1919-20 NHL season

The 1919-20 NHL season was the third season of the National Hockey League. Four teams each played 24 games. The NHL's Ottawa Senators won the Stanley Cup by defeating the PCHA's Seattle Metropolitans three games to two in a best-of-five series.

League Business

A group was found to buy the dormant Toronto franchise a day before the regular season was slated to begin, and they named the club the Toronto St. Patricks. The group paid $5,000 to the NHL for the franchise.

The Quebec Athletic Club, which did not ice teams in the first two seasons of the NHL due to financial concerns, finally iced a team, although they were not successful.

Regular Season

Highlights

The Montreal Canadiens had their home opener January 10 in brand new Mount Royal Arena and Newsy Lalonde used the occasion to celebrate with six goals in a 14-7 drubbing of the Toronto St. Patricks.

Jack Darragh of Ottawa had a chance to play in goal when Toronto defeated Ottawa 5-3 on January 24th. He took over when Clint Benedict was penalized. He did not surrender any goals during the two minutes.

Despite a dismal record of 2-10 in both halves of the season, the Bulldogs' Joe Malone scored seven goals in one game on January 31, 1920, a mark that still stands today. He nearly equalled the record on March 10 when he scored six goals in a 10-4 win over the Ottawa Senators. He led the league in goals with 39. But by surrendering 7.18 goals against per game, a record that stands today, Quebec finished dead last.

With the war now over, players came home and fans were now coming in larger numbers to see games. On February 21, 1920, a record crowd of 8,500 fans came to see Ottawa play Toronto at the Arena Gardens (also known as Mutual Street Arena).

On March 3, the Montreal Canadiens pummeled the Quebec Bulldogs 16-3, setting an all-time record for goals by one team.

Final Standings

First Half

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Ottawa Senators	12	9	3	0	18	59	23
Montreal Canadiens	12	8	4	0	16	62	51
Toronto St. Patricks	12	5	7	0	10	52	62
Quebec Bulldogs	12	2	10	0	4	44	81

Second Half

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Ottawa Senators	12	10	2	0	20	62	41
Toronto St. Patricks	12	7	5	0	14	67	44
Montreal Canadiens	12	5	7	0	10	67	62
Quebec Bulldogs	12	2	10	0	4	47	96

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.

Scoring Leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Joe Malone	Quebec Bulldogs	24	39	10	49	12
Newsy Lalonde	Montreal Canadiens	23	37	9	46	34
Frank Nighbor	Ottawa Senators	23	26	15	41	18
Corbett Denneny	Toronto St. Patricks	24	24	12	36	20
Jack Darragh	Ottawa Senators	23	22	14	36	22
Reg Noble	Toronto St. Patricks	24	24	9	33	52
Amos Arbour	Montreal Canadiens	22	21	5	26	13
Cully Wilson	Toronto St. Patricks	23	20	6	26	86
Didier Pitre	Montreal Canadiens	22	14	12	26	6
Punch Broadbent	Ottawa Senators	21	19	6	25	40

Leading Goaltenders

GP = Games Played, TOI = Time On Ice (minutes), GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average

Player	Team	GP	TOI	GA	SO	GAA
Clint Benedict	Ottawa Senators	24	1443	64	5	2.66
Ivan Mitchell	Toronto St. Patricks	16	830	60	0	4.34
Georges Vezina	Montreal Canadiens	24	1456	113	0	4.66
Frank Brophy	Quebec Bulldogs	21	1249	148	0	7.11

Stanley Cup Playoffs

All dates in 1920

Since the Ottawa Senators won both halves of the split regular season, there was no need for an NHL playoffs and the Senators were given the O'Brien Trophy and were assured a spot in the Stanley Cup Championship series. Representing the Pacific Coast Hockey Association this year was the Seattle Metropolitans, who battled in a very tight PCHA, where two wins separated its three teams. A problem arose as Seattle's green, red, and white uniforms looked almost alike to Ottawa's black, red, and white uniforms. The Senators agreed to play in white sweaters. The previous year saw the championship played out west. This year, it was played in Ottawa, but with unseasonably warm weather, the final two games were played in Toronto's Arena Gardens.

Finals

Seattle Metropolitans vs. Ottawa Senators

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 22	Seattle Metropolitans	2	Ottawa Senators	3
March 24	Seattle Metropolitans	0	Ottawa Senators	3
March 27	Ottawa Senators	1	Seattle Metropolitans	3
March 30	Ottawa Senators	2	Seattle Metropolitans	5	Played in Toronto
April 1	Seattle Metropolitans	1	Ottawa Senators	6	Played in Toronto

Ottawa wins best-of-five series 3 games to 2 to win the Stanley Cup

NHL Playoff Scoring Leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Frank Nighbor	Ottawa Senators	5	6	1	7
Jack Darragh	Ottawa Senators	5	5	2	7

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1919-20 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Babe Dye, Toronto St. Patricks

Last Games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1919-20 (listed with their last team):

Game Ads

Ottawa

Quebec City

Stanley Cup @ Ottawa

Montreal

See Also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• List of pre-NHL seasons

References

• NHL Official Website
• Hockey Database