1921 - 22 NHL season The 1921 – 22 NHL season was the fifth season of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Four teams each played 24 games . For the first four seasons of the NHL , the winner of the league playoffs would face the winner of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association ( PCHA ) for the Stanley Cup . That changed this season with the introduction of another professional hockey league called the Western Canada Hockey League ( WCHL ) . Now , three leagues were competing for the coveted Stanley Cup . League Business . This was the first season away from the " split season " used in the first four NHL seasons . Under the old split system , the winner of each half of the season would face each other in the playoffs . If the same team won both halves , then there would be no league playoffs and that team would simply move on to the Stanley Cup finals . For the new system , the top two teams at the end of the season squared off against each other in a two - game total goals series for the chance to move on to the Stanley Cup finals . Prior to the start of this season , the NHL ' s first multiple - player trade in its history was made when Billy Coutu and Sprague Cleghorn of the Hamilton Tigers were traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Harry Mummery , Amos Arbour , and Cully Wilson . Canadiens owner George Kennedy never recovered from the influenza he contracted in 1919 , and died on October 19 , 1921 at age 39 . His widow sold the Canadiens to a unit that would be known affectionately as the Three Musketeers of owners , Leo Dandurand , Louis Letourneau , and Joseph Cattarinich . Dandurand became manager and coach , and immediately there were problems between him and Newsy Lalonde . At one point , Dandurand accused Lalonde of not trying , and also the fans started to boo their old hero . Finally , Lalonde walked out on the team . NHL president Frank Calder mediated the dispute and Lalonde returned to the team . But his days in Montreal were numbered . Regular season . After a fairly impressive season for the Toronto St . Patricks , the St . Pats goaltender Jake Forbes refused to play after being denied a raise , and was suspended for the season . John Ross Roach took over in goal . Punch Broadbent was the star this year , as he scored in 16 consecutive games en route to a 32 goal campaign , and led the league in scoring . His Ottawa team finished first , too . On February 1st , Sprague Cleghorn almost wiped out the Ottawa team singlehandedly . He cut Eddie Gerard and Cy Denneny and charged Frank Nighbor . All three players missed two games because of injuries and Cleghorn drew a match penalty and a $ 15 fine . Ottawa police tried to arrest him in wake of his one man war . Final standings . " Note : W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , GF = Goals For , GA = Goals Against , Pts = Points , PIM = Penalties in minutes " < br > " Note : Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold " Scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " Stanley Cup Playoffs . " All dates in 1922 " Starting in the Western Canada Hockey League , the Calgary Tigers lost to the Regina Capitals in a match - up to determine second place . The Capitals then went on to beat the first place Edmonton Eskimos in that league ' s first championship series . Over in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association , once again , the Vancouver Millionaires faced the Seattle Metropolitans for their league championship . The Mets had the better regular season record , but the Millionaires won both games of the playoffs by 1 – 0 scores . The Millionaires were then matched up against the Capitals to see who would go on to play against the winner of the NHL ' s playoffs . Vancouver beat Regina in the two - game total goals series . NHL Championship . The Ottawa Senators had won the NHL regular season , but were upset by the second place Toronto St . Patricks in the two - game total goals series for the O ' Brien Trophy . This set - up a Vancouver Millionaires vs . Toronto St . Patricks Stanley Cup final . In this series , the St . Pats used the strategy of icing the puck to defend their lead . Toronto St . Patricks vs . Ottawa Senators " Toronto wins total goals series 5 goals to 4 " Finals . Vancouver Millionaires vs . Toronto St . Patricks " Toronto wins best - of - five series 3 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup " NHL Playoff scoring leader . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " NHL awards . O ' Brien Trophy — Toronto St . Patricks Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1921 - 22 ( listed with their first team , asterisk ( * ) marks debut in playoffs ) : Last games . The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1921 - 22 ( listed with their last team ) :