The Good Ol' Hockey Game Trivia Quiz

Answer: Toronto Blueshirts

It was a bit of a mess leading up to the formation of the NHL. Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone was in a number of disputes with other owners, and the other owners essentially forced him out, folding the NHA in the process.

The new league had four franchise owners to begin: the Montréal Canadiens, Montréal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Québec Bulldogs. But... only the Canadiens, the Wanderers and the Senators actually survived as intact franchises from the NHA. The Bulldogs players were dispersed among the other teams.

Also, a new hockey club was formed in Toronto, largely using the players from the now-defunct Toronto Blueshirts, and the team never had an official name other than 'Toronto Hockey Club' that year. By virtue of their playing at Arena Gardens, however, they came to be known as the Toronto Arenas.

Answer: Vancouver Millionaires

The first NHL season was split into two halves. The Montréal Canadiens won the first half, while the Toronto Hockey Club (Arenas) won the second half. The two teams played a two game 'total goals' playoff series, with Toronto edging Montréal by a 10-7 margin, winning the inaugural league title.

The 1917-18 PCHA consisted of three teams - the Portland Rosebuds, Seattle Metropolitans, and Vancouver Millionaires. The Victoria Aristocrats did not play the 1917-18 season, although they did play in years both preceding and following that year.

The fight for the Stanley Cup was held in Toronto in a best-of-five format, with three games played under NHL rules (six players, no forward passing), and two games played under PCHA rules (seven players, forward passing allowed). Each team won the games played by their own rules, meaning that Toronto took home the Stanley Cup, winning the series 3-2.

Answer: Québec Athletics

The Spanish Flu epidemic prevented the 1919 NHL champion Montréal Canadiens from competing for the Stanley Cup against Seattle, so the NHL's third season (now with four teams) brought the next opportunity.

The 1919-20 season saw the Ottawa Senators win both halves of the split schedule, meaning that they earned the league title without the need for a playoff series. The newly activated Québec Athletics team finished last, only managing four wins on a 24-game schedule.

Ottawa would go on to win the Stanley Cup by a 3-2 margin in the best-of-five series against the Seattle Metropolitans.

The Toronto Arenas briefly established the name 'Toronto Tecumsehs' before new ownership took over the team, renaming it the 'Toronto St. Patricks'. So, while the 1919-20 season was the first year that the St. Patricks existed by that name, they were not a new franchise.

The Québec Athletics moved to Hamilton for the 1920-21 season, becoming the Hamilton Tigers.

Answer: Boston Bruins

The Montréal Maroons and the Boston Bruins both joined in 1924 to make a six-team league.

It was an interesting year, as the Hamilton Tigers (formerly the Québec Athletics) finished in first overall after four straight years at the bottom of the league. But, they eliminated themselves from competing for the Stanley Cup when their players went on strike. The new playoff format (with six teams) had a semi-final matchup between the 2nd and 3rd-place teams. Montréal beat Toronto, and with the Hamilton players on strike, Montréal was named the NHL champions.

The Montréal Canadiens would go on to vie for the Stanley Cup instead of Hamilton. (See next question to learn who they played against)

Answer: Victoria Cougars

The Victoria Cougars were a bit of a Cinderella team in 1925. They moved from the PCHA along with the Vancouver Maroons - the only two teams left in the PCHA after the Seattle Metropolitans folded - to join the WCHL, in operation since 1921 with the Edmonton Eskimos, Calgary Tigers, Saskatoon Crescents, and Regina Capitals.

The Cougars finished in 3rd place, and had to win the semi-final against Saskatoon AND the final against Calgary before facing Montréal for the Stanley Cup. They managed to win the best-of-five championship series in just four games.

Answer: Hamilton Tigers

It was the strike action of the previous season that led to the dissolution of the Hamilton franchise, but in the end it worked out for the players, most of whom went on to play with the New York Americans with much better salaries.

The newly-constructed Madison Square Garden was the home of the New York Americans, and their first opponents in the storied building was against the Montréal Canadiens on December 15th, 1925 with 19,000 in attendance.

The Ottawa Senators would claim the league scoring title that year, but it was the 2nd-place Montréal Maroons that would prevail in the playoffs to win the honour of facing the reigning Stanley Cup champion Victoria Cougars. The Maroons would go on to win their first championship, knocking off the Cougars in four games (best-of-five series).

Answer: Philadelphia Quakers

1926 also happened to see the Western Hockey League (formerly WCHL) fold, which was a fortuitous thing for the NHL, as it provided a supply of high-quality players to join the league and fill the rosters of the new franchises.

For the first time, the NHL divided the teams into divisions, in this case a Canadian Divison and an American Division. With six American teams, however, that meant an imbalance. To correct this, the New York Americans were placed in the Canadian Division.

Without a rival league to vie for the Stanley Cup, the coveted prize now became an NHL-only trophy. The new playoff format had the 2nd and 3rd-place teams from each division play a quarter-final (2-game) matchup, then the winners would play the division champions in the semi-final. The resultant victors would face each other for the Stanley Cup.

The Ottawa Senators went on to defeat the Boston Bruins in the best-of-five series in four games. It would end up being the last Stanley Cup victory by the (original) Ottawa Senators, their fourth since the formation of the NHL.

Answer: New York Rangers

The New York Rangers only managed the 5th-best record in the league that year, but it was enough for 2nd place in the American Division behind the Boston Bruins. It was a year of upsets, though, as neither division champion went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final. In the Canadian Division, the Montréal Maroons knocked off the Canadiens to advance to the final against the Rangers.

The series between the Maroons and the Rangers was a closely-fought affair, with a 3-2 winning record for New York. Each of the wins by the Rangers was a one-goal decision, including one game that went to overtime.

Incidentally, the 1927-28 season also marked a name change for the Toronto St. Patricks, who under new ownership became the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Answer: Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Quakers

The Philadelphia Quakers were only in Philadelphia for one year... an attempt by the Pittsburgh Pirates to give a boost to their team's financial woes. It was unsuccessful and the franchise ceased operations in the 1931 off-season.

The Ottawa Senators owners made the attempt to sell their franchise, asking the modest sum of $200,000, but they had no takers, and also closed up shop. It would prove to be a short-lived hiatus, and they came back after one year off, bringing the league back up to nine teams in the 1932-33 season. Their financial woes continued, however, and in 1934, the Senators moved to Missouri to become the St. Louis Eagles, and one year later, they folded for good.

As an aside, the Detroit Cougars changed their name for the 1930-31 season, re-tooling themselves as the Detroit Falcons.

The 1931 Stanley Cup Championship was between the Chicago Black Hawks and the Montréal Canadiens, with the Canadiens holding on for a 3-2 series win. It was their second in a row and their third since the NHL's creation in 1917.

Answer: 1942

The Montréal Maroons were the team to drop out of the league in 1938, after trying unsuccessfully to effect a move to St. Louis. Three years later, in an effort to boost their civic appeal, the New York Americans changed their name to the Brooklyn Americans. It wasn't appealing enough, and the Americans ceased operations in 1942.

And when did the Detroit Falcons become the Red Wings, you ask? That happened in 1932, after only two years naming themselves the Falcons.