1919 Stanley Cup Final

Lore & Background

The Canadiens won the NHL title by defeating the Ottawa Senators four games to one in a best-of-seven series. The Metropolitans finished second in the PCHA regular season with an 11–9 record, then defeated the Vancouver Millionaires in a two-game total-goals championship series, 7–5. Seattle played without leading scorer Bernie Morris, who was arrested for draft dodging hours before Game One; he was later sentenced to two years hard labor at McNeil Island, though his sentence was commuted after one year.

All games were held at the Seattle Ice Arena, with rules alternating between PCHA and NHL codes. Seattle won Game One 7–0 under PCHA rules.

Reader's Guide

The 1919 Stanley Cup Final is historically significant as the only time the Stanley Cup was not awarded after a playoff series, due to the Spanish flu pandemic. The cancellation highlights the impact of the 1918–1919 influenza pandemic on professional sports. The series also featured a rules dispute: after Game Four ended in a tie, the teams argued over which league's rules to use for the deciding game; Game Five was played under NHL rules, and it was agreed that future games would use sudden-death overtime until a winner was scored. The death of Joe Hall and the long-term illness of George Kennedy underscore the human cost of the pandemic. The series is remembered for Game Four, considered one of the greatest hockey games ever played, and for the sportsmanship of Pete Muldoon in refusing to accept a forfeited Cup. In 1948, when the Cup was redesigned, a collar was added reading: '1919 Montreal Canadiens Seattle Metropolitans Series Not Completed.'

Did You Know?

• Game Four ended in a scoreless tie after 20 minutes of overtime, with goaltenders Hap Holmes and Georges Vézina blocking every shot.
• Montreal defenceman Joe Hall died of pneumonia from the flu four days after the series was cancelled.
• Seattle's leading scorer Bernie Morris was arrested for draft dodging hours before Game One and did not play in the series.
• Manager George Kennedy of Montreal offered to forfeit the Cup to Seattle, but Seattle manager Pete Muldoon refused to accept.

Centennial Glory and Last-Of-Their-Kind Distinctions

The 1993 Stanley Cup Final carried extraordinary weight beyond a single championship. It marked the centennial of the Stanley Cup's first awarding in 1893, and it was the first Finals series to begin in June. For Los Angeles, it represented their first appearance in the championship round in franchise history, and the first time a west coast U.S. team had reached the Final since 1920. Montreal, meanwhile, made their 34th trip to the Cup, their first since 1989. The Canadiens' five-game victory gave them their 24th championship, but its significance extends far beyond the trophy itself. To this day, the 1993 squad remains the last Stanley Cup-winning team composed entirely of North American-born players. They are also the most recent Canadian-based franchise to hoist the Cup, and the last Canadian team outside Toronto to claim a title in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues. These layered distinctions make the 1993 series a singular, unrepeatable moment in hockey history.

The Illegal Stick That Unraveled a Championship

Late in the third period of Game Two, with Los Angeles holding a 2-1 score and a 1-0 series lead, Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers requested a measurement of Kings defenceman Marty McSorley's stick curve. The stick was ruled illegal, and McSorley received a two-minute minor penalty for illegal equipment. Faced with the prospect of traveling to Los Angeles trailing two games to none, Demers pulled goaltender Patrick Roy, creating a six-on-four advantage. Eric Desjardins capitalized from the point to tie the game at two, forcing overtime. He then struck again just 51 seconds into the extra period to seal Montreal's victory. From that single infraction, the momentum of the entire series shifted irrevocably. The Canadiens went on to win the next three games and claim the Cup, while the Kings never recovered. The McSorley penalty remains the defining moment of the 1993 Finals, a small equipment violation that unraveled a championship lead.

A Playoff Gauntlet of Upsets and Rivalries

Both teams navigated dramatic playoff paths to reach the Finals. Los Angeles, without superstar Wayne Gretzky for the first three months of the season due to injury, still managed to clinch a playoff berth. They faced Canadian opponents in every round, defeating Calgary 4-2, Vancouver 4-2, and Toronto 4-3. Their perennial nemesis Edmonton failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since joining the NHL in 1979, clearing a path that had blocked them in 1990, 1991, and 1992. Montreal's journey featured a remarkable redemption arc. After dropping their first two games to Quebec, with hometown newspapers suggesting star goaltender Patrick Roy be traded, the Canadiens won four straight to eliminate the Nordiques. They then swept Buffalo and took three straight from New York, tying the record of 11 consecutive playoff victories. The broader playoff landscape was reshaped by upsets: St. Louis swept Chicago, Boston was eliminated by Buffalo, and Pittsburgh fell to the Islanders.

Echoes Beyond the Final Whistle

The 1993 series cast a long shadow over both franchises for decades. For Los Angeles, the McSorley penalty became the starting point of an extraordinary postseason drought. After dropping the remaining games of that Final, the Kings missed the postseason entirely in five of the following seven seasons and were eliminated in the first round during the other two, all before the close of the 20th century. Their next postseason victory did not arrive until 2001, against Detroit. The franchise would not return to the Stanley Cup Final until 2012, when they finally won their first championship against New Jersey. Montreal's trajectory was equally stark. The 1993 triumph was the last time the Canadiens appeared in the Final until 2021, when they fell to Tampa Bay. It was also the final series played at the Montreal Forum and the last time Wayne Gretzky competed in a Cup Final. For a team with 24 banners, that 28-year gap between championship appearances underscores just how rare and precious the 1993 run truly was.