March 1921 – The Playoffs

Headline – The long path to the Cup

By month’s end (or the first week of April), we will have a Stanley Cup Champion. However, there’s a lot to determine before we get there.

Entering March, we only knew one thing about the results of the NHL: The Senators were going to play against someone in a two game total goal series for the right to compete for the Stanley Cup. The Canadiens and St. Pats entered the final day of the regular season with identical 9-4-0 records in the league’s second half, with the lone date on the schedule remaining being a matchup against each other at Arena Gardens in Toronto.

The Second Half Final

The first period was scoreless until there was two minutes left, when Reg Noble put the St. Pats up 1-0. Noble scored again early in the second, and was answered quickly by Amos Arbour’s goal :30 later. Corb Denneny and Harry Mummery exchanged goals later in the period in quick succession, and the score at the second intermission was 3-2 Toronto. The Habs were down, but by no means out of it. A strong third period would be just what the doctor ordered…

Oh well.

Montreal scored twice late to bring the score to a more respectable 6-4, but it would be Toronto representing the league’s second half against Ottawa in the NHL final. Ottawa really struggled down the stretch, and Toronto had been hot for the last month. This could be a fascinating series.

The NHL Finals

While the Canadiens and St. Pats duked it out for the right to play Ottawa in the post-season, Ottawa had a date with Hamilton in a relatively meaningless affair. The Senators’ offense had been quiet for over a month, but broke out for 12 goals against the toothless Tigers (including six alone from Cy Denneny, matching his brother’s accomplishment from a couple of months prior), and perhaps that could energize the Senators and break them out of their funk.

Three days after the season concluded, the St. Pats and Senators met at The Arena in Ottawa for Game 1 of the Final. The first period ended scoreless, but just minutes into the second period, Cy Denneny scored to put the Sens up 1-0. A few minutes later, Georges Boucher added to the lead. The third period served up more of the same, with goals by Denneny and Boucher twice for a 5-0 Sens win.

Game 2 was held four days later in Toronto, and the St. Pats had it all to do. Because the series was total goals wins, the St. Pats had to win the game by more than five goals to advance. With home ice advantage, and a tremendous comeback story ready to be written, the teams took the ice.

60 minutes of hockey later, the St. Pats still hadn’t scored. The Senators got goals from Eddie Gerard and Frank Nighbor, and the final score of the series was Ottawa 7, Toronto 0.

The Senators then traveled to Vancouver to face the Millionaires in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Stanley Cup Final

The site of the Final was Denman Arena in Vancouver, a building that could hold well over 10,000 fans, and had artificial ice, which would mean the series would be played without the worry of slush.

Game 1 of the series was played under PCHA rules, which meant a rover was added to the on-ice lineup. Late in the first period, Alf Skinner and Art Duncan scored for the Millionaires, and Smokey Harris added another early in the second, which would be all the support goalie Hugh Lehman needed for a 3-1 Vancouver win.

Game 2 (under NHL rules) was pivotal for Ottawa, because they knew Game 3 would be under PCHA rules, and they couldn’t go into that game down 0-2 in the series. Smokey Harris and Jack Adams each scoring to put Vancouver up 2-0 just three minutes into the game didn’t help matters. Georges Boucher cut the lead in half, but Art Duncan restored the two goal lead moments later.

Cy Denneny’s late first period goal to cut the lead back to 3-2 may have served as a turning point in the series. Jack Darragh scored the lone goal in the second period to tie the game, and after a late penalty by Smokey Harris, Punch Broadbent scored on the power play to give the Senators a key 4-3 win.

Game 3 returned to PCHA rules, and once again Vancouver scored early on a goal by Lloyd Cook. Jack Darragh tied the game midway through the first. Near the halfway point of the second period, Cy Denneny and Sprague Cleghorn scored to put Ottawa up 3-1, and they held on for a 3-2 win.

With the Senators now on the cusp of a series victory, and Game 4 played under NHL rules, Ottawa was feeling good about their chances. After a scoreless first, Alf Skinner (who returned from an injury sustained in Game 1) opened the scoring for Vancouver. Georges Boucher tied it in the second, but Vancouver scored early in the third (Skinner again), then added an insurance goal late to take Game 4 and force a deciding game.

Game 5 opened with a late first period goal by Alf Skinner. Jack Darragh scored a pair of goals in the second to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead. The Senators would hold that lead late into the third period, when all hell broke loose.

Eddie Gerard threw a hard body check on Lloyd Cook, who in turn took a shot back at Gerard. Sprague Cleghorn joined the fray and threw a punch at Cook, sparking a big fight. Things were so out of control that local police had to intervene and calm things down. Cleghorn, Gerard, and Cook were all given match penalties, and the game concluded without further incident. The Senators became the first back-to-back Stanley Cup champion since the 1911-13 Quebec Bulldogs.