Stanley Cup Champions 1918-1929

In the NHL's infancy, its winner battled the champion of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for the Stanley Cup each year. NHL teams quickly dominated the annual competition, with the original Ottawa Senators becoming the League's first dynasty. The 1919 Stanley Cup Final, which was canceled after five games due to an outbreak of Spanish influenza, and the 1925 Final, won by the Victoria Cougars, remain the only two times since the NHL's founding that one of its teams did not win the Cup when it has been contested. When the renamed Western Hockey League folded in 1926, the Stanley Cup became the de facto trophy awarded to the NHL's champion. By the end of the decade, four of the League's Original Six had taken their first sip from the sport's Holy Grail.

1918 Toronto Arenas

Prior to the start of the 1917-18 campaign, the National Hockey Association dissolved and the National Hockey League took its place. The new league started out with four teams - the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Arenas - but the Wanderers withdrew after the Montreal Arena burned down. After capturing the first NHL title, Toronto played host to Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Final which meant that eastern rules would be used in games one, three and five. Because neither club seemed comfortable playing an unfamiliar style, Toronto won the series with the advantage of playing the final game under eastern rules. Alf Skinner led the Arenas with eight goals in five games, while Cyclone Taylor paced Vancouver with nine.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Ken Randall
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Corb Denneny (10:30, 3rd Period, Game 5)
Head Coach: Dick Carroll
General Manager: Charles Querrie

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Corb Denneny C, Reg Noble C, Alf Skinner RW, Harry Cameron D, Hap Holmes G

ROAD TO THE CUP

NHL Final: Montreal Canadiens (10-7; Total-Goals Series)
Stanley Cup Final: Vancouver Millionaires of PCHA (3-2)

1920 Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators dominated the 1919-20 regular season, winning 19 of their 24 contests, and advanced directly to the Stanley Cup Final against a challenger from the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. When the Seattle Metropolitans arrived in Ottawa, it became apparent that their red, white and green barber pole uniforms were all too similar to the Senators' red, white and black pattern. Ottawa agreed to play in white jerseys. Poor ice conditions marred the first three games, and the series was subsequently shifted to the artificial ice surface at Toronto's Mutual Street Arena. Jack Darragh, who had tallied the winning marker in game one, lifted Ottawa to the championship with a hat trick in the decisive game. Pete Green became the second rookie coach in the NHL to win the Cup, joining Dick Carroll of the 1918 Toronto Arenas.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Eddie Gerard
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Jack Darragh (5:00, 3rd Period, Game 5)
Head Coach: Pete Green
General Manager: Tommy Gorman

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Jack Darragh RW, Cy Denneny LW, Frank Nighbor C, Sprague Cleghorn D, Clint Benedict G

ROAD TO THE CUP

Stanley Cup Final: Seattle Metropolitans of PCHA (3-2)

1921 Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators, who captured the NHL title by defeating Toronto 7-0 in a two-goal, total-goal series, traveled west to face the champion of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Vancouver Millionaires, in the Stanley Cup Final. Each game in the best-of-five series would be played in Vancouver. After the teams split the first four games Jack Darragh was the hero for the second straight year, scoring both Ottawa goals in the finale as the Senators became the first NHL club to capture back-to-back Stanley Cup titles and the first team since the Quebec Bulldogs of 1912 and 1913 to repeat as champions.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Eddie Gerard
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Jack Darragh (9:40, 2nd Period, Game 5)
Head Coach: Pete Green
General Manager: Tommy Gorman

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Jack Darragh RW, Cy Denneny LW, Frank Nighbor C, Georges Boucher D, Clint Benedict G

ROAD TO THE CUP

NHL Final: Toronto St. Patricks (7-0; Total-Goals Series)
Stanley Cup Final: Vancouver Millionaires of PCHA (3-2)

1922 Toronto St. Patricks

With the inception of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) in 1921-22, a new playoff structure was designed to match the champions of the two western leagues against each other with the winner to meet the NHL champions for the Stanley Cup. After defeating the WCHL's Regina Capitals in the preliminary series, the PCHA's Vancouver Millionaires set out for Toronto, where the NHL champion St. Patricks awaited their arrival. Cecil "Babe" Dye notched nine of his club's 16 goals, including two game-winners, and goaltender John Ross Roach, who recorded the first Stanley Cup shutout by an NHL rookie, posted a 1.80 goals-against average as Toronto won its second Stanley Cup championship.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Reg Noble
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Babe Dye (4:20, 1st Period, Game 5)
Head Coach: George O'Donoghue
General Manager: Charles Querrie

