# 1912–13 Toronto Hockey Club season

The 1912–13 Toronto Hockey Club season was the first season of the Toronto franchise in the National Hockey Association (NHA). The team was also known as the Blueshirts.

## Team business

Operation of the ice-making equipment at the new Arena Gardens was delayed a week when the pipes had to be relaid. Local pipefitters, unfamiliar with ice-making equipment, had installed the pipes improperly, and W. H. Magee of New York, advisor to the Arena, ordered the pipes removed and reinstalled.

## Off-season

The Torontos' manager Bruce Ridpath built the team from new prospects, rather than signing established professionals, like the Tecumsehs, the other Toronto NHA club. Ridpath signed Scotty Davidson, who had been playing in Calgary; Frank Foyston of the Toronto Eatons, Roy McGiffin of the Simcoes, Cully Wilson of Winnipeg, and Harry Cameron and Frank Nighbor of Port Arthur. Only Archie McLean from the PCHA had previous big-league experience.

## Regular season

Cully Wilson scored the first-ever goal for the Torontos, in their opening night 9–5 loss to the Canadiens. The team started the season poorly under the coaching of Ridpath, but Ridpath signed Jack Marshall, the former star of the Montreal Wanderers as coach. The team continued to struggle until Marshall decided to become a playing coach with the team. His veteran presence helped the Blueshirts to win some games, eventually finishing third in the standings.
Nighbor was the scoring star for the Blueshirts, scoring 23 goals.

### Final standings

National Hockey Association :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Quebec Bulldogs | 20 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 112 | 75 |
| Montreal Wanderers | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 93 | 90 |
| Toronto Hockey Club | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 86 | 95 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 83 | 81 |
| Ottawa Senators | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 87 | 81 |
| Toronto Tecumsehs | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 59 | 98 |
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against

## Schedule and results

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record | Pts |
| 1 | December 25 | Montreal Canadiens | 9–5 | Toronto | 0–1–0 | 0 |
| 2 | December 28 | Toronto | 5–8 | Montreal Canadiens | 0–2–0 | 0 |
| 3 | January 1 | Toronto | 1–7 | Ottawa Senators | 0–3–0 | 0 |
| 4 | January 4 | Montreal Wanderers | 3–5 | Toronto | 1–3–0 | 2 |
| 5 | January 8 | Toronto | 5–10 | Quebec Bulldogs | 1–4–0 | 2 |
| 6 | January 11 | Toronto | 2–5 | Toronto Tecumsehs | 1–5–0 | 2 |
| 7 | January 15 | Toronto Tecumsehs | 1–6 | Toronto | 2–5–0 | 4 |
| 8 | January 18 | Toronto | 1–3 | Montreal Wanderers | 2–6–0 | 4 |
| 9 | January 22 | Quebec Bulldogs | 3–6 | Toronto | 3–6–0 | 6 |
| 10 | January 25 | Ottawa Senators | 9–5 | Toronto | 3–7–0 | 6 |
| 11 | February 1 | Toronto | 2–3 | Montreal Wanderers | 3–8–0 | 6 |
| 12 | February 5 | Ottawa Senators | 0–2 | Toronto | 4–8–0 | 8 |
| 13 | February 8 | Montreal Canadiens | 3–5 | Toronto | 5–8–0 | 10 |
| 14 | February 12 | Quebec Bulldogs | 11–2 | Toronto | 5–9–0 | 10 |
| 15 | February 15 | Montreal Wanderers | 3–10 | Toronto | 6–9–0 | 12 |
| 16 | February 19 | Toronto | 7–3 | Toronto Tecumsehs | 7–9–0 | 14 |
| 17 | February 22 | Toronto Tecumsehs | 3–5 | Toronto | 8–9–0 | 16 |
| 18 | February 26 | Toronto | 4–6 | Quebec Bulldogs | 8–10–0 | 16 |
| 19 | March 1 | Toronto | 2–3 | Ottawa Senators | 8–11–0 | 16 |
| 20 | March 5 | Toronto | 6–2 | Montreal Canadiens | 9–11–0 | 18 |
Source: Coleman 1966

## Player stats

| Player | Pos. | No. | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Frank Nighbor | C | 9 | 19 | 23 | 2 | 25 | 13 |
| Scotty Davidson | RW | 3 | 20 | 20 | 2 | 22 | 69 |
| Cully Wilson | RW | 5 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 15 | 45 |
| Harry Cameron | D | 2 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 20 |
| Frank Foyston | C | 4 | 16 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 8 |
| Roy McGiffin | LW | 11 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 83 |
| Jack Marshall | C | | 13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Archie McLean | D | 10 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Steve Gunnlaugson | F | | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Fred Doherty | RW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Victor Jopp | F | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mickey O'Leary | C | | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Randall | RW | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Walker | F | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Society for International Hockey Research (SIHR)