Seattle's Stanley Cup History
Seattle's sports history started with a Stanley CupI feel bad about going so long between blog posts. But then the Lightning made it to Round 2, so I don't feel that bad. You know what I mean? Still, here's something to hold you over for now.
Today, my wife and I had lunch at this Seattle sports pub we frequent called Sport. It's one of those places where they hang various sports memorabilia on the walls alongside dozens of TVs tuned exclusively to sporting events.
As you walk in, there's a timeline of Seattle sports history. I'd never noticed before that the first event is a Stanley Cup championship.
Even more surprising to me, the Seattle Metropolitans, a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924, were the first U.S. hockey team to win the Stanley Cup, which they did in 1917.
With that nugget, I learned that my vast hockey knowledge lacked a very cool little detail. My new city was the first in America to claim the Cup. And they did so against the legendary Montreal Canadiens, 3 games to 1.
Not only that, but the Metropolitans played for the Cup two more times in 1919 and 1920. (There was no Stanley Cup champion in 1919 due to the series cancellation by the flu epidemic.)
In case you can't read that placard behind the glass in the photo — sorry about the glare, we're having one of those unusual sunny days — here's what it says:
The Seattle Metropolitans, in only their second season, grabbed the most prized possession in professional hockey, the Stanley Cup. The Metropolitans were the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup and did so behind the efforts of star forward Bernie Morris who scored an unprecedented 6 goals in a 9-1 victory in the series clincher. The Metropolitans went on to play in two more Stanley Cup Finals before disbanding in 1924.
Despite all these championship appearances during their relatively short existence, Seattle was not the first American city represented in Stanley Cup play. If Wikipedia is to be trusted, the PCHA's Portland Rosebuds did that in 1916. They lost the series to the Canadiens, 3-2.
The Stanley Cup became an NHL-exclusive championship trophy in 1927. The first American NHL team to win it was the New York Rangers in 1928. The Boston Bruins played for it and lost in 1927.
I know none of this is related to uniforms or jerseys (except that there's a mock-up of the Metropolitans' sweater crest in the photo) but I thought it was a neat tidbit to share during the Stanley Cup Playoffs about my city's hockey history. Now if only we could get an NHL team here. (First need a new arena, though.)
One more thing. GO BOLTS!
Chris
Seattle Metropolitans jersey / M Jarred SheltonThanks to Icethetics reader and fellow Seattle resident M Jarred Shelton, I'm able to make this post even better! Jarred visited the Hockey Hall of Fame a couple of weeks ago and has shared some photos relevant to our city's hockey past.
First, here's an actual Metropolitans goalie sweater (right). The placard above it reads:
Goaltender Harry "Hap" Holmes jersey that he wore late in his career with the Seattle Metropolitans of the PCHA. Holmes was a PCHA 2nd Team All-Star seven times as a Metropolitan, winning the Stanley Cup in 1917.
A very cool, but very Christmas-y sweater. And by that I mean both green and red as well as gaudy.
In an email to me, Jarred wrote of the HHOF: "As a Seattle resident, there isn't much to hang our hockey hats on so it was certainly nice to see those two pieces while we were there."
The other piece he is referring to is what truly rounds out this blog post. It's a photo of how Seattle is forever represented with an engraving on the Stanley Cup. Well, I say "forever," but actually it's not even there now.
Seattle engraved on the Cup / M Jarred Shelton"Seattle is not on the actual Cup anymore but on one of the rings that used to be on it," Jarred said. "It had a separate area in the Stanley Cup hall at the HHOF."
The Cup's trustees regularly remove rings from the trophy in order to make room for future champions. Obviously, continuing to add rings indefinitely without removing any would eventually make it too big for one person to carry.
He also mentioned: "The picture of Seattle on the Cup ring is a little blurry because of the way they had the lights on it."
Still, this is how the Emerald City was engraved on hockey's most coveted trophy (left): "SEATTLE / World's Champions / Defeated Canadians / 1917"
Go Seattle hockey!
Reader Comments (23)
When I went to the HHOF a couple years ago, they had a Seattle sweater on display next to a Victoria Cougars. I pulled a snapshot of the jersey I saw from Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/squeakymarmot/4414320473/
The 1920 Stanley Cup Final did have a jersey oddity - The Metropolitans wore Red-White-Green barberpole sweaters, of course, and they looked almost identical to the Senators' sweaters. The Sens, not wanting a repeat of the infamous 1913 game against the Habs, agreed to wear plain white sweaters for the series!
Being from Seattle and being a hockey fan, I did know this. You can buy reproductions of the Metropolitans jerseys, which is pretty cool:
https://vintagehockeyclassics.com/Seattle_Metropolitans.html
Knew that about the Metros already, although when I first heard about it I was likewise surprised.
