It was cold. Really cold. On December 19, 1917, the world didn’t stop for the birth of a multi-billion dollar sports empire. Most people were more worried about the Great War or the rising cost of coal. But in two drafty Canadian arenas, a few hundred—and in one case, a few thousand—fans saw something that changed sports forever.
The first nhl regular season game wasn't just one game. It was two. And honestly, for a long time, we didn't even know which one started first.
The Night Hockey Changed Forever
If you look at the record books, you’ll see the Montreal Wanderers beat the Toronto Arenas 10-9, and the Montreal Canadiens took down the Ottawa Senators 7-4. Both happened on that same Wednesday night. For nearly a century, historians argued about which puck dropped first. It felt like a toss-up.
Then, in 2017, a discovery changed the narrative. An old newspaper ad from Le Canada was unearthed. It clearly listed the Wanderers vs. Arenas game at Westmount Arena with an 8:15 p.m. start time. The game in Ottawa? That was scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
But it gets weirder. The Ottawa game was actually delayed because of a contract dispute. Two Senators players, Jack Darragh and Hamby Shore, literally refused to step on the ice until their pay was sorted out. So, the Montreal game definitely had a massive head start.
Dave Ritchie, a defenseman for the Wanderers, scored the first goal in NHL history just one minute into the game. If you're keeping score at home, that's roughly 25 minutes before Joe Malone scored the "first" goal for the Canadiens in the other game.
Why the NHL Even Exists (It’s Kinda Petty)
Most people assume the NHL was founded as this grand vision for the future of hockey. It wasn’t. It was basically a "No Eddie Livingstone Club."
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Livingstone owned the Toronto Blueshirts in the old National Hockey Association (NHA). The other owners hated him. They couldn't legally kick him out of the league, so they did the next best thing: they all quit the NHA and formed a brand-new league called the National Hockey League. They just didn't invite Eddie.
The "Toronto" team that played that first night wasn't even technically the Maple Leafs yet. They were the Arenas, a group of players managed by the arena company because the league was still entangled in lawsuits with Livingstone. It was a legal mess.
What the Game Looked Like
Forget what you know about modern hockey. No red line. No blue lines. In 1917, forward passing was actually illegal. You had to lug the puck up the ice like a rugby player.
Goalies couldn't even drop to their knees. If Georges Vezina or Clint Benedict went down to make a save, they’d get a penalty. The rule allowing goalies to leave their feet didn't come until a few weeks later in January 1918.
The scoreboards were wild too. That Wanderers-Arenas game ended 10-9. Defense was basically a suggestion. Harry Hyland scored five goals for the Wanderers that night, while Joe Malone (who eventually scored 44 goals in just 20 games that season) potted five for the Canadiens.
- Attendance: 700 people in Montreal.
- Ticket Prices: Between $0.50 and $1.55.
- The Stars: Joe Malone, Newsy Lalonde, and Cy Denneny.
The First NHL Regular Season Game That Almost Ended the League
The Wanderers won that first game, but it was their only win. On January 2, 1918, their home—the Westmount Arena—burned to the ground. The fire was devastating.
The Canadiens, who shared the rink, moved to the tiny Jubilee Rink. The Wanderers? They just folded. They didn't have the money or the roster to keep going. Just like that, the NHL was down to three teams in its very first month of existence.
It’s a miracle the league survived at all. Most startups would have packed it in after their headquarters turned to ash. But the remaining owners pushed through, and the Toronto Arenas eventually won the first NHL championship and the Stanley Cup.
Facts Most Fans Miss
- The "Original Six" is a Myth: People think the league started with six teams. It started with four, and one didn't even finish the first month.
- Art Ross was there: The guy the scoring trophy is named after played for the Wanderers and scored his only NHL goal in that first game.
- The "Vezina" was a person: Georges Vezina played all 60 minutes for the Canadiens that night. He didn't have a backup.
Actionable Insights for Hockey Historians
If you want to truly understand the roots of the game, stop looking at the stats and start looking at the context. The NHL wasn't born out of a desire for growth; it was born out of a boardroom grudge.
- Research the NHA-NHL transition: To understand why the league operates the way it does, look into the 1917 meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal.
- Verify local archives: If you're looking for more "firsts," check digital archives of the Montreal Gazette or the Ottawa Citizen from December 1917.
- Visit the sites: While Westmount Arena is gone, you can still visit the locations where these original rinks stood to get a sense of the scale of early 20th-century hockey.
The first season was a chaotic, fire-prone, legal nightmare that somehow laid the foundation for the sport we watch today. Understanding that the first nhl regular season game was a product of luck and spite makes the league's longevity even more impressive.
Next time you're watching a game, remember that the goalies used to get penalized for sitting down and the "Toronto" team was a legal loophole. Hockey history is messy, and that's why it's great.