The 1918-19 season - Everything we know

[tarheelhockey]

Great stuff. Haven´t gone this season complitely through so there was lot that I didn´t know. Can´t really add much. There was ofcourse the offseason Eddie Livingstone saga, but don´t know how well it fits to the subject.

Yeah, I only left the Livingstone saga out for the pragmatic reason that it would take a while to dig into it and I was more focused on the games themselves. But he was very much still active in the hockey world, doing his usual thing of filing injunctions and trying to undermine the NHL by starting up a competing league.

Speaking of the "builders" involved in the game at the time, I came away from this season with an enhanced respect for Frank Patrick. He was such a foil to George Kennedy in particular. In this season alone, and only counting things that had to do with the NHL, he:

- Proposed a compromise that would have standardized the rules for Stanley Cup games. Had it been accepted, that would essentially have been the origin of the standard rulebook.

- Proposed a shortened Stanley Cup series, which would have avoided the tragic end of the 1919 playoff (not that he or anyone else could have known that in advance).

- Proposed the establishment of an international tournament which would have interlocked the PCHA and NHL in a full-bracket playoff. One can only imagine an alternate reality where that trophy rivaled the Stanley Cup in prestige, and how it would have impacted later international competition.

- Allowed the final game of the Cup series to be played under Eastern rules, to appease George Kennedy who knew damn well that the Mets would have won that game under their own rules.

- For no apparent reason other than good character, he passed on a very justifiable opportunity to give the Mets the championship by either default or by playing against a thrown-together Habs/Aristocrats team. Even though the Mets were clearly the better team and the Habs had pulled some questionable moves to keep the series deadlocked, he didn't press the issue against a group that was broken and would soon be grieving. George Kennedy would have played those games or taken the default, and the bonus money.

- He stayed close by the bedside of the sick Habs as they were nursed back to health. Again, not something he was obligated to do since these players weren't even in his league, but he clearly had a heartfelt respect and concern for them as friends and colleagues.

One thing that I have researched is the poor shape of the goaltending pool at the time.

Most certainly, and it's striking how much it affected the Arenas in both 1918 and 1919. They were clearly the weakest team in the league until they picked up Hap Holmes, then made a run to the championship, and then became a weak sister again when Holmes left. It would seem that Bert Lindsay was just THAT much worse of an option, and he was probably as good as anyone that wasn't already on a team. Granted, they did also lose Harry Cameron which was also a big blow, but it really seems that they were at a huge competitive disadvantage in that every game the goaltending matchup was badly skewed against them.

 

[Sanf]

Game 3

Montreal
Berlinguette – Lalonde (5) – Pitre (1)
Corbeau – Hall
Vezina
(Malone, O. Cleghorn, MacDonald, Couture)

Ottawa
Gerard (1) – Darragh – Broadbent (2)
Cameron – S. Cleghorn
Benedict
(Denneny, Boucher)

Not a lot of description of this game is available, but it sounds like it was very one-sided. Newsy Lalonde played so well that he was presented with a bouquet of flowers when he stepped off the ice – who would have presented such a thing to him at that particular moment, I have no idea. Being on the road, the Sens played without Nighbor again.

Just remembered this. I believe I read it from Ottawa Journal 5 march?. I have made only small notes from it.

According to it there was bit of drama after the third game. Clint Benedict resigned because he felt that he was made scapegoat of the losses. Eddie Gerard and others managed to talk him out of it, but there was already made some attempts to find replacement for him. It was more of outside preasure thing than inside the team thing.

If today some key player threatned to leave during Cup/Conference finals media would make quite a storm out of it. On that day it was just mentioned lightly "Arguments will occur in best families"

 

[tarheelhockey]

A couple of articles from the January 4, 1919 edition of the Calgary Herald, which give an idea of the sights and sounds of a hockey game from the fan perspective.

GOOD IDEA TO STOP SMOKING DURING GAMES


Considerable criticism is being aimed at the Calgary Hockey League for its action in connection with the "No Smoking" regulation at league games...

It is a well known fact that fully 90 per cent of the fires which have destroyed arenas in this country have been caused by smokers who drop lighted matches or cigar or cigarette stub. The rink management wishes to take every precaution to safeguard life and safety...