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Corb Denneny C, Babe Dye RW, Reg Noble C, Harry Cameron D, John Ross Roach G

ROAD TO THE CUP

NHL Final: Ottawa Senators (5-4; Total-Goals Series)
Stanley Cup Final: Vancouver Millionaires of PCHA (3-2)

1923 Ottawa Senators

After edging Montreal 3-2 in a two-game, total goal series for the NHL title, the Ottawa Senators travelled to Vancouver to join with the top teams in the PCHA and WCHL to determine a Stanley Cup winner. Ottawa defeated the Vancouver Maroons in the semifinal. Edmonton, the WCHL champion, then faced Ottawa in a best-of-three Cup Final. The Eskimos gave the weary Senators a difficult time, but Ottawa recorded a pair of one-goal victories. Cy Denneny and Punch Broadbent scored the game-winning goals. For the first time in Stanley Cup history, brothers opposed each other in the playoffs. In fact, two sets of brothers -- Cy and Corb Denneny, and Georges and Frank Boucher -- faced one and other in the semifinal. Cy and Georges skated with Ottawa, while Corb and Frank suited up for Vancouver. Each of the Boucher brothers scored twice in this series.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Eddie Gerard
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Punch Broadbent (11:23, 1st Period, Game 2)
Head Coach: Pete Green
General Manager: Tommy Gorman

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Punch Broadbent RW, Cy Denneny LW, Frank Nighbor C, Georges Boucher D, Clint Benedict G

ROAD TO THE CUP

NHL Final: Montreal Canadiens (3-2; Total-Goals Series)
Stanley Cup Semifinal: Vancouver Maroons of PCHA (3-1)
Stanley Cup Final: Edmonton Eskimos of WCHL (2-0)

1924 Montreal Canadiens

The PCHA champions (Vancouver Maroons) and the winners of the WCHL (Calgary Tigers) met in a postseason playoff, the winner of which advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. This best-of-three series was won by the Tigers two games to one, relegating the Maroons to a semi-final berth vs. the NHL champion (Montreal Canadiens). Billy Boucher scored three of the Canadiens' five goals in the semi-final series vs. the Maroons, including both game-winning tallies, to lift Montreal over Vancouver, which lost its chance at the Stanley Cup for the fourth straight year. Montreal then faced Calgary in the Stanley Cup Final. A 21-year-old rookie forward named Howie Morenz paced the Canadiens with a hat trick in game one and a goal in game two as Montreal rolled past Calgary to complete a sweep of both series. Morenz, Aurel Joliat and Sylvio Mantha all made their first appearances on a Stanley Cup winner.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Sprague Cleghorn
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Howie Morenz (4:55, 1st Period, Game 2)
Head Coach: Léo Dandurand
General Manager: Léo Dandurand

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Billy Boucher RW, Aurel Joliat LW, Howie Morenz C, Sprague Cleghorn D, Georges Vezina G

ROAD TO THE CUP

NHL Final: Ottawa Senators (5-2; Total-Goals Series)
Stanley Cup Semifinal: Vancouver Millionaires of PCHA (2-0)
Stanley Cup Final: Calgary Tigers of WCHL (2-0)

1926 Montreal Maroons

The Montreal Maroons became NHL champions in just their second season in the league and hosted the first Stanley Cup series to be played at the Montreal Forum. Playing in his first career Stanley Cup series, Nels Stewart scored six of Montreal's 10 goals, and goaltender Clint Benedict
recorded an unprecedented three shutouts en route to the Maroons' Stanley Cup triumph versus the Victoria Cougars. With the NHL taking full control of the Stanley Cup following the Western Hockey League's demise soon after this series, the 1926 championship marked the finale of one of the most dynamic eras in Stanley Cup history. Since 1893, Cup play had grown from an amateur challenge in eastern Canada to a professional competition involving teams from across the continent.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Dunc Munro
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Nels Stewart (2:50, 2nd Period, Game 4)
Head Coach: Eddie Gerard
General Manager: Eddie Gerard