And the American Pacific NW has to be the largest untapped market left for the NHL. Long history of hockey in both Washington and Oregon and with rabid junior fanbases would make you think that either Portland or Oregon would've attracted an NHL team a long time ago. Sadly, both are probably unlikely. Seattle is lacking of a modern arena, and even another renovation of Key Arena would probably not cut it. And if an arena was built, it'll obviously be done in an attempt to lure back the NBA and revive the SuperSonics, and I have my doubts that Seattle's large enough to support teams in all four major sports as well as their popular MLS team. Portland has issues too, as while they have a modern arena available, they'd be competing for attention at the same time of the season as the Trail Blazers, and I'm likewise skeptical that Portland's big enough to simultaneously support an NHL and NBA team. With these in mind, I'm not expecting NHL executives to look at either city as an entirely attractive option.
Cool post thanks for sharing! I've never been to Seattle, but now I'm curious, do think they could ever host an NHL team again? They obviously need an arena because thats why the sonics left, but that aside is hockey popular enough in Seattle for an NHL franchise? If any Seattle resident could give an opinion thatd be great. They even could go back to the Mets nickname.
Dude you sound like your from Seattle, you've been there what a few months. We get it, you live in Seattle.
Hey Wes, did you know I live in Seattle now?
For more on the Metropolitans and their jerseys, check out these two entries on my jersey blog.
http://thirdstringgoalie.blogspot.com/2011/02/seattle-metropolitans-frank-foyston.html
http://thirdstringgoalie.blogspot.com/2011/03/1916-17-seattle-metropolitans-bernie.html
and more on the 1919 Stanley Cup Finals, which were never completed.
http://thirdstringgoalie.blogspot.com/2010/05/1910-11-quebec-bulldogs-joe-hall-jersey.html
Hey Chris Congrats on your move, I sure hope you stay a lightning fan. Just curious can I ask you what kind of work it is your doing out there?
Nice post. I knew about the history of the Metropolitans and even the 1919 cup final. What I didn't realize until I read about the '19 final was how few Americans played for the Seattle teams. I just assumed there would be quite a few Americans on the teams. The 1917 team had zero Yanks and the '19 team had one American from Sault Ste. Marie MI - which is further norther than most of the population of Canada and is surrounded on three sides by Canada.
Of course there were only 8 skaters (5 forwards and 3 D in '17, and 4 and 4 in '19 - sounds like a beer league team makeup!).
I guess it was the Metropolitans that helped develop the grassroots for players in the US.
got to go to the HHOF for the first time a few weeks ago...theres usually a replacement Cup there but the actual presentation Cup, which is only there about 10 days a year, was there and there was nobody in the room xept the guy that worked there and me my dad and my brother for about 20 minutes. great experience.
I'm pretty sure that the Seattle Metropolitans are forever represented on the cup. The HHOF removes are the bottom 5 rings, not the top ones.
As a resident of Vancouver, I'd love to see one of the struggling franchises moved to the Pac NW! Ideally, that relocation could bump Detroit to the East, and then the Canucks could enjoy a geographic rivalry.
1. Why do people like "Wesley" bother posting on this site?
2. Very interesting jersey design...thanks for the post!
Seattle looks awesome.
GO CAPS.
I like the name "Totems", which goes back to Seattle's old Western Hockey League days. They were big rivals of the Canucks back then and to have that rivalry carry over to the NHL would be huge. If Sounders soccer can thrive in the Emerald City, why not hockey?
Great post. I never knew that about Seattle. I would think that Seattle-ites would cling to the Canucks, considering their proximity to Washington State. Is that the case out there?
Oh, and - please - go Caps....
EL is right. Only the large 5 bottom rungs are replaced.
A Vancouver vs Seattle rivalry would be amazing. I'm not sure they should be called the Mets though, as the MLB's New York Mets also use that name. I'd think they'd want to establish a new identity: Seattle Emeralds?
Or maybe borrow from the Seattle Totems.
I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet... but the Seattle Metropolitans jersey was front and centre on the cover of The Hockey News' Greatest Hockey Jerseys of All Time special issue of 2009:
https://secure.thehockeynews.com/online-store/index.php?feature=THNS09JERSEY
A recommended read.
Thanks for that link, Mike. I'm ashamed to admit I don't have a copy of that. Too bad they're out of stock. Need to get my hands on one of those.
seattle would be an ideal city for any franchise relocation, plenty of vancouver-ites could pop across the border if they cant get a canucks ticket, local-ish rivalry with the canucks. mmmm, seattle "islanders" or seattle "thrashers" perhaps??
The original (top section of the) cup is actually in a vault at the HHOF along with removed rings. The top of the existing cup is actually a replica. Originally the NHA/NHL champion and the PCHL champions played for the cup until the PCHL folded.