Then again, sport followers should remember that a large number of ladies are being attracted to the hockey matches, and it is most annoying to the members of the fair sex to have tobacco fumes blowing back in their faces while trying to enjoy a hockey game. It is surprising the amount of smoke that accumulates in an auditorium of the size of the Horse Show building and these fumes are hard on the players. It is a fact that the smoke at a hockey game can become so thick that players cannot see the other end of the rink and it is extremely difficult for them to follow the puck....

There is a smoking room provided at the front of the rink where men can go during intermission when it is too cold to go outside, and this will break up the long wait from one period to another.

HOCKEY COACHES USE MEGAPHONES AT GAMES

Megaphones at hockey matches!

They had them once in the dim past, and they will be revived under a resolution passed at the last executive meeting of the National Hockey League.

Each coach is allowed one during a game.

 

[tarheelhockey]

From time to time we debate over the reliability of newspaper accounts from this era. One issue that has been raised is that the newspapers often had a conflict of interests that might prevent them from posting honest reports of gameplay -- either due to shared ownership as in the case of Tommy Gorman buying a stake in the Senators while editing the sports page of the Citizen, or due to the influence of promotional efforts on reporters.

Here's an interesting blurb from the 1/13/19 Toronto World that directly addresses the latter:

The various press agents of hockey and other games are shooting wide of the mark when aiming at this paper with long notices telling the probable outcome, and what some players are likely to do, etc. etc. If the lucky or hapless individuals who are employed by the Arena or other boosters for boosting purposes would confine themselves to facts, and not opinions, their notices may be inserted. The names of officials, the times of starting and the line-up would occupy sufficient space, and this is an idea for the hireling who wants to get by. Otherwise he must follow the suggestion of the astute advertising man, who will give the press agent free license to have his long notices used at regular rates, instead of the little display that serves as an alibi for advertising matter.

So we know of at least one paper that wasn't having any of it.

 

[tarheelhockey]

One of the BIG differences between hockey in 1919 and a couple of decades later: the starters/substitutes dynamic of the early years. Eastern teams usually carried about 3 substitutes at a time; the western teams usually only one or two. These were basically "bench" players as you might see in baseball, soccer or basketball -- guys who would come in only when there was a specific need for relief of the starter. Usually they seemed to have a preferred position, but if you're the only substitute in a 7-man game, you had to be ready for anything...

NO CINCH BEING A SUBSTITUTE ON A PRO. HOCKEY TEAM

Charley Uksila, of Vancouver Club, Can Give Evidence of This Fact

One of the most difficult positions to play on a hockey team is "substitute". Trying to be a pinch-hitter or a "save-the-game pitcher" in the national winter sport is difficult to say the least. If you don't think so, ask Charley Uksila, Vancouver substitute, who has played utility roles ever since he entered pro hockey. The played [sic] who essays the role of "spare man" gets little of the credit and scarcely [illegible] praise.

During the games these fellows sit on the bench, try to keep warm and worry about what will happen next. They must be ready to jump out on the ice at a moment's notice and, whether they are warmed up or not, they are expected to dig right into hockey and do as well, at least, as the man they are replacing temporarily.

All the other players on the ice probably have secured their "second wind" and are hitting their best pace. The poor substitute has to work up his speed, get his second breath of air and pull off a bunch of rushes in three minutes or less. The regular player comes back to his station and the substitute goes back to the cooler for an [illegible] rest. Possibly in a few minutes he is called into the fray again and he repeats the dose. He [illegible] up a perspiration, and just when he gets his proper stride, off he goes again to cool off. Sometimes he gets [laced?] up for a game and then does not show his face once during the match. The disappointment is keen. He champs at the bit like a turf campaigner, but serves the purpose merely as a spectator.

If the player does not appear on the lineup at the start of a game he is [cl?]assed as "only a substitute", when he may be as good as several others on the ice. The only reason that he is not a starter is that the playing team is not large enough for the whole squad. All the regular players are invariably on deck for the home games, but the substitute must do most of his playing away from home before a foreign crowd, if one or two regulars do not make all trips.

The substitute is expected to play most any position on the ice -- his place is governed almost solely by circumstances. There is little or no excuse if he does not play a strange position as well as his own accustomed post.

