The 1918 Stanley Cup Finals was played from March 20 to March 30. The National Hockey League (NHL) champion Toronto Arenas defeated the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) champion Vancouver Millionaires 3 games to 2 in the best-of-five game series. This is the current WikiProject: Ice Hockey Article Improvement Drive collaboration! The Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL), the major professional ice hockey league in Canada and the United States. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in leap years). ... NHL redirects here. ... See also Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto St. ... The Pacific Coast Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league in western Canada, operating from 1911 to 1924 when it merged with the Western Canada Hockey League. ... The Vancouver Millionaires were a professional ice hockey team in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 1911 to 1926. ...

This was the first time that an NHL team competed for the Cup. Prior to the season, the National Hockey Association (NHA) disbanded as the result of a power play to oust unpopular Toronto Blueshirts owner Edward J. Livingstone. The remaining clubs then met in November of 1917 to form the NHL, using the exact constitution and playing rules of the NHA. Thus, the then-new NHL took the NHA's place in competing for the Cup. This article is part of the Evolution of the NHL series. ... Toronto Blueshirts were a National Hockey Association team which played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... Edward J. Livingston was born in Toronto, Ontario, on September 12, 1884, as the youngest of three children. ...

During the 1917-18 NHL season, the Toronto Arenas won the first half of the split regular season while the Montreal Canadiens won the second half. The Arenas then won the NHL title after defeating the Canadiens in a two game total goals series, 10-7. The 1917-18 NHL season was the 1st regular season of the NHL. Each team played 22 games, except for the Montreal Wanderers whose season was cut short due to their arena burning down. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Millionaires finished the 1917-18 PCHA regular season in second place with a 9-9 record behind the 11-7 Seattle Metropolitans. However, Vancouver beat Seattle in that league's two game total goals finals, 3-1, with a 1-0 Game 2 victory. The Seattle Metropolitans were an ice hockey team based in Seattle, Washington which played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924. ...

As with the three previous NHA-PCHA Cup Finals, the series alternated between the NHL champion and the PCHA champion each year, while the differing rules for the leagues alternated each game. This meant that all of the games for the 1918 finals were played at Toronto's Arena Gardens.

Two of the major differences between the two leagues' rules proved to be a major factor in the series. The PCHA allowed forward passing and played with seven players per side; the NHL did not adopt forward passing until the following season, and only played with six players. In every game, the winner was the one playing under its league's rules. The Arena won Games 1 and 3 with victories of 5-3 and 6-3, and the Millionaires recorded 6-4 and 8-1 wins in Games 2 and 4. Because Game 5 was played under NHL rules, it helped Toronto's Corbett Denneny to score the series winning goal in a 2-1 victory. The Arenas outscored the Millionaires by a combined total of 13-7 in the three games played under NHL rules. Conversely, Vancouver recorded a 14-5 margin in the games under PCHA rules.

Toronto goaltender Hap Holmes recorded a 4.20 goals-against average during the series, while Alf Skinner led the Arenas with 8 goals. Cyclone Taylor scored 9 total goals for Vancouver. Hap Holmes (1889 in Aurora, Ontario - 1940 was a Canadian professional ice hockey goalie who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Cyclone Taylor (June 23, 1884 in Tara, Ontario - June 10, 1979) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Millionaires and Vancouver Maroons. ...

Cup engravings

Even though they officially did not win the Cup during this season, the Millionaires had the words "Vancouver/Defeated Seattle/1917-18/Score 1-0" engraved on the Cup after winning the PCHA championship over the Metropolitans, who won the previous year's Cup Finals. This was similar to the practice prior to 1915 when the trophy was officially passed on to the winner of the league championship of the previous Cup champion's league. The 1916 Stanley Cup Finals was played from March 20 to March 30, 1916. ...

However, the Arenas never did engrave their names on the Cup to memorialize their series victory over Vancouver.

References

• 1917-18 Stanley Cup Winner: Toronto Arenas. Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2006-07-03.
• hockeyleaguehistory.com - Pacific Coast Hockey Association. Retrieved on 2006-07-03.
• Podnieks, Andrew, Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books, 12, 50. ISBN 1-55168-261-3.
• (1992) Dan Diamond (ed.) The Official National Hockey League Stanley Cup Centennial Book. Firefly Books, 49-50. ISBN 1-895565-15-4.