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 an 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 played off against the Montreal Canadiens for the NHL championship. The Canadiens would go on to win the series in five games and represent the NHL in the Stanley Cup series against the Seattle Metropolitans. The Stanley Cup would not be awarded for this season though, due to the Spanish Flu epidemic ending the series without a decision.

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

• Benedict, Clint (G)
• Boucher, Georges (D)
• Broadbent, Punch (R)
• Cameron, Harry (D)
• Cleghorn, Sprague (D)
• Darragh, Jack (R)
• Denneny, Cy (L)
• Gerard, Eddie (L)
• Lowrey, Ed (C)
• Nighbor, Frank (C)
• Ronan, Skene (D)

Source: NHL.com^[4]

See also

• 1918–19 NHL season

References

• Kitchen, Paul (2008). Win, Tie or Wrangle. Manotick, Ontario: Penumbra Press. ISBN 978-1-897323-46-5. 
• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

Ottawa Hockey Club * Ottawa Senators (original) seasons 1880s 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890s 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900s 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910s 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920s 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930s 1930–31 1932–33 1933–34 Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup or other championship

1918–19 NHL season by team NHL Montreal • Ottawa • Toronto See also Stanley Cup Finals • Transactions