1918 Stanley Cup Finals

The 1918 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the National Hockey League (NHL) champion Toronto and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) champion Vancouver Millionaires. In a series held entirely in Toronto, the Toronto team won the series by three games to two in the best-of-five game series to win the Stanley Cup. It was the first series contested by the new NHL and subsequently the first Stanley Cup win by the Toronto NHL franchise team.
==Paths to the Final==
Prior to the 1917–18 season, the National Hockey Association (NHA) had suspended operations as the result of a power play to oust Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone. The remaining clubs then met in November 1918 to form the NHL, using the exact constitution and playing rules of the NHA. The NHL took the NHA's place in competing for the Cup in a playoff with the PCHA.
The Toronto NHL players were assigned from the Toronto NHA franchise, and played for a 'temporary' Toronto NHL franchise, operated by the Toronto Arena owners. This is why it is often called the 'Arenas' although no Arena hockey club existed until after the 1917–18 season. The team at the time used no nickname; and it was often referred to at the time as the "Blueshirts', the nickname of the NHA franchise, as it was announced by the NHA that the franchise had been sold, although this had not been agreed to by Eddie Livingstone, who wanted to resume his franchise, or be compensated under his terms.
Despite this black cloud over it, Toronto won the second half of the split regular season while the Montreal Canadiens won the first half. Toronto then won the NHL title by defeating the Canadiens in a two-game total-goals series, 10–7.
Meanwhile, Vancouver finished the 1917–18 PCHA regular season in second place with a 9–9 record behind the 11–7 Seattle Metropolitans. However, Vancouver beat Seattle in that league's two-game total-goals finals, 3–1, with a 1–0 game two victory.
==The series==
As with the three previous NHA-PCHA Cup Final series, the series alternated between the NHL champion and the PCHA champion each year, while the differing rules for the leagues alternated each game. This meant that all of the games for the 1918 championship series were played at Toronto's Arena Gardens.
Two of the major differences between the two leagues' rules proved to be a major factor in the series. The PCHA allowed forward passing (adopted in the 1913–14 season) and played with seven players per side; the NHL did not adopt forward passing until the following season, and only played with six players. In every game, the winner was the one playing under its league's rules. The Torontos won Games 1 and 3 with victories of 5–3 and 6–3, and the Millionaires recorded 6–4 and 8–1 wins in Games 2 and 4. Because game five was played under NHL rules, it helped Toronto's Corbett Denneny to score the series winning goal in a 2–1 victory. The Torontos outscored the Millionaires by a combined total of 13–7 in the three games played under NHL rules. Conversely, Vancouver recorded a 14–5 margin in the games under PCHA rules.
Toronto goaltender Hap Holmes recorded a 4.20 goals-against average during the series, while Alf Skinner led Toronto with eight goals. Cyclone Taylor scored nine goals for Vancouver.
Game-by-Game 	Game-by-Game 	Winning Team 	Score 	Losing Team 	Rules Used 	Location
1 	March 20 	Toronto 	5–3 	Vancouver 	NHL 	Arena Gardens
2 	March 23 	Vancouver 	6–4 	Toronto 	PCHA 	Arena Gardens
3 	March 26 	Toronto 	6–3 	Vancouver 	NHL 	Arena Gardens
4 	March 28 	Vancouver 	8–1 	Toronto 	PCHA 	Arena Gardens
5 	March 30 	Toronto 	2–1 	Vancouver 	NHL 	Arena Gardens
Torontos wins best-of-five series 3 games to 2	Torontos wins best-of-five series 3 games to 2	Torontos wins best-of-five series 3 games to 2	Torontos wins best-of-five series 3 games to 2	Torontos wins best-of-five series 3 games to 2	Torontos wins best-of-five series 3 games to 2	Torontos wins best-of-five series 3 games to 2
==Player stats==
Toronto 	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Alf Skinner 	5 	8	2	10 	18
Harry Mummery	5 	0	6	6 	21
Harry Cameron	5 	3	1	4 	12
Corb Denneny 	5 	3	1	4 	0
Reg Noble 	5 	2	1	3 	12
Harry Meeking	5 	1	2	3 	18
Ken Randall 	5 	1	0	1 	21
Goaltender	GP	W	L	Min	GA	SO	Avg
Hap Holmes	5 	3	2	300	21	0 	4.20
Vancouver 	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Mickey MacKay 	5 	5	5	10 	12
Cyclone Taylor	5 	9	0	9 	15
Ran MacDonald 	5 	2	2	4 	9
Lloyd Cook 	5 	2	0	2 	12
Barney Stanley	5 	2	0	2 	6
Si Griffis 	5 	1	0	1 	9
Leo Cook 	5 	0	0	0 	6
Speed Moynes 	5 	0	0	0 	6
Goaltender 	GP	W	L	Min	GA	SO	Avg
Hugh Lehman	5 	2	3	300	18	0 	3.60
==See also==
* 1917–18 NHL season
* 1917–18 PCHA season
==References==
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Category:1918 in ice hockey