The NHL had its share of highlights in 1917-18, its first season. Among them, the Toronto Arenas won the Stanley Cup, the Montreal Canadiens’ Joe Malone scored 44 goals in 20 games and his teammate George Vezinas recorded the league’s first shutout. The inaugural season pretty much had it all with standard record book moments, but there was much more to it: Fire. League disputes. Arrests.
Here’s just a smattering of the lesser-known moments that highlighted the NHL’s opening season.
Prior to the NHL’s official formation in November of 1917, the the National Hockey Association (NHA) had ruled the day, with a team in Ottawa, Quebec, Toronto and two in Montreal.