March 26, 1917: The 1st American Stanley Cup

March 26, 1917: For the 1st time, the Stanley Cup is won by a team from outside Canada. It would be the biggest shock to Canadian hockey until the 1972 Summit Series.

The Montreal Canadiens won the National Hockey Association title in 1916, and beat the Portland Rosebuds for their 1st Stanley Cup. The Rosebuds were the Champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, and the 1st American-based team -- the 1st team from outside Canada -- to play for the Cup.

The Canadiens had some of the earliest members of the Hockey Hall of Fame: Centers Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde and Didier "Cannonball" Pitre, right wing Jack Fournier, left wing Jack Laviolette, and goaltender Georges Vézina, for whom the trophy for the NHL's top goalie would be named. (The Vezina Trophy has no accent mark over the E in its official name.)

In 1917, the Canadiens won the NHA title again. This time, the PCHA title was won by the Seattle Metropolitans. Founded in 1915, they included some future Hall-of-Famers: Centers Frank Foyston and Jack Walker, and goalie Harry "Hap" Holmes.

A surviving Seattle Metropolitans sweater

The entire Stanley Cup Finals, best-3-out-of-5, would be played at the Seattle Ice Arena, due to the huge distance between the competing teams' cities. But the rules would alternate between those of the NHA and the PCHA. The Canadiens surprised no one by winning Game 1, 8-4. Pitre scored 4 goals. But in Game 2, also played under NHA rules, the Metros took a 6-0 lead before the Canadiens got a late consolation goal.

The PCHA rules took effect, and Seattle lead only 1-0 after 2 periods in Game 3, but Vézina couldn't hold the Metros off forever, and the game ended 4-0. Game 4 was played on March 26, and an early goal by Bernie Morris set the tone. The Metropolitans won, 9-1. Pete Muldoon, who had previously played for the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA, was just 29 years old, and remains the youngest head coach ever to win the Stanley Cup.

The shock to Canadian hockey sensibilities was great. In November, the National Hockey League was founded, to replace the NHA. However, there was no connection between the events: The real reason the NHL was formed was so that the member teams could get away from a troublesome owner, Eddie Livingstone of the Toronto Blueshirts. Essentially, they all dropped out of the NHA and formed the NHL, leaving Livingstone with control of a league with one team in it.

And the NHL took the NHA's place as the PCHA's challenger for the Stanley Cup. In 1918, the Toronto Arenas won the 1st NHL title, and beat the Vancouver Millionaires for the Cup. In 1919, Montreal and Seattle played each other again, but the worldwide flu epidemic forced a halt in the Finals, and no deciding game was ever played. The Ottawa Senators beat the Metropolitans in 1920 and the Millionaires in 1921. The Arenas, having become the Toronto St. Patricks, beat the Millionaires in 1922.

The PCHA folded, and was replaced by the West Coast Hockey League. The Senators beat the Edmonton Eskimos in the 1923 Finals. In 1924, the Canadiens beat the Calgary Tigers. In 1925, the Victoria Cougars beat the Canadiens, and remain the last non-NHL team to win the Cup. In 1926, the Cougars were dethroned by the Montreal Maroons.

The WCHL folded, and the freeing of their players led to the expansion of the NHL, which put teams in New York (2 of them), Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Chicago. In 1928, the New York Rangers became the 2nd U.S.-based team to win the Stanley Cup.

The Seattle Ice Arena was bought in 1924, and the Metropolitans had no place else to go, so they went out of business. Seattle had minor-league teams for decades, not getting a team in either the NHL or the World Hockey Association, until finally getting the Seattle Kraken in the NHL in 2021.

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March 26, 1917 was a Monday. There were no other hockey games. Professional basketball barely existed. Baseball was in Spring Training. And football was out of season. So there were no other scores on this historic day.

But on this day, disc jockey and soul singer Rufus Thomas was born. His daughter, Carla Thomas, would also be a big soul singer.