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Punch Broadbent RW, Babe Siebert LW, Nels Stewart C, Dunc Munro D, Clint Benedict G

ROAD TO THE CUP

NHL Semifinal: Pittsburgh Pirates (6-4; Total-Goals Series)*
NHL Final: Ottawa Senators (2-1; Total-Goals Series)*
Stanley Cup Final:** Victoria Cougars of WHL (3-1)

1927 Ottawa Senators

With the collapse of major professional hockey in the west, NHL clubs exclusively began competing for the Stanley Cup in 1927. The Ottawa Senators, champion of the Canadian Division during the regular season, met the upstart Boston Bruins, the American Division champion, in the first all-NHL Stanley Cup Final. The Senators won the Stanley Cup, giving fans in the birthplace of the world's most famous trophy a fourth championship since the team joined the NHL and the 11th since Lord Stanley of Preston, Governor-General of Canada, commissioned the trophy in 1892. Cy Denneny led the Senators with four goals, including a pair of game-winners, over the four games of the best-of-5 series (2-0-2). Denneny was later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, as were six teammates: Jack Adams, George Boucher, King Clancy, Alec Connell, Frank Nighbor and Hooley Smith.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Georges Boucher
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Cy Denneny (7:30, 2nd Period, Game 4)
Head Coach: Dave Gill
General Manager: Dave Gill

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Cy Denneny LW, Frank Finnigan RW, Frank Nighbor C, King Clancy D, Alec Connell G

ROAD TO THE CUP

Quarterfinals: n/a
Semifinals: Montreal Canadiens (5-1; Total-Goals Series)
Stanley Cup Final: Boston Bruins (2-0-2)

1928 New York Rangers

In only their second NHL season, the New York Rangers captured their first Stanley Cup title and became only the second American team in history, joining the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, to win the trophy. As the Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Maroons, the circus moved into New York's Madison Square Garden and took priority over the hockey team. As a result, club management decided to play the entire series in Montreal. After losing goalie Lorne Chabot to an eye injury midway through game two, 44-year-old Rangers coach and early era star player Lester Patrick took over between the pipes, inspiring the New Yorkers to a 2-1 overtime victory. The following day the Rangers signed New York Americans goalie Joe Miller, who responded with two wins including the second shutout by an NHL rookie in Stanley Cup history.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Bill Cook
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Frank Boucher (3:35, 3rd Period, Game 5)
Head Coach: Lester Patrick
General Manager: Lester Patrick

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Frank Boucher C, Bill Cook RW, Bun Cook LW, Ching Johnson D, Joe Miller G

ROAD TO THE CUP

Quarterfinals: Pittsburgh Pirates (6-4; Total-Goals Series)
Semifinals: Boston Bruins (5-2; Total-Goals Series)
Stanley Cup Final: Montreal Maroons (3-2)

1929 Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins captured the first Stanley Cup in franchise history in just their fourth NHL season, defeating the New York Rangers in a historic series -- the first time that two U.S.-based teams had clashed for the Stanley Cup. There were several other notable firsts associated with the Bruins' Stanley Cup campaign, beginning with the team playing their inaugural season at Boston Garden, their venerable home for the next several decades. The Bruins finished with a winning record on the road for the first time in their history at 11-7-4, recorded a then-record 13-game unbeaten streak (11-0-2) and won the American Division crown heading into the postseason. The Bruins went on to sweep the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers en route to the title, with future Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Cecil "Tiny" Thompson allowing just three goals in five games.

KEY COMPONENTS

Captain: Lionel Hitchman
Stanley Cup-Winning Goal: Bill Carson (18:02, 3rd Period, Game 2)
Head Coach: Art Ross
General Manager: Art Ross

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Dit Clapper RW, Harry Oliver RW, Cooney Weiland C, Eddie Shore D, Tiny Thompson G

ROAD TO THE CUP

Quarterfinals: n/a
Semifinals: Montreal Canadiens (3-0)
Stanley Cup Final: New York Rangers (2-0)