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

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), officially 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 Lea ...

. Five teams played a 24 game schedule.

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

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

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) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from to . The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of both ...

. 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, 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 "Pembroke Peach" 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 Leag ...

, 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 Gar ...

, Wanderers * Walter Smaill, Wanderers

Highlights

On January 23, 1916,

Skene Ronan Erskine Rockcliffe Ronan (February 9, 1889 – June 25, 1937) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 10 professional seasons from 1908 to 1919. Ronan played the majority of his professional career in the National Hockey Associat ...

was arrested by Toronto police and charged with assault for hitting

Alf Skinner Alfred "Dutch" Skinner (January 26, 1894 – April 11, 1961) was a Canadian ice hockey right winger. During his career, which lasted from 1913 to 1930, he played for several teams in the National Hockey Association, National Hockey League, and Pa ...

. 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's ...

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 Hamilto ...

of Quebec and

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

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.

Playoffs

The Canadiens hosted the Portland Rosebuds, champions of the

(PCHA), for the Stanley Cup.

Stanley Cup Finals

Exhibitions

After the Stanley Cup playoff, Portland and Montreal traveled to New York for two exhibition games. The teams then played two games in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Montreal then traveled to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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

League business

Regular season

Highlights

Final standings

Playoffs

Stanley Cup Finals

Exhibitions

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Leading goaltenders

See also

References

Bibliography

Notes