1912-13
The arena situation finally sorted out in Toronto and it allowed the NHA to expand by not one, but two teams as both the Toronto Blueshirts and Toronto Tecumsehs entered the league, bolstering its total to six teams. The PCHA would remain at three teams and would continue to raid the NHA for players. Cyclone Taylor ended up jumping to the Vancouver Millionaires from Ottawa while goaltender Hugh Lehman, the top goalie in the NHA each of the past two seasons, joined him after leaving the Montreal Canadiens for the Millionaires.
Led by their two newcomers and a rising star in Frank Nighbor, the Vancouver Millionaires proved to be the class of the PCHA, going 13-3-0 to easily claim the league crown. Taylor (20-4-24), Nighbor (7-15-22) and Carl Kendall (16-1-17) proved to be the most dominant line in hockey that season with Taylor leading the loop in scoring and winning his first Most Valuable Player Award. Lehman followed up his pair of top goalie awards earned in the NHA with another one in his first season in the coast loop. His 2.42 goals against average was nearly half of what New Westminster's Georges Vezina and Charlie Reid of Victoria managed.
The National Hockey Association race was tight all season with defending champion Montreal Canadiens being challenged by the Quebec Athletics and Ottawa Senators. Montreal, perhaps nursing a championship hangover that saw the Habs lose five of their first nine games, dug a huge hole and despite losing just once more the rest of the season, the Canadiens had to settle for second place, two points back of Quebec (15-5-0) and two ahead of third place Ottawa.
Newsy Lalonde of the Canadiens matched his 43 points accumulated a year ago to win his third consecutive scoring title and also was named the Most Valuable Player for the third year in a row. With Lehman gone to Vancouver, Charlie McCarthy took over in net for the Canadiens and the 22-year-old newcomer was named the top goalie in the NHA. McCarthy would have quite a sporting career as, in addition to his goaltending chores, he also played football for the Toronto Argonauts and was also for a time the Canadian Lightweight Boxing champion.
1913-14Peace came to the sport as the NHA and PCHA worked out an agreement to respect each other's contracts and put an end to the bidding war for players. The two leagues also agreed to have their respective champions compete in a best-of-five series with the Stanley Cup on the line as the prize for the winner. The PCHA and NHA had no teams move but they did have some name changes as the Victoria Senators were rebranded as the Aristocrats while in the NHA Quebec switched its nickname from the Athletics to the Bulldogs and the Toronto Tecumsehs would now be known as the Toronto Ontarios.
The NHA also introduced the first playoff in professional hockey when it was decided the top two teams in the league would play a two-game total goal series to determine who would challenge the PCHA champ for the Stanley Cup.
Both leagues had tight races for top spot. In the NHA it was a four team battle for the two playoff berths with only the two Toronto clubs out of the running early. The Quebec Bulldogs were the first to blink, as five losses in seven games in late January-early February ended their playoff hopes. The Montreal Wanderers were next to stumble as three consecutive losses to Ottawa, Quebec and the Montreal Canadiens to end their season left them on the outside looking it. In the end it was the Ottawa Senators led by the goaltending of Percy LeSueur and league scoring champ Gord Roberts that claimed the top spot, three points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens. Newsy Lalonde dipped to just 12 goals this season for the Habs but did have 28 assists to finish tied for second in league scoring. At the other end of the spectrum was the Toronto Ontarios, winners of just 2 games and owning a 5-33-2 record for their two years in the league, that had troubles both on the ice and with their finances. It seemed likely the club would fold.
Ottawa had won three of its four meetings with Montreal during the regular season and the Senators were favoured to win the league's first playoff. At home, Ottawa took the opening game by a 1-0 score as LeSueur was amazing, turning aside all 44 Canadiens shots while Jack Marks, who scored just once in the regular season, doubled that total with the only goal of the opener. There was plenty of scoring in the second game but it all came from the hosts as the Montreal Canadiens, led by Odie Cleghorn's hat trick and four assists from Newsy Lalonde, blasted the Senators 7-0 to easily win the two-game total goal series and punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals.
At the urging of the Patrick brothers, the PCHA debuted the blue line in its arenas for the 1913-14 campaign. It marked the first time the rink was divided into three zones. The league ended up playing an unbalanced schedule as some games were cancelled but in the end the Vancouver Millionaires, despite playing the least number of games, finished with the most points to win their second consecutive league title.
The Canadiens made the long trek west to Vancouver to face the Millionaires in what would be the first contest between professional teams for the Stanley Cup. It would also mark the first meeting between teams from the two leagues and chance once and for all to settle which loop was better.
STANLEY CUP CHALLENGE
GAME ONE: There were no tired legs from the cross-country train trek from Montreal as the Canadiens needed just 52 seconds for playoff hero Odie Cleghorn to open the scoring and by the eleven-minute mark it was 3-0 as Didier Pitre added two more goals for the visitors. Vancouver would settle down in the second period as PCHA goal scoring leader Frank Nighbor got the Millionaires on the scoreboard. Trailing 3-1 after forty minutes the hosts rallied to tie the game on goals from Michael Westlake and Nighbor, with his second of the night. The first meeting between the two loops would require overtime to settle and at the 4:58 mark Ran McDonald, who came over from Quebec during the off-season, scored the game winner unassisted on a breakaway to give the Canadiens a 4-3 victory and first blood in the best-of-five series.
GAME TWO: Two nights later the Millionaires were hoping to even the series but it was Montreal that once again took the early lead. George McNamara beat Vancouver netminder Hugh Lehman for the only goal of the opening frame and just over five minutes into the second period Newsy Lalonde doubled the Habs lead with his first playoff goal. Alex Currie got one back for the PCHA champs to cut the deficit to 2-1 but before the second period came to an end Montreal lead 4-1 on goals off the sticks of Sibby Nichols and Ran McDonald, each set up masterfully by Didier Pitre. A scoreless final frame left the Canadiens within a victory of the Stanley Cup following a 4-1 triumph.
GAME THREE: With the Stanley Cup in the building both teams came out very cautious, combining for just 20 shots through two periods of action and the game was deadlocked at one thanks to second period goals from Ray Symnott of Vancouver and Montreal's Guy Smith.
The Habs must have flipped a switch prior to the third period as the Frenchmen came out Flying, outshooting the Millionaires 26-5 in the final twenty minutes and firing six pucks past a beleaguered Hugh Lehman. Newsy Lalonde scored two of them and Didier Pitre one, giving each 3 goals in the series, while Leth Graham, Sibby Nichols and Fred Doherty also found the back of the net. Frank Nighbor scored his third of the series but that was all the offense the Millionaires could muster over the final twenty minutes as Montreal completed the sweep to claim the Stanley Cup with a 7-2 victory.
The individual awards in the NHA went to familiar faces as Newsy Lalonde, despite failing to win his fourth consecutive scoring title, did manage to claim the MVP award for the fourth time. The top goaltender was once more Lalonde's Montreal Canadiens teammate Charlie McCarthy, who won for the second year in a row. The Pacific Coast Hockey Association named Georges Vezina of New Westminster as the top goaltender for the second time in three seasons while Victoria defenseman Lester Patrick, who won an MVP in the NHA in its inaugural season, earned his first PCHA top player award. Dick Irvin, who was born in Hamilton, ON., but grew up in Manitoba before joining the Victoria club prior to last season, won the PCHA scoring title at the age of 21.