| 1918–19Toronto Arenas | |
|---|---|
| League | 3rd (1st half), 3rd (2nd half)NHL |
| 1918–19 record | 5–13–0 (overall) |
| Home record | 5–4–0 |
| Road record | 0–9–0 |
| Goals for | 65 |
| Goals against | 92 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Charles Querrie |
| Coach | Dick Carroll |
| Captain | Ken Randall |
| Arena | Arena Gardens |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Alf Skinner (12) |
| Assists | Ken Randall (6) |
| Points | Alf Skinner (15) |
| Penalty minutes | Rusty Crawford (51) |
| Wins | Bert Lindsay (5) |
| Goals against average | Hap Holmes (4.50) |
The1918–19 Toronto Arenas season was the secondseason of the Toronto franchise of theNational Hockey League. After being operated on a temporary basis in the previous year, the team became a formal entity, known as the 'Toronto Arena Hockey Club.' The club played 18 games and suspended operations.
The NHL had been formed mainly because the other four clubs in theNational Hockey Association were unable to expelToronto Blueshirts ownerEddie Livingstone, even though they had long since lost patience with him. To get around this, they suspended the NHA's operations and created the NHL, but didn't invite Livingstone to join them. Motivated by a desire to have a team in Toronto, as well as balance the schedule with theQuebec Bulldogs sitting out the season, the NHL granted a temporary franchise to the Toronto Arena Company, who then leased most of Livingstone's players pending resolution of the dispute.
However, the "Torontos" won the Stanley Cup, throwing a monkey wrench into the other owners' plans to get rid of Livingstone. Estimating that his team was worth $20,000, Livingstone was unwilling to accept the Arena Company's offer of $7,000. When the Arena Company refused to bend, Livingstone sued the Arena Company andCharlie Querrie for the $20,000. A league meeting of the old NHA proved futile as heated arguments broke out between Livingstone and the other owners. The old NHA was extinguished. However,Montreal Canadiens ownerGeorge Kennedy gave some ground, saying that if Livingstone dropped his lawsuits, he might be allowed in the league.
In the meantime, the Arena Company returned its temporary franchise to the NHL. It then formed a separate club, theToronto Arena Hockey Club, nominally owned by Arena Company treasurer Hubert Vearncombe. The new club applied for full membership in the NHL, which was duly granted. This separated the hockey club from the Livingstone lawsuits, though the franchise still used Livingstone's players without permission.
It was announced on February 18, thatKen Randall andHarry Meeking had signed with Glace Bay of the Maritime League with the Arenas' permission. The game that night was attended by only 1,000 fans watching a 4–3 overtime loss to Ottawa. After a follow-up game in Ottawa on February 20, lost 9–3, manager Querrie announced that the club sought to withdraw from the NHL season[1] and this was agreed to by Ottawa and Montreal.[2] The NHL season ended at 18 games, with Montreal and Ottawa to play off for the championship.
| 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 |
| 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 inbold.
| 1918–19 NHL Records[4] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | MTL | OTT | TOR | |||||||||
| Montreal | — | 4–5 | 6–3 | |||||||||
| Ottawa | 5–4 | — | 7–2 | |||||||||
| Toronto | 3–6 | 2–7 | — | |||||||||
| 1918–19 regular season[5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First half
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Second half
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Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alf Skinner | 17 | 12 | 4 | 16 | 26 |
| Reg Noble | 17 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 35 |
| Ken Randall | 14 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 27 |
| Corb Denneny | 16 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 15 |
| Rusty Crawford | 18 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 51 |
| Harry Meeking | 14 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 32 |
| Harry Cameron | 7 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 9 |
| Jack Adams | 17 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 35 |
| Harry Mummery | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| Hap Holmes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Jacobs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bert Lindsay | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Ritchie | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |