Seattle Metropolitans
Encyclopedia
The Seattle Metropolitans were a professional ice hockey
team based in Seattle, Washington
which played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association
from 1915 to 1924. They won the Stanley Cup
in 1917
, becoming the first American
team to do so. They played their home games at the Seattle Ice Arena
.
Seattle won the 1917
championship by defeating the National Hockey Association
's Montreal Canadiens
three games to one by a combined score of 19 to 3. Fourteen of Seattle's goals were scored by Bernie Morris
(including six in game four alone). Games one and three were played under PCHA rules, i.e., seven players per side, forward passing in the neutral zone, and no substitution for penalized players. Games two and four were played under NHA rules, i.e., six players per side, no forward passing, substitutions allowed.
(which was cancelled due to the Spanish flu
pandemic after five games, with the series tied 2-2-1) and 1920
, when they lost to the Ottawa Senators
.
In the 1919 cancelled Stanley Cup finals, two brilliant performances by Seattle players were recorded, one by Hap Holmes keeping the last played game scoreless resulting in the referee declaring a tie and another by Frank Foyston, who scored 8 goals in the first 4 games of the series.
During the 1920 Stanley Cup finals, the Ottawa Senators would don solid white Jerseys to avoid confusion with Seattle's barber pole style of green, red and white (Ottawa traditionally wore black red and white pole style jerseys). The 1920 Series was subsequently relocated from Ottawa to Toronto's mutual artificial ice surface at Toronto's Mutual Street Arena
due to poor ice conditions.
The PCHA consisted of four teams for 1915-16 and 1916-17 seasons, while operating under three teams from 1917 until its fold in 1924. From 1922-23 games against the Western Canada Hockey League
(WCHL) counted in the PCHA standings. This allowed Seattle to have a losing record yet still win the league regular season championship in 1924. In 1924 The Seattle team folded and the PCHA ceased to operate. In the last season the team had an average of 1000 fans per game in attendance. Arena owners subsequently did not renew the team's lease
. The remaining teams of Vancouver and Victoria joined the WCHL for the 1925 season.
are recognized as part of the Seattle Metropolitans team.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team based in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
which played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association
Pacific Coast Hockey Association
The Pacific Coast Hockey Association was a professional men's ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League...
from 1915 to 1924. They won the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
in 1917
1917 Stanley Cup Finals
-See also:* 1916–17 NHA season* 1916–17 PCHA season...
, becoming the first American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
team to do so. They played their home games at the Seattle Ice Arena
Seattle Ice Arena
The Seattle Ice Arena was a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena located in the Metropolitan Tract in Seattle, Washington.The Arena was home to the Seattle Metropolitans Pacific Coast Hockey Association franchise from 1915 to 1924. It was built in 1915 at the cost of $100,000. It was located across from...
.
The United States' first Stanley Cup
1917 Stanley Cup Finals
-See also:* 1916–17 NHA season* 1916–17 PCHA season...
championship by defeating the National Hockey Association
National Hockey Association
The National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...
's Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
three games to one by a combined score of 19 to 3. Fourteen of Seattle's goals were scored by Bernie Morris
Bernie Morris
Bernard Patrick Morris - was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Morris played for the Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. When the Metropolitans became the first U.S.-based team to win the Stanley Cup in 1917, Morris scored 14 of Seattle's goals...
(including six in game four alone). Games one and three were played under PCHA rules, i.e., seven players per side, forward passing in the neutral zone, and no substitution for penalized players. Games two and four were played under NHA rules, i.e., six players per side, no forward passing, substitutions allowed.
Life in the PCHA
After winning the 1917 Stanley Cup the Metropolitans also played in the Stanley Cup finals in 19191919 Stanley Cup Finals
Seattle dominated Montreal under PCHA rules, scoring two in the first, three in the second and a further two in the third. Corbeau of Montreal was injured but finished the game and continued to play in the series as a substitute.-Game two:...
(which was cancelled due to the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
pandemic after five games, with the series tied 2-2-1) and 1920
1920 Stanley Cup Finals
-See also:* 1919–20 NHL season* 1919–20 PCHA season* List of Stanley Cup champions...