[Illegible] the succeeding season or seasons he is listed as a substitute of the club for the year, and it sometimes requires some explaining as to why he was not used on the regular team during the year.

Incidentally, Charlie Uskila was one of the early American players, born just over the border in Calumet MI. I'm guessing from his last name that his parents were among the Polish who settled the area to work in the local copper mines. 1919 was Uksila's last season as a pro.

The line about subs usually playing on the road due to regular players not making the trip is interesting. The most prominent example of a player who didn't make road games was Joe Malone, who worked a regular job and couldn't travel. Despite being a scoring star, and contrary to the article, Malone actually functioned as a sub rather than taking a starting position when he was in the lineup.

 

[Sanf]

Incidentally, Charlie Uskila was one of the early American players, born just over the border in Calumet MI. I'm guessing from his last name that his parents were among the Polish who settled the area to work in the local copper mines. 1919 was Uksila's last season as a pro.

Actually Finnish roots. Parents came from Finland about 5 years before Charley was born IIRC. Mother was from Oulu (city). Most interesting thing about Uksila is that he really was born and trained in US. Don´t know if there were many before him in pro circles.

 

[Theokritos]

Don´t know if there were many before him in pro circles.

Players with Finnish parents you mean?

EDIT: No, you obviously meant players born and trained in the US. My bad.

 

[Sanf]

Players with Finnish parents you mean?

Well I meant players who actually had their hockey training in US.

edit. missed your edit

 

[tarheelhockey]

Actually Finnish roots. Parents came from Finland about 5 years before Charley was born IIRC. Mother was from Oulu (city). Most interesting thing about Uksila is that he really was born and trained in US. Don´t know if there were many before him in pro circles.

Interesting -- Calumet must have been a wild and wooly place for him to grow up. Right on the border in the upper peninsula, pretty much everyone in town involved in the copper mines, obviously a lot of off-the-boat immigrant groups in a very small town (5K at its peak, today it's well below 1K).

Incidentally, Uksila was only 8 years older than Calumet native and US football legend George Gipp (of "win one for the Gipper" fame) so one would think they almost certainly encountered each other growing up on the athletic fields of such a small town.

 

[Sanf]

Interesting -- Calumet must have been a wild and wooly place for him to grow up. Right on the border in the upper peninsula, pretty much everyone in town involved in the copper mines, obviously a lot of off-the-boat immigrant groups in a very small town (5K at its peak, today it's well below 1K).

Incidentally, Uksila was only 8 years older than Calumet native and US football legend George Gipp (of "win one for the Gipper" fame) so one would think they almost certainly encountered each other growing up on the athletic fields of such a small town.

True. I have a notes that his father was working as car filler at copper mine. Don´t know about his parents background in Finland, but most of the immigrants were very low in pecking order so life in Finland would probably been hard work with low chance to actually owning land/house or anything much.

Uksila was talented enough to get paid from playing baseball too. Though it was some sort of corporation?/semipro baseball. I´m not sure, but baseball might have been the reason for him going to Portland at the first place (Started his PCHA career in Portland.Played in Multnomah year before that). Atleast in summers of 1911 and 1912 he travelled to Portland to play baseball and work (according to Calumet News).

But going to OT direction

 

[tarheelhockey]

Until now, it had never occurred to me to wonder -- if we could get in a time machine and attend a PCHA game, what would the intermission entertainment be like?

[from a game in Victoria, BC]

Between the first two periods Pete Muldoon [manager of the Seattle Mets, the visiting team] and his pupil, Miss Venita Engel, gave an exhibition of fancy skating which was much appreciated and in the second interval the first of the series of races for the Walkerson Cup by amateur players was run. W. McAllister won as he liked in 3 min. 42 sec., C. Gandy was second and Ross Miller third. The course was eleven laps, approximately one mile.

"Fancy skating" was the contemporary term for figure skating.

At the pace given, the speed skaters were traveling roughly 16 miles per hour.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Rule Changes:

Shorthanded play was added for teams that committed penalties. The penalty system was as follows:
Minor penalty (holding stick, lying on the ice to block a shot) – 3 minutes, substitutions allowed
Major penalty (throwing stick, tripping, holding, cross-checking, boarding) – 3 minutes, no substitutions
Match penalty (deliberate injury) – Ejection, 5 minutes without substitution

Was this in the NHL or the PCHA? This following post from the ATD's Dishing the Dirt section would appear to indicate that the PCHA adopted the modern penalty system sometime during 1918-19, with the NHL adopting it a few years later.

