| 1919 Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * – overtime periods | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Seattle: Seattle Ice Arena | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | Best-of-five | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Montreal: Newsy Lalonde Seattle: Pete Muldoon | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | March 19–29, 1919 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Canadiens: Joe Hall (1961) Newsy Lalonde (1950) Joe Malone (1950) Didier Pitre (1963) Georges Vezina (1945) Metropolitans: Frank Foyston (1958) Hap Holmes (1972) Jack Walker (1960) Coaches: Newsy Lalonde (1950, player) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1919 Stanley Cup Finals was the ice hockey playoff series to determine the 1919 Stanley Cup champions. The series was cancelled due to an outbreak of Spanish flu after five games had been played, and no champion was declared. It was the only time in the history of the Stanley Cup that it was not awarded due to a no-decision after playoffs were held.[1][2]
The series was a rematch of the 1917 Stanley Cup Finals and the first since the armistice to end World War I.[3] Hosting the series in Seattle was the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) champion Seattle Metropolitans, playing against the National Hockey League (NHL) champion Montreal Canadiens. Both teams had won two games, lost two, and tied one before health officials were forced to cancel the deciding game of the series; after the Game 4 tie, the teams had agreed to play sudden death overtime if required.[2] Most of the Canadiens players and their manager George Kennedy fell ill with the flu and were hospitalized, leaving only three healthy players.[1] The flu claimed the life of Canadiens defenceman Joe Hall four days later.[4] Kennedy was terminally weakened by his illness, and it led to his death in 1921.[2][5]