffs

Montreal Canadiens 4, Ottawa Senators 1
# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 February 23 Ottawa Senators 4–8 Montreal Canadiens 0–1
2 February 27 Montreal Canadiens 5–3 Ottawa Senators 0–2
3 March 2 Ottawa Senators 3–6 Montreal Canadiens 0–3
4 March 3 Montreal Canadiens 3–6 Ottawa Senators 1–3
5 March 6 Ottawa Senators 2–4 Montreal Canadiens 1–4

Playing stats

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Cy Denneny 18 18 4 22 43
Frank Nighbor 18 18 4 22 27
Jack Darragh 14 12 1 13 27
Sprague Cleghorn 18 6 6 12 27
Eddie Gerard 18 4 6 10 17

Goaltending

Player GP Min W L T GA SO GAA
Sprague Cleghorn 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Clint Benedict 18 1113 12 6 0 54 2 2.91

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;

Roster

Source: NHL.com[4]

See also

References

  1. Kitchen 2008, pp. 217–219.
  2. Kitchen 2008, p. 219.
  3. 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.
  4. "1918–19 Ottawa Senators". NHL.com.
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