The PCHA was often a few years ahead of the NHL in adopting rules, generally credited to the innovations of the Patrick brothers.

Some information on the adoption of modern penalty rules in hockey:

The original penalty rules in hockey were known as the "deferred penalty" system. Under this system, a penalized player was forced to sit on the bench during his penalty, but could be replaced on the ice through the duration of his penalty by a substitute. The PCHA seems to have changed this system sometime during the 1918-19 season. Here is an article discussing rules for the upcoming season. From the Regina Morning Leader - November 29, 1918:

Deferred Penalty System

The association decided to adopt deferred penalty system, which has been accepted within the past and has been adopted by the N.H.A. This ensures six men to a team on the ice at all times.

This next article is from the famous tie game of 1919 Cup finals between Seattle and Montreal. From the Edmonton Journal - March 27, 1919:

The game was the roughest of the series. Penalties were frequent on both sides, but Joe Hall, the Montreal defenseman, drew the ire of the fans by his rough checking. "Bad Joe" they call him back east, and the Seattle spectators will admit that he is well named. Two Seattle players are nursing injured ankles from Hall's wicked stick; Jack Walker had three stitches taken above his eye as a result of one of Hall's lunges, and every member of the Seattle club is marked from the visiting defense man's checking. And Hall is not the only offender. The Montreal men laid the wood hard and often on Seattle shins, and Seattle players were not slow to retaliate. But under the lax penalty system of the east, where a penalty only means the replacing of the offending player by a substitute, neither club was much handicapped by the penalties. Two members of the invading club were hurt, Berlinquette sustaining a bad cut on the mouth and Corbeau a sprained shoulder.

So it seems to be the case that the PCHA adopted a modern penalty system at some point in the course of the 1918-19 season, otherwise the comments vis-a-vis the eastern system in the Finals would make no sense.

The real Rosetta Stone of this investigation I actually had to pay for, but it was worth it. This next article (no link) describes the NHL's move to a modern penalty system. From the Christian Science Monitor - November 16, 1921:

Toronto, Ontario - The directors of the National Hockey League met here Monday and ratified the agreement with the Pacific coast and Western Canada professional leagues which will place professional hockey under the one commission throughout Canada. While the schedule will not be adopted until the annual meeting to be held in Montreal on November 26, it was decided that each team will play 12 home games and that the season must be completed by March 15 in order that the series with the champions of the other two leagues be completed before the end of the season. It was decided that instead of a split season as was the case last year there will be but a single schedule and the first and second teams will play off for the championship.

The most important feature of the meeting was the adoption of the penalty rule of the Ontario Hockey Association with the exception that fouls are catalogued and a definite penalty for each provided. This year every player who is penalized for a foul of any description will serve his term on the fence and his team will play short-handed. It does not make any difference how many players are fenced, all will have to serve their penalties as they are inflicted. There will be no deferring of penalties. For minor offenses players will be ruled off for three minutes, for major fouls five minutes and for match fouls the penalty is 20 minutes at least, and may be banished for the remainder of the game. The system of fining players for certain offenses also remains in force.

The rules will be changed to make a pass off the goal keeper onside as far out as the nearest red line marking the no offside area. Leo Dandurand of Montreal, one of the purchasers of the Canadian Club franchise formerly held by George Kennedy, was elected to replace Mr. Kennedy on the board. A permanent board of referees was appointed and will consist of Cooper Smeaton of Montreal, Quebec, Lou Marsh and Harvey Sproule of Toronto and Charles McKinley of Ottawa.

