1916-1917 Seattle Metropolitans: American Hockey

1916-1917 Seattle Metropolitans: American Hockey

1916-1917 Seattle Metropolitans: American Hockey

In the early days of professional ice hockey, leagues came and went very frequently. In the 1910’s the Pacific Coast Hockey Association was considered to be a legitimate contending league that would have opportunities at playing for the Stanley Cup. Up until 1917 Canada had been the only country to have teams hoist up the Stanley Cup in victory. However, before any of the Original Six teams based in the United States, such as Detroit, Chicago, Boston and New York, there was a team that broke Canada’s firm hold on the cup. That team was based in Seattle, Washington and called the Seattle Ice Arena home, a place with a seating capacity of around 4,000.

The Seattle Metropolitans started hockey operations in 1915 as an expansion franchise, and their roots were mainly influenced by a raid of talent, successfully signing talented players that were on the 1914 Stanley Cup Champion Toronto Blueshirts. With the addition of such talent, the Mets easily became the class of the PCHA.

In an expanded regular season that saw a maximum of 24 games being played, the Metropolitans went 16-8 in the 1916-1917 regular season with 32 points, finishing as the best team in the 4-team PCHA. The Mets finished 1.5 games and 4 points ahead of the Vancouver Millionaires, who went 14-9. Overall the Mets fared well in head-to-head play as they went 5-3 against the Portland Rosebuds and 7-1 against the Spokane Camaries. The Mets only went 3-4 against the Millionaires.

The former Blueshirts that made the trip from Ontario to Washington State were centers Frank Hoyston and Jack Walker, right winger Cully Wilson, defenseman Ed Carpenter and goaltender Hap Holmes. Hoyston had 36 goals and 12 assists for 48 points, though he had 51 penalty minutes since he often got rough with opposing players. Walker had 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points. Wilson had 13 goals and 6 assists along with 57 penalty minutes. Carpenter, the only player on the roster who was born in the United States, had 5 goals and 2 assists.

The most talented player on the team when it came to scoring wasn’t a former Blueshirt, but rather a player the Mets organization itself discovered. Center Bernie Morris had 37 goals and 17 assists for 54 points while he stayed out of trouble, accumulating just 19 penalty minutes. Defenseman Bobby Rowe had 9 goals and 11 assists for 20 points while having 39 penalty minutes. Left winger Jim Riley had 11 goals and 5 assists along with 34 penalty minutes. Defenseman Roy Rickey had 3 goals and assists in 18 games.

Harry George “Hap” Holmes was a vigilant goaltender who had a knack for stopping pucks at the right time. 1916-1917 was one of the best hockey seasons of his career as he went 16-8 in the regular season, recording a 3.28 goals against average and 2 shutouts in 1465 minutes. Holmes only allowed 80 goals.

The PCHA only had 3 overtime contests in the league’s season, and 2 of those contests involved the Metropolitans. On December 5 the Mets defeated the Portland Rosebuds 4-3 in overtime, but just 1 week later on December 12 the Mets would fall to the Vancouver Millionaires 7-6 in an overtime loss.

The 1917 Stanley Cup Finals featured the Seattle Metropolitans, a hockey team in just its 3rd year of existence, taking on an established hockey juggernaut that would become one of the best hockey franchises in the 20th Century in the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey Association.

In the early 20th Century the Stanley Cup would only be played in a best 3 out of 5 game format. Another interesting note is that Games 1 and 3 of this Stanley Cup Finals would be played under PCHA rules while Games 2 and 4 would be played under NHA rules. Under the PCHA rules only 7 players are available for each team and there is forward passing in the neutral zone allowed, but no substitutions could be made. Under the NHA rules only 6 players could be available for each team and forward passing wasn’t allowed. However, the NHA allowed substitutions to be made.

All 4 games of the Stanley Cup Finals would be played at the Seattle Ice Arena. In Game 1 on March 17 the Canadiens struck first by beating the Mets 8-4. Right winger Didier Pitre scored 4 goals in this game, including the first goal of the game 3 minutes into the 1st period. Bernie Morris scored his first goal of the Finals in the 7th minute for Seattle. However, Montreal countered 20 seconds later with a goal by defenseman and winger Jack Lavioette, and then Pietre scored another goal before the 1st period ended.

In the 2nd period defenseman Con Corbeau and center Newsy Lalonde scored goals for Montreal. In the 3rd period Morris and Frank Foyston scored goals for Seattle. Pietre and Morris traded goals, and then Pietre and Corbeau each scored 1 more goal.

In Game 2 on March 30 the Metropolitans showed the Canadiens that they weren’t going away as they won 6-1. In the 9th minute of the 1st period Morris scored a goal, and then Cully Wilson wrapped up the period with a goal of his own. Morris and Foyston then scored 1 goal each in the 2nd period, and in the 3rd period Foyston would score 2 more goals to give himself 3 goals for the game. Preventing the shutout, center Tommy Smith scored the only Montreal goal.

In Game 3 on March 23 the Mets beat the Canadiens 4-1. In the 10th minute of the 1st period Morris scored yet another goal, though the 2nd period would be quiet in comparison as neither team managed to score. In the 3rd period Foyston scored a goal in the 5th minute while Morris followed by scoring 2 more goals.

In Game 4 on March 25 the Mets absolutely demolished the Canadiens 9-1. Early in the 1st period Morris scored a goal, but in Montreal’s case they were not allowed to score any goals in part due to the amazing goaltending of Hap Holmes, who recorded a 2.75 goals against average in the Finals. 3 more goals were added to Seattle’s score in the 2nd period, and then Seattle would have a lead as large as 7-0 before Jack Lavioette finally scored for the Canadiens to prevent another shutout.

Though no Most Valuable Player Awards were given in the 1910’s, Bernie Morris played like a true MVP as he ended up scoring 14 of Seattle’s 23 goals in all 4 Stanley Cup Finals games combined. Winning the Stanley Cup in 1917 the Seattle Metropolitans became the first ever team based in the United States to win the cup, and it would take 12 years for the next American team to win the Stanley Cup, which would be the Boston Bruins in 1929.

Sadly the Metropolitans would be lost to the hockey archives not long after their successful 1916-1917 campaign. They would win regular season championships for the PCHA in 1917, 1918, 1920, 1922 and 1924, and it would be after 1924 when the team based in Seattle finally folded.