Sport Ice hockey Champion Montreal Canadiens Top scorer Newsy Lalonde (28) Number of teams 5 People also search for 1916–17 NHA season | Champions Montreal Canadiens Start date 1915 Number of games 24 Finals champion Montreal Canadiens | |
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League National Hockey Association Duration December 18, 1915 – March 18, 1916 | ||
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.
Contents
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.
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.
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.
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.