And immediately thereafter we begin seeing mentions of teams playing shorthanded. This last article is from the Vancouver Sun - March 24, 1922:

Duncan Penalized

Duncan rushed and was checked by Stuart, and after a mixup, Duncan was penalized. Oatman and Stuart mixed, and both were given penalties. Locals playing five men to four. Smylie and Dye went down, but Cook intercepted the rush. St. Pats attacked but could do nothing. Parkes went on for Vancouver and held the locals in check. Dye went down and missed the net. Everybody on again. Lehman passed out and Noble intercepted, but he missed an opening.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

NHL began officially recording assists in 1918-19

The following Doug Vaughan column from 1947 summarizes the yearly changes in the NHL up until that point.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...471932&dq=doug+vaughan+rebound+|+hockey&hl=en

It says the following about rule changes for 1918-19:

The three playing zones, and forward passing in the centre area came into existence. Tabulation of assists first started.

You already covered the first part (as well as allowing the puck to be kicked, which Vaughan missed), but I find the assists thing interesting, and this isn't the first place that I saw it. Any records of assists in either the NHA or NHL prior to 1918-19 were reconstructed by historians years after the fact from newspaper reports. The PCHA officially recorded assists for most (or all?) of its existence, however.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Change in the role of the rover in the PCHA

Modern analysis that states that the rover position changed from a primarily offensive position to a primarily defensive one prior to the 1918-19 season.

http://www.hockeyprospectus.com/puck/article.php?articleid=699

In addition to the stark statistical difference, that is also the year that Cyclone Taylor (superstar scorer) and Mickey MacKay (pre-eminent two-way forward) switched positions.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Change in the role of the rover in the PCHA

Modern analysis that states that the rover position changed from a primarily offensive position to a primarily defensive one prior to the 1918-19 season.

http://www.hockeyprospectus.com/puck/article.php?articleid=699

In addition to the stark statistical difference, that is also the year that Cyclone Taylor (superstar scorer) and Mickey MacKay (pre-eminent two-way forward) switched positions.

On a similar note - the primary rover for Seattle during this season, Jack Walker, was essentially a Frank Nighbor Lite stick-checker. And the primary rover for Victoria was Moose Johnson, better known for his time as a defenseman.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Was this in the NHL or the PCHA? This following post from the ATD's Dishing the Dirt section would appear to indicate that the PCHA adopted the modern penalty system sometime during 1918-19, with the NHL adopting it a few years later.

The PCHA was often a few years ahead of the NHL in adopting rules, generally credited to the innovations of the Patrick brothers.

In the Toronto World, 12/20/1918, left column of the sports page and partway through a paragraph:

Monday will introduce Toronto fans to the first N.H.L. match under the new no offside area at center ice, and the new penalty rules under which a player who counts a major or match foul is ordered out of the game and his side plays shorthanded three or five minutes.

The distinction between this and the 1921 system is that the 1919 version allowed substitutions during "minor" penalties, defined essentially as non-dangerous fouls.

Examples of this system coming into play -- in the Dec. 28 game, Ken Randall took a major penalty while the Arenas were trying to rally, forcing them to play shorthanded and of course bottled up by the Habs. In the Jan. 5 game, Montreal scored two goals shorthanded against Ottawa. The Jan. 30 game was decided on an OT power play when Joe Hall was called for running Clint Benedict.

Unfortunately, the full box scores for that 1919 Cup game weren't published anywhere I can find. The lineups were printed, but I suppose a 0-0 result convinced editors to save the column space that would normally have given us a penalty summary. My suspicion is that a number of minor penalties were called, and western fans were ticked off that they weren't getting power plays as a result.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Generally I have tried to avoid getting into the business aspects of the NHL/NHA feud, since the whole thing is kind of convoluted and well-documented elsewhere. But I found this amusing:

[during a very tense meeting of the former-NHA franchise owners in which George Kennedy (Montreal) and Percy Quinn (Toronto) got into a shouting match across the table and accused each other of failing to hold majority shares in their clubs.]

President Calder exploded a bombshell when a motion was made by Toronto to disqualify the Canadiens from membership because it owned only a three-eighths share of the stock. He made an amendment to the motion to the effect that before anything else the association had better pay its debts. In speaking on the amendment, he announced that the association had many debts, but not a cent of money in the world, and that for the last year he had been paying all incidental expenses, including postage stamps, out of his own pocket.

 

[tarheelhockey]

From the days before liability waivers...

An innovation for hockey games will be offered on Monday night at the Vancouver Arena, when Victoria and Vancouver open the Pacific Coast League season here, in the shape of a dance on ice. As soon as the game is over, the ice will be scraped off and the crowd is invited to dance until midnight. Dancers will wear rubbers (or mocassins).

