Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.03.2005, Blaðsíða 9

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 25. mars 2005 • 9
Top: Harry Holmes, Bobby Rowe, Ed Carpenter, Jack Walker. Middle: Frank Foyston, Pete
Muldoon, Manager. Bottom: Bernie Morris, Cully Wilson, Roy Rickey, Jim Riley.
The Seattle Arena was the Metropolitans’ home ground for many years.
cember 8, 1915 beating Victoria
by a score of 3-2. Many of the
people who crammed into the
arena that night had never ex-
perienced hockey before. The
next day, a local sports reporter
described the heady atmosphere:
“A lot of local folks had never
seen the game before, but the
game had not been in progress
long before they were calling the
Seattle players by their names
and shouting advice to them as
they rushed and swerved and
slammed and kicked and bucked
and blocked with the equally
strong and active Victoria men.”
Cully’s debut with the team
was noted when the reporter
added, “It was a real fight all
the way. Cully Wilson, the ener-
getic right wing of Seattle, is the
Johnny Evers [Boston Red Sox
baseball player] of hockey, for
every time there is trouble he is
there or thereabouts. He is a little
fellow but is built all in a bundle.
He is a fast skater and absolutely
fearless in a mix-up and the way
he went crashing into the big
fellows on the Victoria team had
the crowd yipping with delight
and yelling his name.”
It’s also worth noting that
during that game, Cully became
the first player in Seattle fran-
chise history to be penalized and
the first to be ejected.
In many ways, the new Met-
ropolitans were a dream team,
and every player was a talent to
be reckoned with. Three players
from that debut season, Frank
Foyston, Harry Holmes and
Jack Walker, would eventually
be inducted into the NHL Hall
of Fame. It wasn’t long before
manager Pete Muldoon had his
men playing like champions.
Cully enjoyed four exciting
years with the Metropolitans
that included winning his sec-
ond Stanley Cup in 1917 against
the Montreal Canadiens. As al-
ways, there’s an interesting story
behind the story. Although the
two leagues had already agreed
to compete for the Stanley Cup,
some of the movers and shak-
ers in the NHA were disturbed
by the addition of an American
team. What if the NHA were to
actually lose to a team south of
the border? By the time the Met-
ropolitans and Montreal were
set to meet for the Cup in 1917,
the uproar and mistrust were so
great that Seattle wouldn’t take
on the Canadiens without a for-
mal written acceptance. Simply
put, the Mets wanted a guarantee
that if they won the series, the
Cup would be sent south of the
border. In fact, the series started
without the Cup and it didn’t ar-
rive in Seattle until three months
after the playoff was over, and
only after a $500 bond was put
up for its safe retum.
The first game of the 1917
playoff saw Seattle lose 8-4 to
the Habs. In an amazing tum-
around, Seattle fought back, al-
lowing only three goals in the
next three games. Center Ber-
nie Morris had the series of his
life when he scored an amazing
14 goals. It was all over for the
Canadiens, and the NHA’s con-
cerns proved correct as the Stan-
ley Cup left Canadian soil for
the first time. It was a watershed
moment in hockey’s history.
As. Cully and the rest of
the Metropolitans entered the
1917/1918 season, a new orga-
nization was formed to oversee
professional hockey. The Na-
tional Hockey League (NHL)
replaced the east’s old NHA but
continued to include the PCHA
in competition for the Stanley
Cup. Once again it looked like
Seattle was going to have an-
other shot at the Cup, but their
hopes were dashed in the final
game of the season when the
Vancouver Millionaires beat
them 1 -0. Vancouver then head-
ed east to meet the Toronto Are-
nas (formerly the Blueshirts),
bui lost the series.
As the 1918/1919 season
progressed, the Seattle Metro-
politans enjoyed a very success-
ful season and ended up on top
of the PCHA standings. Once
again, they would compete for
the Stanley Cup against the
Montreal Canadiens. This series
would prove to be both historic
and tragic as it was the only
time in the Stanley Cup’s history
(until this year) that no team
would be awarded the Cup. The
cause was the dreaded Spanish
flu pandemic that had affected
many parts of the world and was
brought to North America in
part by soldiers returning from
the Great War.
Unaware of what lay ahead,
the hometown fans got primed
and ready for what promised to
be a hard fought series. The Se-
attle Arena management worked
diligently to make sure every-
thing would be perfect. One of
the interesting decisions rnade
before the series started was that
there would be no smoking al-
Iowed in the arena. It wasn’t for
health reasons though. When
the weather was mild, a fog of-
len hung over the ice and it was
feared that smoking would only
add to the problem and make
it difficult for both players and
fans to see during the games.
As the championship series
opened, Harry Holmes was in-
vincible in the Seattle net, and
the Mets blanked Montreal 7-0.
But Montreal fought back in the
second game to tie the series.
Unimpressed, Seattle trounced
the Canadiens in game three by
a score of 7-2. Game four, a 0-0
draw, was brutally tough on the
teams as they fought it out for 80
minutes. Seattle came very close
to possibly winning the Cup
when at the end of the first pe-
riod, Cully took a pass and fired
the puck past goalie Georges
Vezina. But he was a half-sec-
ond late as the whistle had al-
ARGYLE
Transfer Ltd.
Specializing
in livestock transportation
ff
Wally & Linda Finnbogason
Stonewall, MB
Wally 467-8822 Mobile 981-1666
Daryl 322-5743 Mobile 981-5460
ready blown to end the period.
Montreal tied it up again in
game five but the effects of the
fast-paced and tremendously
physical series had taken its toll
on both teams. A good number
of players were nursing painful
injuries, and as the game pro-
gressed some fell to the ice from
weakness and exhaustion.
In a 1975 story about the
ill-fated series, Royal Brougham
of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
described the incredible diffi-
culties the players were expe-
riencing. Cully’s physical state
was typical. “Cully Wilson,
like many players of that era,
who had a body built of scrap
iron and a never-give-up spirit,
limped to the bench and hung
helpless over the railing. He was
carried to the locker room inco-
herently protesting that he was
able to continue. Manager Pete
Muldoon looked for a replace-
ment but there was no one. The
bench was empty.”
When you consider that
players from that era toughed it
out for the whole game with one
line and a few substitutions, the
1919 Stanley Cup final was ar-
guably the toughest ever played.
And the sniffies and coughs
heard on the Montreal team were
an ominous portent of things to
come.
For thefull story, please see
the “Online Stories” section at
www.lh-inc.ca.
'--1-
PHARMACY '
0
Pharmacist: V. T. Eyolfson
Store Hours: Mon. - Sat. 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Fri. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Sun. noon - 4 p.m.
0
Box 640, Arborg, MB R0C 0A0 Ph: 376-5153
J
/NORTHLAND CORPORATION
The Concentrated Hardioood Center
NORTHLAND 1S AN Locations in Boisbriand, PQ lEXINGTON, NC • MlAMI, FL BOYNTON BEACH, FL • LOUISVllLE, KY
ICELANDiC N.ORTIU.ANV serres hanlwooti
OWNED AND Ittmber dealers titul manufactttres
Operated itt Canada, the USA, Europe attd
Hardwood the Tar East
Lumber mmmmmmmm'.mmmm—— mmmmmmmmmmmm
COMP.ANY P.O. Box 265 HK.HWAY 146 EAST LaGkange, KY 40031, USA TEt (502) 222-1441 Fa\ (502) 222-1445 1-800-873-1441
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca