Episode 15: 1919 Stanley Cup and Spanish Flu

Lord Stanley’s Cup is inscribed with two teams for the 1919 season. Depending on how you look at it, both won the championship -- or neither. Depending on how you look at it, the real champion was the Spanish Flu. In 2020, as Covid-19 disrupts the sports calendar , the events of spring 1919 are eerily relevant.

The 1919 series pitted the best team from the National Hockey League — Montreal Canadiens — against the best team from the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, which had clubs in Washington, Oregon and western Canada. The PCHA champion — Seattle Metropolitans — had beaten Montreal in 1917 to become the first American franchise to win the Cup.

The Canadiens featured goalie Georges Vezina, forward ‘Newsy’ Lalonde, and defenseman “Bad” Joe Hall. Seattle was led by goalie Hap Holmes, forwards Frank Foyston and Jack Walker, and defenseman Bernie Morris, although Morris was arrested for draft evasion prior to the series and did not play.

The entire series was played in Seattle just as the third wave of the Spanish Flu descended. The flu pandemic that began in western Kansas in March 1918 had been transmitted by American troops throughout Europe in the final months of World War 1, and returning troops had brought back a more virulent strain. By the spring of 1919 the virus had killed several hundred thousand Americans, and millions worldwide.

The Cup final was wildly competitive. Seattle won games 1 and 3 by wide margins. Montreal hung in with a 4-2 win in Game 2. Game 4 ended in a scoreless tie after two overtimes. By the time Montreal overcame a 3-0 deficit for a 4-3 overtime win in Game 5 players on both teams were pale and weakened by the virus. Joe Hall, at 37 the oldest player in the series, was hit the hardest.

Game 6 to decide the champion was scheduled for April 1, 1919. But Montreal could not field a team due to the virus, and offered to forfeit the series, which the Metropolitans declined. PCHA president Frank Patrick canceled Game 6 just 5 1/2 hours before the puck was set to drop.

All of the Canadiens recovered from the virus except one. Joe Hall died on April 5, 1919, before his wife and three children reached Seattle from their Montreal home.

(top photo: Montreal Canadiens defenseman Joe Hall)

The 1919 Stanley Cup final was unlike anything before or since. The Montreal Canadiens and Seattle Metropolitans were valiant opponents, but neither were a match for the pandemic Spanish Flu.

(l-r) from the Seattle Star, March 17, 1919 and April 4, 1919