# 1917–18 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1917–18 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's ninth season and first as a member of the new National Hockey League (NHL). The Canadiens sided with other members of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and voted to suspend the NHA and start the NHL to expel the Toronto Blueshirts ownership. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half of the season, but lost the playoff to the temporary Toronto franchise, made up of Blueshirts players.

## Team business

The club changed its name to "Club de Hockey Canadien Ltd." from "Club Athletic Canadien". The logo on the jersey was changed to reflect this, substituting the "A" within the "C" with an "H".

## Regular season

Quebec did not ice a team for the season. Quebec's players were dispersed by draft and Montreal chose Joe Hall, Joe Malone and Walter Mummery. Georges Vezina led the league in goals against average of 4 per game and Joe Malone had 44 goals in 20 games to lead the league in goals.
The team was forced to return to its former arena the Jubilee Rink after the Montreal Arena burned down on January 2, 1918. The rival Montreal Wanderers folded after the fire, leaving only three teams (Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto) to continue the season. The Wanderers' players were dispersed and the Canadiens picked up Billy Bell and Jack McDonald.
On January 28, 1918, when Canadiens visited Toronto, Toronto's Alf Skinner and Montreal's Joe Hall got into a stick-swinging duel. Both players received match penalties, $15 fines and were arrested by the Toronto Police for disorderly conduct, for which they received suspended sentences.

### Final standings

First half :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 81 | 47 | +34 | 20 | Qualification for the playoffs |
| 2 | Toronto Hockey Club | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 71 | 75 | −4 | 16 | |
| 3 | Ottawa Senators | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 67 | 79 | −12 | 10 | |
| 4 | Montreal Wanderers | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 35 | −18 | 2 | Withdrew from the season |
* ↑ The Wanderers defaulted scheduled games against the Canadiens (January 2, 1918) and Toronto (January 5, 1918), while their arena burned down, these appear as losses in the standings, but the games were not played."The league did not accept the Wanderers' resignation immediately, electing to wait and see whether the team showed up for its scheduled match in Toronto on Saturday January 5. ... The deadline did expire, and the once-powerful team that had been known as the Little Men of Iron was thrown onto the scrap heap of hockey history. The Wanderers' scheduled games of January 2 and 5 were officially recorded in the standings as victories for their respective opponents, the Canadiens and Torontos." — Holzman.
Second half :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Toronto Hockey Club | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 10 | Qualification for the playoffs |
| 2 | Ottawa Senators | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 8 | |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 34 | 37 | −3 | 6 | |

### Record vs. opponents

1917–18 NHL Records :
| Team | MTL | MTW | OTT | TOR |
| M. Canadiens | — | 2–0 | 6–4 | 5–5 |
| M. Wanderers | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| Ottawa | 4–6 | 2–0 | — | 3–7 |
| Toronto | 5–5 | 1–1 | 7–3 | — |

## Schedule and results
### First half

| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
| Dec. | 19 | Ottawa | 4 | Canadiens | 7 |
| Dec. | 22 | Canadiens | 11 | Wanderers | 2 |
| Dec. | 26 | Canadiens | 5 | Toronto | 7 |
| Dec. | 29 | Toronto | 2 | Canadiens | 9 |
| Jan. | 2† | Wanderers | – | Canadiens | – |
| Jan. | 5 | Ottawa | 5 | Canadiens | 6 (27' OT) |
| Jan. | 9 | Canadiens | 4 | Toronto | 6 |
| Jan. | 12 | Ottawa | 4 | Canadiens | 9 |
| Jan. | 19 | Toronto | 1 | Canadiens | 5 |
| Jan. | 21 | Canadiens | 5 | Ottawa | 3 |
| Jan. | 23 | Ottawa | 4 | Canadiens | 3 |
| Jan. | 28 | Canadiens | 1 | Toronto | 5 |
| Jan. | 30 | Canadiens | 5 | Ottawa | 2 |
| Feb. | 2 | Toronto | 2 | Canadiens | 11 |
† Montreal Arena burned down and Wanderers withdraw. Two Wanderers games count as wins for Canadiens and Toronto.

### Second half

| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
| Feb. | 6 | Canadiens | 3 | Ottawa | 6 |
| Feb. | 9 | Toronto | 7 | Canadiens | 3 |
| Feb. | 16 | Ottawa | 4 | Canadiens | 10 |
| Feb. | 18 | Canadiens | 9 | Toronto | 0 |
| Feb. | 20 | Toronto | 4 | Canadiens | 5 |
| Feb. | 25 | Canadiens | 0 | Ottawa | 8 |
| Feb. | 27 | Ottawa | 3 | Canadiens | 1 (at Quebec) |
| Mar. | 2 | Canadiens | 3 | Toronto | 5 |

## Playoffs

The Canadiens played the Torontos in a playoff to decide the league championship. In a two-game, total-goals series, Toronto won the first game 7–3 and Montreal won the second game 4–3. Toronto won the series 10–7 and proceeded to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
| March 11 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | Toronto | 7 | |
| March 13 | Toronto | 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | |
Toronto wins total goals series 10–7 for the O'Brien Cup

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Player | # | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Joe Malone | 7 | 20 | 44 | 4 | 48 | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Newsy Lalonde | 4 | 14 | 23 | 7 | 30 | 51 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 17 |
| Didier Pitre | 5 | 20 | 17 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Bert Corbeau | 2 | 21 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 41 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Joe Hall | 3 | 21 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 100 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Jack McDonald† | 11 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Billy Coutu | 9 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 49 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Laviolette | 6 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Louis Berlinguette | 8 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Evariste Payer | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Billy Bell† | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - |
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Montreal. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average
| | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Player | # | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | GAA |
| Georges Vezina | 1 | 21 | 1282 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 84 | 1 | 3.93 | 2 | 120 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 5.00 |

## Transactions

* acquired Joe Hall, Joe Malone and Walter Mummery from Quebec Bulldogs in Dispersal Draft, November 26, 1917
* acquired Billy Bell, Jack Marks and Jack McDonald from Montreal Wanderers in Dispersal Draft, January 4, 1918
* loaned Jack Marks to Toronto Arenas, January 4, 1918
* signed Evariste Payer as a free agent, January 29, 1918