, when they lost to the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
.
In the 1919 cancelled Stanley Cup finals, two brilliant performances by Seattle players were recorded, one by Hap Holmes keeping the last played game scoreless resulting in the referee declaring a tie and another by Frank Foyston, who scored 8 goals in the first 4 games of the series.
During the 1920 Stanley Cup finals, the Ottawa Senators would don solid white Jerseys to avoid confusion with Seattle's barber pole style of green, red and white (Ottawa traditionally wore black red and white pole style jerseys). The 1920 Series was subsequently relocated from Ottawa to Toronto's mutual artificial ice surface at Toronto's Mutual Street Arena
Mutual Street Arena
Mutual Street Arena, initially called Arena Gardens or just the Arena, was an ice hockey arena and sports and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario...
due to poor ice conditions.
The PCHA consisted of four teams for 1915-16 and 1916-17 seasons, while operating under three teams from 1917 until its fold in 1924. From 1922-23 games against the Western Canada Hockey League
Western Canada Hockey League
The Western Canada Hockey League , founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League in 1925 and disbanded in 1926.-History:...
(WCHL) counted in the PCHA standings. This allowed Seattle to have a losing record yet still win the league regular season championship in 1924. In 1924 The Seattle team folded and the PCHA ceased to operate. In the last season the team had an average of 1000 fans per game in attendance. Arena owners subsequently did not renew the team's lease
. The remaining teams of Vancouver and Victoria joined the WCHL for the 1925 season.
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against| PCHA season | GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Playoffs |
| 1915–16 1915–16 PCHA season The 1915–16 PCHA season was the fifth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 7, 1915 until February 25, 1916. Each team would play 18 games. The Portland Rosebuds club would be PCHA champions. After the season the club... |
18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 18 | 68 | 67 | |||
| 3rd in PCHA | N/A | |||||||||
| 1916–17 1916–17 PCHA season The 1916–17 PCHA season was the sixth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 1, 1916 until March 2, 1917. The season was expanded to 24 games per team, except that the final game was cancelled. The Seattle Metropolitans... |
24 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 32 | 125 | 80 | -- | 1st in PCHA | Won Stanley Cup Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug... |
| 1917–18 1917–18 PCHA season The 1917–18 PCHA season was the seventh season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 28, 1917 until March 8, 1918. The season was reduced to 18 games per team. The Seattle Metropolitans club would be regular-season PCHA... |
18 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 22 | 67 | 65 | |||
| 1st in PCHA | Lost PCHA final | |||||||||
| 1918–19 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 66 | 46 | -- | 2nd in PCHA | No decision in Stanley Cup final |
| 1919–20 1919–20 PCHA season The 1919–20 PCHA season was the ninth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 26, 1919 until March 10, 1920. The season was enlarged to 22 games per team... |
22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 59 | 55 | |||
| 1st in PCHA | Lost Stanley Cup final | |||||||||
| 1920–21 | 24 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 25 | 77 | 68 | -- | 2nd in PCHA | N/A |
| 1921–22 1921–22 PCHA season The 1921–22 PCHA season was the 11th season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from December 26, 1919 until March 10, 1920. The season was enlarged to 24 games per team... |
24 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 25 | 65 | 64 | |||
| 1st in PCHA | Lost PCHA final | |||||||||
| 1922–23 1922–23 PCHA season The 1922–23 PCHA season was the twelfth season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from November 13, 1922 until March 2, 1923... |
30 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 30 | 100 | 106 | -- | 3rd in PCHA | N/A |
| 1923–24 1923–24 PCHA season The 1923–24 PCHA season was the thirteenth and last season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey Association league. Season play ran from November 26, 1923 until February 25, 1924. Each team played 30 games, including eight games against Western Canada Hockey League teams... |
30 | 14 | 16 | 0 | 28 | 84 | 99 | |||
| 1st in PCHA | Lost to Vancouver in two game most goals (4-3) | |||||||||
Hall of Famers
Four honored members of the Hockey Hall of FameHockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
are recognized as part of the Seattle Metropolitans team.