December 19, 1917: The NHL's 1st Games

Dave Ritchie

December 19, 1917: The 1st games in the National Hockey League are played. There are no other games: It's the off-season for Major League Baseball, and the NFL and the NBA haven't been founded yet.

The NHL had been founded on November 26. And, on this Wednesday night, it debuted. Calling it "National" was a stretch, since there were only 5 member teams, all in Eastern Canada, and one of those, the Quebec Bulldogs, had trouble fielding a team. Western Canada, and America's Pacific Northwest with the Seattle Metropolitans and the Portland Rosebuds, had the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. (It would take until the founding of the Boston Bruins in 1924 for an American-based team to join the NHL.)

The game of hockey was very different then. Forward passing was not allowed. There were no zones. Lineup changes could only be made with time-outs, so "changing on the fly" wasn't allowed. Minor penalties were 3 minutes instead of 2. And goaltenders had to serve their own penalties, forcing teams to let a less-protected player guard the goal.

At Dey's Arena, in Canada's national capital of Ottawa, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators 7-4. Attendance was cited in the newspapers as about 6,000, even though the arena supposedly seated just 4,500.

"Phantom" Joe Malone scored 5 of the Canadiens' goals, on his way to scoring 44 in the League's 20-game season, a pace that even Wayne Gretzky never managed. (When the Quebec team finally got onto the ice for the 1919-20 season, Malone would join them, and set an NHL record that still stands with 7 goals in a game.)

In addition to Malone, the Canadiens -- who were founded in 1909, and had won the title in the now-defunct National Hockey Association in 1916 and 1917, and won the Stanley Cup in 1916 -- had goaltender Georges Vezina, and attacking players Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde, Didier "Cannonball" Pitre and Jack Laviolette.

The Senators, who had won the Cup in 1903, 1904, 1905, 1909 and 1911, had goalie Clint Benedict and attackers Eddie Gerard, Cy Denneny and Jack Darragh. Each of these men would later be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Gerard was also their head coach, and just 27 years old. He would remain the youngest head coach in NHL history until 1979, surpassed by Gary Green of the Washington Capitals at 26.

Eddie Gerard

At the Westmount Arena, just outside the city limits of Montreal, the Montreal Wanderers outlasted the Toronto Arenas 10-9. Just 1 minute into the game, defenseman Dave Ritchie scored the NHL's 1st goal, and future Hall-of-Famer Harry Hyland scored 5. Reg Noble, also on the way into the Hall, scored 4 for Toronto.

The Wanderers had Art Ross playing out the string, and once had Lester Patrick as well. These men would later have their names on trophies, and in Patrick's case, a Division. Ross would later run the Bruins, and Patrick the New York Rangers. But in 1906, 1907, 1908 and 1910, they would lead the Wanderers, known as "the Little Men of Iron," to the Stanley Cup.

But after this opener, the Wanderers would never win another game. They lost their next 3 games. And then, on January 2, 1918, the Westmount Arena burned down. This left both Montreal teams homeless. The Canadiens moved into the smaller Jubilee Rink, in the city's East End. The Wanderers folded.

The Senators would win the Cup in 1920, 1921, 1923 and 1927, but the Great Depression would doom them in 1934. A new franchise with their name would begin play in 1992. The Quebec Bulldogs didn't last long, either, moving in 1920 to become the Hamilton Tigers, and folding in 1925.

In 1924, the Montreal Forum opened, pretty much across the street from where the Westmount Arena was (but within the city limits). The Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups, more than any other team -- but they haven't won it since 1993.

The Arenas still exist, too, changing their name to the Toronto St. Patricks in 1919 and the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927. They would win the 1st NHL title, and the 1918 Stanley Cup, the 1st of 13 they would win -- but they haven't won it since 1967, or even appeared in the Finals since then.

Dave Ritchie, scorer of the 1st NHL goal, would go on to play for all 5 of the League's charter teams, including the Canadiens, as you can see by the photo at the top of this post. He played professional hockey from 1914 to 1926, and lived until 1973, age 81.

December 19, 1917 was a Wednesday.