 

[tarheelhockey]

The Patricks really were good guys compared to some of the sharks who populated the waters of pro hockey management at that time...

Dear Mr. [Lester] Patrick --

Will you kindly accept the very sincere thanks of the commanding officer and patients of the Esquimalt Military Hospital for your most generous action in giving us free tickets of admission to your hockey games.

Last week your generosity enabled 100 patients of our hospital to see your team gain a much deserved victory over Vancouver. This week you have granted us 150 free tickets, and this will mean that all our patients at Resthaven will have a chance to see next Fridays' game, and all those others in Victoria City who were unable to attend last week will receive a ticket.
...
With such assistance as this it becomes an easy matter for us to supply entertainment which is so essential to a patient's well-being to those who are here for treatment.
...
Walter Bapty.
Major, C.A.M.C., O.C. Esquimalt Military Hospital.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Until now, it had never occurred to me to wonder -- if we could get in a time machine and attend a PCHA game, what would the intermission entertainment be like?




"Fancy skating" was the contemporary term for figure skating.

At the pace given, the speed skaters were traveling roughly 16 miles per hour.

So apparently Pete Muldoon was quite the intermission entertainer...

Manager Pete Muldoon, of Seattle, did some fancy skating on stilts for the crowd.

Imagine, if you will, Ken Hitchcock skating around on stilts as intermission entertainment.

 

[tarheelhockey]

In the Toronto World, 12/20/1918, left column of the sports page and partway through a paragraph:



The distinction between this and the 1921 system is that the 1919 version allowed substitutions during "minor" penalties, defined essentially as non-dangerous fouls.

Examples of this system coming into play -- in the Dec. 28 game, Ken Randall took a major penalty while the Arenas were trying to rally, forcing them to play shorthanded and of course bottled up by the Habs. In the Jan. 5 game, Montreal scored two goals shorthanded against Ottawa. The Jan. 30 game was decided on an OT power play when Joe Hall was called for running Clint Benedict.

Unfortunately, the full box scores for that 1919 Cup game weren't published anywhere I can find. The lineups were printed, but I suppose a 0-0 result convinced editors to save the column space that would normally have given us a penalty summary. My suspicion is that a number of minor penalties were called, and western fans were ticked off that they weren't getting power plays as a result.

Finally found a penalty summary for that Game 4:

1st - Corbeau (MTL) 3 minutes - replaced by Cleghorn
2nd - MacDonald (MTL) 3 minutes - replaced by Hall
3rd - none
OT - Cleghorn (MTL) 3 minutes - replaced by Coutu
OT - Walker (SEA) 3 minutes - replaced by Wilson
OT - Rowe (SEA) 3 minutes - replaced by Walker
OT - Walker (SEA) 3 minutes - replaced by Wilson
OT - Murray (SEA) 3 minutes - replaced by Rowe

Confirms the suspicion that the westerners were seeing perceived PP opportunities go by the wayside due to the allowance of substitutes for 3-minute minors. It's strange that Seattle suddenly started taking penalties in OT -- almost makes me wonder if they were gaming the system a bit. In the third period and OT, Wilson came into the game as a normal substitute 4 times... and he was used as a penalty sub twice. Was Seattle just playing rough hockey on purpose and treating the 3 minutes as an ordinary turn on the bench? If that were the case, or even if it were just perceived that they didn't really care very much about the consequences of taking a penalty, it's easy to understand how a western critic would turn his nose up at such a merciful system of penalty enforcement.

 

[Sanf]

The Patricks really were good guys compared to some of the sharks who populated the waters of pro hockey management at that time...

Yeah when talking about North American hockey history they are easily two of my favourites. All the innovations, charity work and the respect for their players is really admirable. Rooting for PCHA even though I very well know how it ended.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Until now, it had never occurred to me to wonder -- if we could get in a time machine and attend a PCHA game, what would the intermission entertainment be like?

So apparently Pete Muldoon was quite the intermission entertainer...

Imagine, if you will, Ken Hitchcock skating around on stilts as intermission entertainment.

