1915–16 NHA season

National Hockey Association season March 2026 1915–16 NHA season National Hockey Association Ice hockey December 18, 1915 – March 18, 1916 Regular season 24 5 Newsy Lalonde (28) O'Brien Cup O'Brien Cup Montreal Canadiens 1916–17 NHA season 1914–15 NHA season 1916–17 1914–15 NHA September 2021 The 1915–16 NHA season was the seventh season of the National Hockey Association. Five teams played a 24 game schedule. Montreal Canadiens won the league championship and defeated the Portland Rosebuds to win their first ever Stanley Cup. League business Toronto Blueshirts included the players from the Toronto Shamrocks/Ontarios/Tecumsehs franchise. Before the season, Ed Livingstone, the Shamrocks owner, purchased the Blueshirts franchise from Frank Robinson. At the annual meeting of November 9, 1915, he was ordered to sell the Shamrocks franchise but could not do so as the Pacific Coast Hockey Association 'raided' the franchise and signed its players. Emmett Quinn continued as president Frank Calder continued as secretary-treasurer Directors: Sam Lichtenhein, Ernie Russell, Wanderers E. J. Livingstone, Shamrocks Frank Robinson, M. J. Quinn, Toronto Barney Kane, Quebec George Kennedy, Canadiens Martin Rosenthal, Frank Shaughnessy, Ottawa President Quinn instituted a rule that officials would be locked in their dressing rooms between periods to disallow influence from the press or players. Regular season Several players from the PCHA signed with NHA clubs: Frank Nighbor, Ottawa Bert Lindsay, Wanderers Walter Smaill, Wanderers Highlights On January 23, 1916, Skene Ronan was arrested by Toronto police and charged with assault for hitting Alf Skinner. On February 23, 1916, Gordon Roberts of the Wanderers drew a match penalty for cutting Ottawa's Frank Nighbor in a game in Montreal. On the next visit of the Wanderers to Ottawa, Roberts was pelted with bottles from the Ottawa fans.Coleman, p. 290 The race for the scoring championship was close between Newsy Lalonde of the Canadiens, Joe Malone of Quebec and Cy Denneny of Toronto. Lalonde finished with 31 goals in 25 games and Malone and Denneny tied for second with 26 goals. Clint Benedict of Ottawa had the best G.A.A. of 3.0 to surpass Georges Vezina's 3.2 goals per game. Gordon Keats of Toronto scored five goals in a game against Quebec on February 7, 1916, and finished the season with 22 goals in 24 games. Final standings Montreal was the O'Brien Cup champion by virtue of leading the league in its season. Results Month Day Visitor Score Home Score Dec. 18 Canadiens 2 Toronto 1 18 Quebec 5 Wanderers 8 22 Toronto 1 Ottawa 7 22 Wanderers 3 Canadiens 2 25 Ottawa 2 Quebec 3 25 Wanderers 6 Toronto 5 29 Ottawa 0 Wanderers 4 29 Canadiens 2 Quebec 5 Jan. 1 Canadiens 4 Ottawa 2 1 Quebec 4 Toronto 3 5 Toronto 1 Canadiens 6 5 Wanderers 1 Quebec 6 8 Quebec 2 Ottawa 4 8 Canadiens 3 Wanderers 5 12 Ottawa 0 Toronto 1 12 Quebec 3 Canadiens 5 15 Ottawa 5 Canadiens 2 15 Toronto 3 Quebec 4 17 Wanderers 7 Ottawa 3 19 Toronto 4 Wanderers 7 19 Canadiens 2 Quebec 2 (OT 20') 23 Canadiens 1 Toronto 3 23 Quebec 2 Wanderers 1 24 Ottawa 6 Quebec 3 26 Toronto 1 Ottawa 2 26 Wanderers 4 Canadiens 5 29 Ottawa 5 Wanderers 4 29 Toronto 5 Quebec 6 (OT 16'10") 31 Wanderers 2 Toronto 8 Feb. 2 Quebec 0 Ottawa 4 2 Wanderers 9 Canadiens 5 5 Toronto 5 Canadiens 10 5 Wanderers 5 Quebec 8 7 Wanderers 1 Ottawa 3 7 Quebec 5 Toronto 11 9 Ottawa 2 Canadiens 3 (OT 7'20") 9 Toronto 3 Quebec 3 (OT 20') 12 Canadiens 3 Ottawa 1 12 Toronto 1 Wanderers 3 16 Ottawa 1 Toronto 3 16 Quebec 3 Canadiens 4 19 Toronto 2 Ottawa 5 19 Wanderers 3 Canadiens 1 23 Ottawa 4 Wanderers 3 23 Canadiens 3 Quebec 2 26 Ottawa 2 Toronto 9 26 Quebec 3 Canadiens 4 (OT 15") 28 Wanderers 2 Ottawa 6 Mar. 1 Wanderers 2 Quebec 6 1 Toronto 3 Canadiens 7 4 Canadiens 15 Wanderers 5 4 Quebec 5 Toronto 7 8 Quebec 5 Ottawa 8 8 Toronto 3 Wanderers 2 11 Ottawa 1 Canadiens 4 11 Wanderers 2 Toronto 10 13 Ottawa 4 Quebec 0 15 Canadiens 5 Ottawa 1 15 Quebec 6 Wanderers 1 18 Canadiens 6 Toronto 4 Player statistics Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals scored, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes Name Club GP G A Pts PIM Didier Pitre Canadiens 24 24 15 39 42 Joe Malone Quebec 24 25 10 35 21 Newsy Lalonde Canadiens 24 28 6 34 78 Duke Keats Toronto 24 22 7 29 112 Cy Denneny Toronto 24 24 4 28 57 Gordon Roberts Gordon Roberts (ice hockey) Wanderers 21 18 7 25 64 Frank Nighbor Ottawa 23 19 5 24 26 Corb Denneny Toronto 22 20 3 23 75 Rusty Crawford Quebec 22 18 5 23 54 Odie Cleghorn Wanderers 21 15 7 22 51 Goaltending averages Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average Name Club GP GA SO GAA Clint Benedict Ottawa 24 72 1 3.0 Georges Vezina Canadiens 24 76 3.2 Paddy Moran Quebec 22 82 3.7 Percy LeSueur Toronto 23 92 1 4.0 Bert Lindsay Wanderers 23 110 1 4.8 Harry Holmes Toronto 1 6 6.0 Billy Hague Wanderers 1 6 6.0 Harry Rochon Quebec 2 16 8.0 Playoffs The Canadiens hosted the Portland Rosebuds, champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), for the Stanley Cup. Stanley Cup Final 1916 Stanley Cup Final Champions Runners up Format Result Montreal Canadiens Portland Rosebuds best of 5 3–2 Exhibitions After the Stanley Cup playoff, Portland and Montreal traveled to New York for two exhibition games. The teams then played two games in Cleveland. Montreal then traveled to Boston to play the winner of an exhibition series played between Ottawa, Quebec and the Wanderers.Montreal Daily Mail April 4, 1916 Canadiens and Rosebuds Leave for New York 10 See also National Hockey Association List of pre-NHL seasons List of Stanley Cup champions 1915–16 PCHA season References Bibliography Coleman Charles The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc. 1966 NHL Notes 1914–15 NHA season 1916–17 NHA season NHA seasons 1915–16 NHA Category:National Hockey Association seasons