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- NHA 1916-17 Season
NHA
1916-17 Season
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts. | GF | GA | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 58 | 38 | 20 |
| Ottawa Senators | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 56 | 41 | 15 |
| Toronto 228th Battalion | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 70 | 57 | 13 |
| Toronto Hockey Club | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 50 | 45 | 5 |
| Montreal Wanderers | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 56 | 72 | -16 |
| Quebec Bulldogs | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 43 | 80 | -37 |
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts. | GF | GA | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Senators | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 63 | 22 | 41 |
| Quebec Bulldogs | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 54 | 46 | 8 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 31 | 42 | -9 |
| Montreal Wanderers | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 38 | 65 | -27 |
The 1916–17 season was the eighth and ultimately final season for the National Hockey Association (NHA), a period marked by wartime disruption and internal conflict that directly led to the formation of the National Hockey League (NHL). The season was planned as a split-schedule of two ten-game halves and was complicated by the unique participation of the Toronto 228th Battalion (Northern Fusiliers), a military unit team that was the league’s top-scoring club until the regiment was ordered overseas in February 1917, forcing its withdrawal and leading to a minor scandal over some players’ military commissions. Following this mid-season departure, the NHA owners voted to suspend the league’s other Toronto franchise, the Blueshirts, and dispersed its players, ostensibly to keep the league viable with four teams. Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone responded by filing multiple lawsuits against the NHA and its member clubs, actions that provoked the other owners to dissolve the NHA in November 1917 and immediately establish the NHL to operate without Livingstone.
Despite the administrative chaos, the on-ice action determined a champion through a two-game, total-goals playoff after the Montreal Canadiens won the first half of the schedule and the Ottawa Senators won the second half. The Canadiens defeated the Senators with a close 7–6 aggregate score to claim the O’Brien Cup as NHA champions. This final series was fiercely contested and included a suspension for Canadiens star Newsy Lalonde due to an altercation with Ottawa’s Frank Nighbor. Individually, the season saw a historic scoring tie, with Joe Malone of Quebec and Frank Nighbor of Ottawa sharing the league lead with an identical 41 goals each. As NHA champions, the Canadiens proceeded to the Stanley Cup Finals but were defeated by the Seattle Metropolitans of the PCHA, making Seattle the first American team to win the trophy.