1918–19 Ottawa Senators season

The 1918–19 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 34th season, second in the National Hockey League (NHL), and they would see much improvement over the previous season. The season was cut short by the Toronto Arenas suspending operations, leaving the Senators and Montreal Canadiens to play the first best-of-seven playoff series to determine the NHL championship, won by Montreal.
==Off-season==
The club's ownership and arena arrangements changed in the off-season. Prior to the season, Ted Dey, as arena owner, held out the use of The Arena in negotiations with the Ottawa Hockey Club, of which he was one-third partner. Martin Rosenthal and Tommy Gorman, his hockey club partners, tried to use the Aberdeen Pavilion again. Meanwhile, Dey signed an agreement with Percy Quinn, who held an option on the Quebec city hockey club to rent The Arena for a new 'Canadian Hockey Association' league. This however was a ruse. However, his ruse worked to his advantage in negotiating with the Ottawa HC. When it became clear that the Aberdeen would not be converted back to hockey, Rosenthal gave up his share of the hockey club. As part of an agreement reached out, Dey and Gorman now became equal partners in the new 'Ottawa Arena Club' which would operate the Ottawa hockey club in the NHL. The Ottawas were now bound to the Arena for the next five years as well. Rosenthal was provided $500 as compensation for his share.Kitchen(2008), pp. 217-219
Dey was sued by Percy Quinn for his actions and trial took place in December 1918 and January 1919 in Toronto. Quinn lost his legal case as the option on the Arena was not enough of a contract to prove legal fraud on Dey's part, who continued to offer a place in the Arena to Quinn. By this time, Quinn's proposed league had failed as the players had signed with Dey and Gorman and elsewhere with the NHL.Kitchen(2008), p. 219
==Regular Season==
Senators player Hamby Shore would pass away before the season began on October 14, 1918, as he was a victim of the influenza epidemic that spread across North America from 1918 to 1919. Shore was 32 years old.
After a 4–5–0 record in the first half of the season, the Senators would go on to an 8–1–0 in the second half, and earning a spot in the NHL Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens would go on to win the series in 5 games to claim the O'Brien Cup, and represent the NHL for the Stanley Cup Finals against the Seattle Metropolitans. The Stanley Cup would not be awarded for this season though, due to the Spanish Flu epidemic.
Cy Denneny and Frank Nighbor would lead the team with 18 goals and 22 points each, while Clint Benedict would win a league best 12 games, along with his NHL leading 2.91 GAA.
After the season, the club travelled to Vancouver to play a best-of-three against the Millionaires, winning the exhibition series 3 games to 2.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record	Pts
1 	December 21	Ottawa Senators 	5–2 	Montreal Canadiens	1–0–0 	2
2 	December 26	Toronto Arenas 	2–5 	Ottawa Senators 	2–0–0 	4
3 	December 31	Ottawa Senators 	2–4 	Toronto Arenas 	2–1–0 	4
4 	January 2 	Montreal Canadiens	2–7 	Ottawa Senators 	3–1–0 	6
5 	January 4 	Ottawa Senators 	2–5 	Montreal Canadiens	3–2–0 	6
6 	January 9 	Toronto Arenas 	2–4 	Ottawa Senators 	4–2–0 	8
7 	January 14 	Ottawa Senators 	2–5 	Toronto Arenas 	4–3–0 	8
8 	January 16 	Montreal Canadiens	10–6 	Ottawa Senators 	4–4–0 	8
9 	January 18 	Ottawa Senators 	3–5 	Montreal Canadiens	4–5–0 	8
10	January 23 	Toronto Arenas 	2–3 	Ottawa Senators 	5–5–0 	10
11	January 25 	Ottawa Senators 	1–0 	Montreal Canadiens	6–5–0 	12
12	January 28 	Ottawa Senators 	2–1 	Toronto Arenas 	7–5–0 	14
13	January 30 	Montreal Canadiens	2–3 	Ottawa Senators 	8–5–0 	16
14	February 6 	Toronto Arenas 	1–3 	Ottawa Senators 	9–5–0 	18
15	February 8 	Ottawa Senators 	3–4 	Montreal Canadiens	9–6–0 	18
16	February 13	Montreal Canadiens	0–7 	Ottawa Senators 	10–6–0	20
17	February 18	Ottawa Senators 	4–3 	Toronto Arenas 	11–6–0	22
18	February 20	Toronto Arenas 	3–9 	Ottawa Senators 	12–6–0	24
==Playoffs==
===Montreal Canadiens 4, Ottawa Senators 1===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	February 23	Ottawa Senators 	4–8 	Montreal Canadiens	0–1
2	February 27	Montreal Canadiens	5–3 	Ottawa Senators 	0–2
3	March 2 	Ottawa Senators 	3–6 	Montreal Canadiens	0–3
4	March 3 	Montreal Canadiens	3–6 	Ottawa Senators 	1–3
5	March 6 	Ottawa Senators 	2–4 	Montreal Canadiens	1–4
==Playing Stats==
===Scoring Leaders===
Player 	GP	G 	A	Pts	PIM
Cy Denneny 	18	18	4	22 	43
Frank Nighbor 	18	18	4	22 	27
Jack Darragh 	14	12	1	13 	27
Sprague Cleghorn	18	6 	6	12 	27
Eddie Gerard 	18	4 	6	10 	17
===Goaltending===
Player 	GP	TOI 	W 	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Sprague Cleghorn	1 	3 	0 	0	0	0 	0 	0.00
Clint Benedict 	18	1113	12	6	0	54	2 	2.91
==Roster==
*Benedict, Clint (G)
*Boucher, Georges (D)
*Broadbent, Punch (R)
*Cameron, Harry (D)
*Cleghorn, Sprague (D)
*Darragh, Jack (R)
*Denneny, Cy (L)
*Gerard, Eddie (L)
*Lowrey, Ed (C)
*Nighbor, Frank (C)
*Ronan, Skene (D)
Source: NHL.com
==See Also==
* 1918–19 NHL season
==References==
*
* 
*SHRP Sports
*The Internet Hockey Database
*National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007
Category:Ottawa Senators (original) seasons
Category:1918–19 in ice hockey
Category:1918–19 in Canadian ice hockey by team