The 1915–16 NHA season was the seventh season of the

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), initially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Leagu ...

. Five teams played a 24 game schedule.

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

won the league championship and defeated the Portland Rosebuds to win their first ever

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

League business

Toronto Blueshirts included the players from the Toronto Shamrocks/Ontarios/Tecumsehs franchise. Before the season, Ed Livingstone, the Shamrocks owner, purchased the Blueshirts franchise from

Frank Robinson Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019), nicknamed "the Judge", was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams over 21 seasons: the Cincinnati Reds (1956–196 ...

. At the annual meeting of November 9, 1915, he was ordered to sell the Shamrocks franchise but could not do so as the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in Western Canada and the Western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was cons ...

'raided' the franchise and signed its players. *

Emmett Quinn Thomas Emmett Quinn (September 10, 1877 – February 9, 1930) was a Canadian ice hockey executive, coach and referee. Quinn served as president of the National Hockey Association (NHA), the predecessor of today's National Hockey League (NHL). Hi ...

continued as president *

Frank Calder Frank Sellick Calder (November 17, 1877 – February 4, 1943) was a British-born Canadian ice hockey executive, journalist, and athlete. Calder was the first president of the National Hockey League (NHL), from 1917 until his death in 1943. He ...

continued as secretary-treasurer Directors: *

Sam Lichtenhein Samuel Edward Lichtenhein (October 24, 1870 – June 21, 1936) was an American-Canadian businessman and sports executive. He was the owner and president of the Montreal Wanderers ice hockey team of the National Hockey Association (NHA), later Na ...

, Ernie Russell, Wanderers * E. J. Livingstone, Shamrocks *

, M. J. Quinn, Toronto * Barney Kane, Quebec *

George Kennedy George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academy Award for Best Supp ...

, Canadiens * Martin Rosenthal, Frank Shaughnessy, Ottawa President Quinn instituted a rule that officials would be locked in their dressing rooms between periods to disallow influence from the press or players.

Regular season

Several players from the PCHA signed with NHA clubs: *

Frank Nighbor Julius Francis Joseph Nighbor (January 26, 1893 – April 13, 1966) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played primarily for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and National Hockey League (NHL). He also ...

, Ottawa *

Bert Lindsay Leslie Bertrand Lindsay (July 23, 1881 – November 11, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey Association (NHA), Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), and National Hockey League (NHL). Born in West Gara ...

, Wanderers * Walter Smaill, Wanderers

Highlights

On January 23, 1916, Skene Ronan was arrested by Toronto police and charged with assault for hitting Alf Skinner. On February 23, 1916, Gordon Roberts of the Wanderers drew a match penalty for cutting Ottawa's

in a game in Montreal. On the next visit of the Wanderers to Ottawa, Roberts was pelted with bottles from the Ottawa fans. The race for the scoring championship was close between

Newsy Lalonde Édouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde (October 31, 1887 – November 21, 1970) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League (NHL) and a professional lacrosse player. Lalonde is regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse ...

of the Canadiens,

Joe Malone Maurice Joseph Malone (February 28, 1890 – May 15, 1969) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He played in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Bulldogs, Montreal Canadiens, and Hamilt ...

of Quebec and

Cy Denneny Cyril Joseph Denneny (December 23, 1891 – September 10, 1970) was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League from 1917 to 1929 and the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hock ...

of Toronto. Lalonde finished with 31 goals in 25 games and Malone and Denneny tied for second with 26 goals.

Clint Benedict Clinton Stevenson "Praying Benny" Benedict (September 26, 1892 – November 12, 1976) was a Canadian professional lacrosse goalie, ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Maroons. He played on four Stanley Cup-win ...

of Ottawa had the best G.A.A. of 3.0 to surpass

Georges Vezina Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia * Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses * Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 19 ...

's 3.2 goals per game. Gordon Keats of Toronto scored five goals in a game against Quebec on February 7, 1916, and finished the season with 22 goals in 24 games.

Final standings

Montreal was the

O'Brien Cup The O'Brien Trophy, or O'Brien Cup, as labelled on the trophy itself, is a retired trophy that was awarded in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey leagues of North America from 1910 to 1950. It was ...

champion by virtue of leading the league in its season.

Results

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals scored, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Goaltending averages

Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...

Playoffs

The Canadiens hosted the Portland Rosebuds, champions of the

(PCHA), for the

Stanley Cup Finals

Exhibitions

After the Stanley Cup playoff, Portland and Montreal traveled to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

for two exhibition games. The teams then played two games in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. Montreal then traveled to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

to play the winner of an exhibition series played between Ottawa, Quebec and the Wanderers.

References

Bibliography

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:1915-16 Nha Season NHA National Hockey Association seasons