Home record 12–1–0 Goals for 121 General Manager Tommy Gorman | Road record 7–4–0 Goals against 64 | |
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1919–20 record 9–3–0 (1st half)
10–2–0 (2nd half) | ||
The 1919–20 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 35th season of play and third season in the NHL. It was a very successful season, as they set an NHL record for wins (19), points (38), and won both halves of the season, therefore the Sens automatically were awarded the NHL championship and the right to play in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Senators defeated Seattle to win their eighth Stanley Cup title.
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Regular season
The Quebec Bulldogs team was relaunched and added to the league and the schedule changed from 18 games to 24. Also, the Toronto Arenas would get new ownership and be renamed the Toronto St. Pats.
Frank Nighbor led the Sens offensively with 26 goals, good for 3rd in the NHL, and his 33 points ranked him 4th. Clint Benedict would set an NHL record with 5 shutouts, and he led the league in both wins (19) and GAA (2.66).
Final standings
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
Ottawa won both halves of the schedule, and no NHL playoffs were played.
Stanley Cup Finals
The Senators would face the Seattle Metropolitans for the Stanley Cup, with all games scheduled to be played in Ottawa. However an unseasonably warm spring in the Ottawa area led to some problems with the ice at Dey's Arena, and the final two games were moved to Toronto's Arena Gardens, which had artificial ice equipment.
Despite playing in a neutral arena, the Senators would hold on, and win the series 3 games to 2 over Seattle, including a convincing 6–1 victory in the deciding game, to win the Stanley Cup for the first time as a member of the NHL.
Goaltending
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 goalsMin, 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;
Awards and records
Stanley Cup engraving
The Senators did not engrave their name on the Cup for the 1920 championship. When the trophy was redesigned in 1948 the words "1920 Ottawa Senators" were engraved onto a new collar.