1919 Stanley Cup Finals The 1919 Stanley Cup Final ice hockey play - off series to determine the 1919 Stanley Cup champion ended with no champion decided , being suspended after five games had been played due to an outbreak of Spanish Influenza . This was the first and , as of 2009 , only time since its donation in 1893 that the Stanley Cup was not awarded after the playoffs began . Hosting the series in Seattle was the the Pacific Coast Hockey Association ( PCHA ) champion Seattle Metropolitans ( Mets ) playing off against the National Hockey League ( NHL ) champion Montreal Canadiens . Both teams had won two games , lost two , and tied one before health officials were forced to cancel the deciding game of the series . The entire Canadiens team and its manager George Kennedy fell ill with the flu and were hospitalized . The flu would eventually claim the life of Canadiens ' defenseman Joe Hall four days later . Kennedy was permanently weakened by his illness , and it led to his death a few years later . Paths to the Final . The Canadiens won the first half of the 1918 – 19 NHL regular season while the Ottawa Senators won the second half , setting up a best - of - seven series between the two clubs to determine the NHL title . Montreal ended up winning the series , 4 games to 1 . Meanwhile , the Metropolitans finished the 1919 PCHA regular season in second place with a 11 – 9 record , behind the 12 – 8 Vancouver Millionaires . The two teams then faced off in a two - game total - goals championship series , with Seattle winning game one , 6 – 1 . Vancouver recorded a 4 – 1 victory in game two , but lost the series to the Metropolitans by a combined score of 7 – 5 . The series . All of the games were held at the Seattle Ice Arena . As with the previous Stanley Cup Finals , the differing rules for the leagues alternated each game : PCHA rules were used in games one , three and five ; and NHL rules were to be used in games two and four . The actual game five used NHL rules , as it was considered a replay of game four . Game one . Seattle dominated Montreal under PCHA rules , scoring two in the first , three in the second and a further two in the third . Corbeau of Montreal was injured but finished the game and continued to play in the series as a substitute . Game two . The Canadiens evened the series in game two with Newsy Lalonde scoring all of Montreal ' s goals . Montreal took the lead and never relinquished it , although Seattle scored two in the third in 32 seconds to make it close . Joe Hall took a puck in the nose , on a deliberate play by Cully Wilson but the rough tactics did not continue as Seattle tried to catch up . Game three . Back under PCHA rules , the Metropolitans won game three , 7 – 2 . Seattle scored four goals in the first to take a commanding lead . No goals were scored in the second . In the third , Seattle prevented any comeback , outscoring Montreal 3 – 2 . Game four . Game four ended tied , 0 – 0 , after 20 minutes of overtime , with both Holmes and Montreal ' s Georges Vezina blocking every shot . Near the close of the second overtime , Berlinguette of Montreal had an outstanding chance to win it , but missed by inches . Wilson of Seattle would mix it up with Berlinguette who had to leave the ice . The crowd gave both teams an ovation after the game in appreciation of the teams ' play . Game five . Between game four and five , discussions were made about which rules to use for game five . As game four had finished in a tie , the Canadiens wished game five to be a replay of game four , using NHL rules and Seattle wanted PCHA rules . The game was played under NHL rules , and it was agreed that in the future , teams would play overtime until a winning goal was scored . Lalonde scored two goals , and Jack McDonald scored the game winning goal 15 : 57 into overtime , to lead the Canadiens to a 4 – 3 victory . Montreal was down 3 – 0 after two periods , but Seattle had tired and Montreal scored three to tie the game , Lalonde scoring Montreal ' s second and third goals . Cancellation : " The Stanley Cup Series Is Off " . The sixth and deciding game of the series was scheduled for April 1 , but the epidemic of Spanish Influenza caused several players on both teams to become seriously ill . With Lalonde , Hall , Couture , Berlinguette and McDonald of Montreal hospitalized or sick in bed , with fevers between 101 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit , game six was canceled just 5 . 5 hours before it was scheduled to start . Kennedy said he was forfeiting the Cup to Seattle , but Pete Muldoon , manager - coach of the Metropolitans , refused to accept the Cup in a forfeiture , seeing that it was catastrophic illness that had caused the Canadiens lineup to be short of players . Kennedy asked to use players from the Victoria team of the PCHA and president Frank Patrick refused the request . Five days later , Joe Hall died of pneumonia brought about by the flu . His funeral was held in Vancouver on April 8 , with most team members attending , and he was buried in Brandon , Manitoba . Manager George Kennedy also was stricken . His condition declined and his wife arrived from Montreal to be with him . He seemed to recover and was released from the hospital , but he never fully recovered and he died a few years later . No official Stanley Cup winner was declared in 1919 , and thus nothing was engraved onto the trophy . However , when the Cup was redesigned in 1948 and a new collar was added to include those teams that did not engrave their names on the trophy themselves , the following was added : 1919 < br > Montreal Canadiens < br > Seattle Metropolitans < br > Series Not Completed Rosters . Montreal Canadiens . Sources : Seattle Metropolitans . Harry " Happy " Holmes ( goalie ) , Ranald " Ran " MacDonald ( defence ) , Bernie Morris ( Captain - defence ) , Roy Rickey ( defence ) , Bobby Rowe ( defence ) , Jack Walker ( center / rover ) , Frank Foyston ( left wing / rover ) , Hugh Murray ( center / left wing ) , Carol " Cully " Wilson ( right wing ) , Pete Muldoon ( President / Manager - Coach ) . Sources :