Spanish Flu Pandemic Of 1919 Caused Cancellation Of Stanley Cup Final, Was Single Biggest Sports Story Of Era

Much of today's sports world has shut down over the COVID-19 pandemic that has swept the world since March, with leagues and major events either being postponed or outright cancelled at all levels, from high school, to college and professional.

Slowly but surely, world sport is starting to recover, with many of the major European soccer leagues making plans to return in June, while the Bundesliga in Germany resumed May 16 to empty stadiums, as fans are being kept out to help prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.

Sports faced a similar predicament during the 1918-1920 Spanish Flu pandemic, which eventually claimed the lives of approximately 50 million people during that time, with about 675,000 American lives lost due to the disease. Yet, sports carried on as best as they could during that time.

But one story stood out during the pandemic, and it had very tragic consequences for many people, and resulted in a championship series being cancelled for the first time ever.

The 1919 Stanley Cup Final between the Montreal Canadiens of the then-fledgling National Hockey League, met the Seattle Metropolitans, champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, for the Cup in that year, but the series was cancelled after five games, tied 2-2, with one game ending in an epic scoreless tie after two 10-minute overtime periods.

The NHL was just in its second season of existence when the Canadiens won their first-ever league title, but had won the Cup before as champions of the NHL's forerunner, the National Hockey Association. In the NHL's early days, a split season was played, with the first half champion playing against the second-half winner to determine the league's winner and its representative in the Stanley Cup series. The Canadiens won the league's first half, while the original Ottawa Senators took the second half. In a best-of-seven series to determine the championship, Montreal won in five games to claim the NHL crown.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitans finished second in the PCHA regular season standings, one game behind the Vancouver Millionaires, and both teams faced each other in a two-game, total goal format. Disaster struck for Seattle when their star forward, Bernie Morris, was arrested by federal authorities for draft dodging during World War I. He was eventually convicted in an Army court-martial and sentenced to two years of hard labor at Alcatraz, but the sentence was cut in half when he was granted an honorable discharge and released.

Without Morris, the Metropolitans won Game One 6-1, with forward Frank Foyston leading the way with a hat trick. The Millionaires would eventually win Game Two 4-1, but lost the aggregate 7-5, making Seattle the PCHA winners and the Canadiens' opponent for the Stanley Cup.

All the games of the 1919 Final were played at the Seattle Ice Arena, with alternating rules. The PCHA rules, which allowed a seventh man known as a rover, was used in the odd-numbered games, while NHL rules were used in the even-numbered games. The series was to be a best-of-five format, and in Game One, under PCHA rules, Seattle won 7-0, scoring twice in the first period, three times in the second and twice more in the third, but the Canadiens tied the series at a game each with a 4-2 win. Newsy Lalonde, one of the best forward of his era, scored all four Montreal goals, and held off Seattle after the Metropolitans scored twice in 32 seconds to make things close.

Going back to PCHA rules, the Metropolitans again won, using a four-goal first period to win 7-2 and taking a 2-1 series lead. Game Four to this day is considered one of hockey's all-time great games, as the game ended in a 0-0 tie after overtime, with goalies Hap Holmes of Seattle and all-time great Georges Vezina of the Canadiens matching each other with brilliant saves. Since substitution rules were very strict at the time, many of the skaters on both teams played themselves into exhaustion, and a potential goal by Seattle's Cully Wilson waved off because Hall-Of-Fame referee Mickey Ion ruled the period had ended when the puck crossed the goal line and into the net.

The players were so exhausted at the end of the second overtime, they lay on the ice, unable to move. The fans in attendance gave both teams a standing ovation in appreciation of their efforts.

Game Four had to be replayed, and after a dispute, it was agreed to use NHL rules, and for the remainder of the series, use sudden-death overtime. Both came into play in the replay, as Jack McDonald came onto the ice as a fresh player, skated through an exhausted Seattle team, and scored in overtime to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win, evening the series and set up a deciding fifth game. But tragedy was waiting around the corner.

The Spanish Flu began sweeping over both teams, and many of the players fell ill to the dreaded disease. It particularly hit the Canadiens very hard, as five Montreal players were either confined to bed or in hospital, running fevers of between 101 and 105 degrees. The Seattle Board of Health ordered the cancellation of the deciding game five-and-a-half hours before face-off time.

Four days later, complications from the flu claimed the life of Montreal defenseman Bad Joe Hall, considered one of the toughest men ever to play the game. Canadiens general manager George Kennedy also was hit with the flu, and also nearly died, but eventually recovered enough to be released from hospital. He never did fully recover, however, and it was a contributing factor in his death a few years later.

Kennedy offered to forfeit the series to Seattle, but Metropolitans general manager Pete Muldoon refused, citing the illness and its catastrophic decimation of the Montreal roster. A request to borrow players from the PCHA's Victoria Cougars to play for Montreal was turned down by Victoria president Frank Patrick.

As a result of the pandemic, the Stanley Cup was not awarded for the first time in its then 26-year history. The NHL took full control of the Stanley Cup in 1926, and has been awarded annually to the league's championship team with the exception of 2005, when the season was cancelled due to an owners lockout of players during a labor dispute.

An engraving on the current version of the Cup reminds those that the Montreal-Seattle series was never completed. Today, the Canadiens have won the Cup 24 times, most of any team in the NHL, its last time in 1993.

And Seattle will have an NHL expansion team, starting with the 2021-22 season, but its team name, logo, colors and uniforms have yet to be released.

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