Found another reference to the innovative PCHA intermission entertainment:

It is suggested by a local hockey fan that an attempt should be made to induce the ladies of the Regents hockey team, who are playing an exhibition game in Vancouver between the intervals of the P.C.H.A. match on Monday, to come over to Victoria.

Apparently Lester Patrick was pushing for women's hockey exhibitions in Vancouver, so presumably it was his idea to use the Millionaires as a platform for publicity.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Found some better accounts of NHL/PCHA exhibitions staged in the runup to the Stanley Cup series.

Montreal vs Vancouver


Montreal
Berlinguette (1) – Cleghorn (1) – Pitre (1)
Lalonde (1)
Corbeau – Hall
Vezina
(MacDonald, Coutu)

Vancouver
Harris (1) – Taylor (1) – Stanley
Cook (1)
Griffis – Duncan
Lehman
(Irvine, Uksila)

The game summaries I’ve found haven’t been especially detailed, but it’s clear enough that this game was much more lopsided than the 4-3 score would indicate. Both goalies made spectacular saves, but Lehman in particular did more than his share of work that night. Also, there were some interesting lineup decisions in play for Montreal. As usual, Joe Malone remained in Quebec where he had work commitments, and the Habs were obliged to send Newsy Lalonde back to rover in order to satisfy the 7-man roster requirements (which made sense because he had played there occasionally during the season). That cut deeply into the forward depth that had been such an advantage in their NHL championship win over Ottawa. The game summaries include substitution info, so we know that the Habs made only one change during the game – MacDonald came in for Cleghorn at center. Seattle, for some reason, substituted Irvine for Si Griffis and later reversed the swap. This game summary also informs us that the LD/RD dynamic was Corbeau/Hall and Griffis/Duncan, information that was usually unavailable in the east where they were simply listed as “defense†or even referred to as “point†and “cover†in certain publications.

The bolded is incorrect and likely the result of an editorial mistake. The Daily Colonist, which almost certainly sent a reporter to the game, has a more detailed account of the substitutions. Cleghorn was replaced by MacDonald in the first period, then returned in the second as a sub for Pitre. Pitre came back as a sub for Hall, and that was reversed in the third period. Coutu replaced Cleghorn near the end of the second period, and that was reversed in the third.

Ottawa vs Victoria[/B]

Unfortunately the summary and box score for this game are mostly illegible in the only account I’ve found. Ottawa won 11-3, with goals by Nighbor (4), Cameron (2) and Broadbent (1). The Aristocrats got a goal apiece from Eddie Oatman and Wilf Loughlin.

As expected, the Daily Colonist covered this game closely.

Ottawa
Broadbent (1) - Nighbor (5) - Boucher (1)
Gerard (1)
Cleghorn - Cameron (3)
Benedict
(Denenny)

Victoria
Marples - Dunderdale - Tobin (1)
Wilf Loughlin (1)
Clem Loughlin - Patrick
Murray
(Oatman (1), Genge)

Interesting strategic observations in the game summary: Ottawa made little use of the forward pass at center ice, and used a short-passing game that decimated the Victoria defense. This is remarkable because Victoria was a very strong defensive team that season. The Victoria beat writer, who was one of the most biased commentators on the circuit, seemed genuinely impressed at the way the Ottawa forwards worked together. In particular he drew a rather unflattering comparison between the oncoming waves of Senators in front of the Victoria goal, and the ineffective solo rushes and long passes of the Aristocrats.

Not that it would have made that much of a difference, but the Aristocrats were somewhat handicapped going into the game. Their biggest star, Moose Johnson, was out of town on his honeymoon with the blessing of player/manager Lester Patrick. Eddie Oatman skated despite having a relapse of the flu (more on that soon) and goaltender Tommy Murray played with severely hampered vision from a "bad eye" (who knows).

Probably due to unfamiliarity, the Victoria writer didn't single out any Senators for special mention. He noted strong games from Tobin, Dunderdale and Genge. In terms of substitutions, the Senators had Gerard, Denneny and Boucher rotating while the Aristocrats characteristically cycled subs through the forward line including Genge and Clem Loughlin, who were usually defensemen.

 

[tarheelhockey]

OK, I'm going to start an info dump on the 1919 PCHA season. Locking the thread momentarily so I can put it all together in sequence; will reopen when it's finished.