233063
228576

The NHL turns 100

It was a night of sticky ice, last-minute player signings and a disappointingly small crowd.

The glitches that marred the NHL's debut seem mere footnotes now as the world's premier hockey league celebrates its 100th anniversary with an outdoor game Saturday evening between the Montreal Canadiens and host Ottawa Senators.

Amid the humble beginnings, few could have foreseen the days of multimillion-dollar contracts, instant replays and franchises in Florida.

As a bloody war raged in Europe, the four-team NHL's first games took place Wed., Dec. 19, 1917.

The Canadiens took on an early incarnation of the Senators in Ottawa, while the Toronto Arenas played the Wanderers in Montreal.

The daily newspapers of the time, and their anonymous scribes, dutifully recorded the colour and chaos of the league's emergence from the ashes of the National Hockey Association, alongside advertisements for gramophones, dyspepsia tablets and handkerchiefs.

Ottawa dominated the Canadiens in the final NHA season, winning six of seven matchups.

But for their first NHL meeting, the Senators were missing top scorer Frank Nighbor, an enlisted airman whose military commitment kept him off the ice. The "Pembroke Peach" would go on to win several Stanley Cups with the Ottawa team.

One of his descendants, Derek Nighbor, plans to be at Ottawa's TD Place Stadium for the NHL 100 Classic game with his brother and nephew, sporting their heritage Sens jerseys emblazoned with Frank's No. 6.

"Our family's pretty proud of the connection," he said. "It's not only the Nighbor name, but it's Pembroke. Still today, with our Junior 'A' Lumber Kings, hockey is really central to life in the Ottawa Valley."

The 1917 edition of the Senators had another headache on opening night: contract disputes meant several players signed at the eleventh hour and two — Jack Darragh and Hamby Shore — even missed the first part of the game.

Canadiens sharpshooter Joe Malone scored three times in the first period, and Montreal led 5-3 heading into the third.

Ottawa forced the play, but "it was useless, what looked like sure goals being missed by overskating the puck, missing passes and poor shooting," the Ottawa Journal reported.

Montreal won 7-4. Ottawa might have fared better if it had begun the game at full strength, said the Journal, adding the fact the ice became "very sticky" near the end of the game "may have had a lot to do with their poor work here."



More Sports News



Upcoming Sports Events



230485
RECENT STORIES




230372


Sports Links

UBCO Athletics

HOCKEY
BASKETBALL
SOCCER
RACING [+]
BASEBALL [+]
FOOTBALL [+]
RUGBY [+]
GOLF [+]
SKI/SKATE [+]
LACROSSE [+]
CURLING [+]
SWIMMING
RACQUET
MISC. [+]


231483
Castanet Proud Member of RTNDA Canada


232391