# 1916–17 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1916–17 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's eighth season and eighth and last season of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The Canadiens entered the season as league and Stanley Cup champions. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half of the season. The Canadiens then won the league playoff to win their second league championship, but lost in the Stanley Cup Finals series to Seattle.

## Regular season

Harold McNamara, who had played for Cobalt in the Canadiens' first game in 1910, joined the Canadiens for this season. He would be released after the first two games and he would retire afterwards.

### Final standings

National Hockey Association :
| First Half | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Montreal Canadiens | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 58 | 38 |
| Ottawa Senators | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 56 | 41 |
| Toronto 228th Battalion | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 70 | 57 |
| Toronto Hockey Club | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 50 | 45 |
| Montreal Wanderers | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 56 | 72 |
| Quebec Bulldogs | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 43 | 80 |
| Second Half | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Ottawa Senators | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 63 | 22 |
| Quebec Bulldogs | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 46 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 31 | 42 |
| Montreal Wanderers | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 38 | 65 |
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against After the 228th Battalion dropped out, and Toronto suspended, the schedule was revised so that the remaining teams would play a 20 game schedule of two halves
containing 10 games each. Some of the games to that point were moved into the second half. The 'second half' standings therefore include some games that the 228th and Toronto played.

## Schedule and results
### First half

| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
| Dec. | 27 | Toronto | 7 | Canadiens | 1 |
| Dec. | 30 | Canadiens | 1 | Ottawa | 7 |
| Jan. | 3 | Canadiens | 4 | Quebec | 2 |
| Jan. | 6 | Wanderers | 4 | Canadiens | 9 |
| Jan. | 10 | 228th | 1 | Canadiens | 6 |
| Jan. | 13 | Canadiens | 6 | Toronto | 2 |
| Jan. | 17 | Ottawa | 3 | Canadiens | 2 |
| Jan. | 20 | Quebec | 6 | Canadiens | 10 |
| Jan. | 24 | Canadiens | 10 | Wanderers | 2 |
| Jan. | 27 | Canadiens | 9 | 228th | 4 |

### Second half

| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
| Jan. | 31 | Canadiens | 2 | Toronto | 6 |
| Feb. | 3 | Ottawa | 2 | Canadiens | 1 |
| Feb. | 7 | Quebec | 3 | Canadiens | 6 |
| Feb. | 10 | Canadiens | 6 | Wanderers | 3 |
| Feb. | 14 | Canadiens | 1 | Ottawa | 4 |
| Feb. | 17 | Wanderers | 3 | Canadiens | 4 |
| Feb. | 21 | Canadiens | 1 | Quebec | 5 |
| Feb. | 24 | Quebec | 7 | Canadiens | 6 |
| Feb. | 28 | Ottawa | 3 | Canadiens | 1 |
| Mar. | 3 | Canadiens | 3 | Wanderers | 6 |

## Playoffs

| Game-by-game | Game-by-game | Winning team | Score | Losing team | Location |
| 1 | March 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 5–2 | Ottawa Senators | Montreal Arena |
| 2 | March 10 | Ottawa Senators | 4–2 | Montreal Canadiens | The Arena, Ottawa |
| Canadiens win two-game playoff 7–6 to win the O'Brien Cup. ||||||

### Stanley Cup Finals

The games of the Cup finals were played at the Seattle Ice Arena. Games 1 and 3 were played under PCHA rules; Games 2 and 4 were played under NHA rules. In game one, Didier Pitre scored 4 goals as he led the Canadiens to an 8–4 victory. But the Mets won the next three contests to clinch the Cup, allowing only one goal in each game.
| Game-by-game | Game-by-game | Winning team | Score | Losing team | Rules used | Location |
| 1 | March 17 | Montreal Canadiens | 8–4 | Seattle Metropolitans | PCHA | Seattle Ice Arena |
| 2 | March 20 | Seattle Metropolitans | 6–1 | Montreal Canadiens | NHA | Seattle Ice Arena |
| 3 | March 23 | Seattle Metropolitans | 4–1 | Montreal Canadiens | PCHA | Seattle Ice Arena |
| 4 | March 26 | Seattle Metropolitans | 9–1 | Montreal Canadiens | NHA | Seattle Ice Arena |
| Metropolitans win best-of-five series 3 games to 1 |||||||