Sports History On This Day: April 1

April 1, 1919 – This is not an April Fools Day prank! I think after the past few years we can all appreciate this. The Stanley Cup Trophy was not awarded due to the Spanish Flu Pandemic. The final game was played at the Seattle Ice Arena in Seattle, Washington and the series ended up in a 2-2-1 tie between the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association or PCHA’s Seattle Metropolitans.

According to the April 1, 1919 edition of the Vancouver World newspaper, five of the Montreal players had come down with influenza prompting officials to halt the series game scheduled for that day and eventually declare the draw between the two apparently evenly matched squads.

At this point in history, the Stanley Cup was awarded to a sort of World Series of Hockey Champion. It was not exclusive to only the NHL until the 1947 season whereas the League did not have to accept the challenge from other outside opponents. The last time a non-NHL squad made the finals was in the 1926-27 season.

To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.

Team photo of the Seattle Metropolitans
The photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, in the public domain of the 1919 Seattle Metropolitans ice hockey team. Special thanks to the resources of Newspapers.com and OnThisDay.com for the information obtained.

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