1919 Stanley Cup Finals - Cancellation: "The Stanley Cup Series Is Off"

Cancellation: "The Stanley Cup Series Is Off"

The sixth and deciding game of the series was scheduled for April 1, but an outbreak of influenza caused several players on both teams to become seriously ill. With Lalonde, Hall, Coutu, Berlinguette, and McDonald of Montreal hospitalized or sick in bed, with fevers between 101 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, game six was cancelled just five and a half hours before it was scheduled to start. Kennedy said he was forfeiting the Cup to Seattle, but Pete Muldoon, manager-coach of the Metropolitans, refused to accept the Cup in a forfeiture, seeing that it was catastrophic illness that had caused the Canadiens lineup to be short of players. Kennedy asked to use players from the Victoria team of the PCHA, but president Frank Patrick refused the request.

Five days later, Joe Hall died of pneumonia brought about by the flu. His funeral was held in Vancouver on April 8, with most team members attending, and he was buried in Brandon, Manitoba. Manager George Kennedy also was stricken. His condition declined, and his wife arrived from Montreal to be with him. He seemed to recover and was released from the hospital, but he never fully recovered and he died a few years later.

No official Stanley Cup winner was declared in 1919, and thus nothing was engraved onto the trophy. However, when the Cup was redesigned in 1948 and a new collar was added to include those teams that did not engrave their names on the trophy themselves, the following was added:

1919
Montreal Canadiens
Seattle Metropolitans
Series Not Completed