Seattle Metropolitans

Seattle Metropolitans
City	Seattle, Washington
League	PCHA
Founded	1915[1]
Folded	1924[1]
Home arena	Seattle Ice Arena[1]
Colors	Green, red, white
Head coach	Pete Muldoon
Championships
Regular season titles	1917, 1918, 1920, 1922, 1924
Stanley Cups	1917

The Seattle Metropolitans were a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle, Washington, which played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924. During their nine seasons, the Metropolitans were the PCHA's most successful franchise, as they went 112–96–2 in their nine years as a franchise (outpacing the next best team in the Vancouver Millionaires, who went 109–97–2 during that same period). The Metropolitans also won the most regular season PCHA championships, winning five times (while Vancouver won four), with Seattle finishing second on three other occasions.^[2] The Metropolitans played their home games at the 2,500 seat Seattle Ice Arena located downtown at 5th and University.

The Metropolitans made seven postseason appearances in their nine seasons, playing for the Stanley Cup three times between 1917 and 1920. The Metropolitans won the Stanley Cup in 1917, tied for the Cup in 1919 and lost in five games in 1920. The inspiring story of the Metropolitans' 1917 championship, making Seattle the first American team to win the Cup, was chronicled in the 2019 book, When It Mattered Most. Seattle's Stanley Cup championship occurred 11 years before the New York Rangers became the National Hockey League's first American franchise to win the Cup in 1928.^[3]

The Metropolitans folded in 1924 when a replacement for the Seattle Ice Arena could not be found. Seattle would not have another team competing for the Stanley Cup for almost 100 years until the NHL expansion Seattle Kraken, who began play in 2021.

History[]

The Metropolitans were formed in 1915 as an expansion team by Frank and Lester Patrick, the owners of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. The team's name was derived from the Metropolitan Building Company, the entity that built the Seattle Ice Arena on the University of Washington's Metropolitan Tract property.^[4]

A long simmering player war between the NHA and PCHA exploded once again in 1915 when the Patricks caught the Ottawa Senators trying to poach Vancouver's best player, Cyclone Taylor. In response, the Patricks raided the Toronto Blueshirts who were falling apart that offseason, signing Eddie Carpenter, Frank Foyston, Hap Holmes, Jack Walker and Cully Wilson for the Metropolitans.^[5] The Blueshirts had won the Stanley Cup in 1914 and this immediately provided Seattle with a competitive squad. To complete the roster, Pete Muldoon signed forward Bobby Rowe and offered a tryout to center Bernie Morris who had both been reserves the previous season in Victoria and cut by the team that summer. Muldoon immediately moved Rowe to defense where he thrived and Morris quickly made the team, scoring the game winning goal in the Metropolitans' first game and eventually became a 5-time PCHA All-Star. Roy Rickey was signed a few weeks into the inaugural season after he was released by Vancouver to complete the expansion roster^[6] and the final Metropolitans' stalwart Jim Riley was signed just prior to the 1916-17 season when he too was cut by Victoria.

In an era of one-year contracts and rampant player movement, the Metropolitans roster remained remarkably stable. With a typical roster of nine skaters, the Metropolitans had seven players spend seven or more seasons in Seattle. Foyston, Walker and Rowe played all nine campaigns while Morris, Holmes and Rickey spent eight years with the Metropolitans and Jim Riley seven, missing 1918 while serving overseas in World War I.

The team's official scorer was legendary Seattle journalist Royal Brougham who covered the Metropolitans, Sonics, Seahawks and Mariners during his 68-year career at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

First U.S. Stanley Cup[]

Seattle Metropolitans Stanley Cup winning team in 1917. Top row: Harry Holmes, Bobby Rowe, Eddie Carpenter, Jack Walker; Middle: Frank Foyston, Pete Muldoon, mgr.; Bottom: Bernie Morris, Cully Wilson, Roy Rickey, Jim Riley.

Seattle won the 1917 championship by defeating the National Hockey Association's Montreal Canadiens three games to one by a combined score of 23–11. The heavily favored Canadiens trounced the Metropolitans in Game One despite only arriving in Seattle that morning.^[7] The Metropolitans would storm back to win Games Two, Three, and Four, outscoring Montreal 19-3. Fourteen of Seattle's goals were scored by Bernie Morris (including six in game four alone).^[8] Games one and three were played under PCHA rules, i.e., seven players per side, forward passing in the neutral zone, and no substitution for penalized players. Games two and four were played under NHA rules, i.e., six players per side, no forward passing, substitutions allowed.^[8]

Later Years in PCHA[]

After winning the 1917 Stanley Cup the Metropolitans also played in the Stanley Cup finals in 1919 (which was cancelled due to the Spanish flu pandemic after five games, with the series tied 2-2-1) and 1920, when they lost to the Ottawa Senators.^[8]

The day the 1919 playoffs began, star center Bernie Morris was arrested and jailed at Fort Lewis for draft evasion, despite being a Canadian citizen. Without their best scorer, the Metropolitans still annihilated the Vancouver Millionaires in the PCHA championship series and jumped out to a 2-1 lead through Game three of the Stanley Cup Finals, outscoring Montreal 16-6 as Seattle's best player, Frank Foyston, scored eight goals. Game four of the 1919 Stanley Cup Final is regarded as perhaps the greatest game ever played, resulting in a scoreless tie after two overtime periods with players collapsing on the ice from exhaustion at the final whistle. The Metropolitans' Cully Wilson netted the lone puck on the night only to have it waved off by referee Mickey Ion who decided time had expired a split second before the goal. The Metropolitans jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third period of Game Five before exhaustion consumed the short-handed Metropolitans. Montreal scored three goals in the final period to tie the game and force a second consecutive overtime match. With Frank Foyston injured in the period and Jack Walker out with a broken skate, Cully Wilson collapsed on the ice as the Canadiens scored the game winner to send the series to an unprecedented sixth game. The next morning, the Spanish flu pandemic ravishing the globe struck the two teams, ultimately killing Montreal's Joe Hall and hospitalizing four other Canadiens. Without the ability to field a team, Montreal offered to forfeit the Cup though the offer was declined by Frank Patrick and Pete Muldoon who felt championships should be won on the ice.

During the 1920 Stanley Cup finals, the Ottawa Senators would don solid white Jerseys^[9] to avoid confusion with Seattle's barber pole style of green, red and white (Ottawa traditionally wore black red and white pole style jerseys).^[8] Game Four and Five of the series was subsequently relocated from Ottawa to Toronto's mutual artificial ice surface at Toronto's Mutual Street Arena due to poor ice conditions.^[9]

The PCHA consisted of four teams for the 1915–16 and 1916-17 seasons, while operating under only three teams from 1917-18 until its final season in 1923-1924. From 1922-23, games against the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) counted in the PCHA standings. This allowed Seattle to have a losing record yet still win the league regular season championship in 1924. After the season, the owners of the newly built Olympic Hotel told the University that they needed the Seattle Ice Arena as a parking garage. The UW bought out the final year on the team's lease, sending the franchise's leadership scrambling to secure funding to build a new arena. When it became apparent they would not succeed, the Metropolitans folded with the core of the team joining Victoria. Vancouver and Victoria joined the WCHL for the 1924-1925 season with the Portland franchise playing the final western season of 1925-26.

Tributes[]

Metropolitans inspired jerseys with the Seattle Jr. Totems

• On October 26, 2021 the Seattle Kraken raised the Metropolitans 1917 Stanley Cup Championship banner at Climate Pledge Arena before the team's second ever home game. The game was played against the Canadiens who the Metropolitans defeated to win the cup.^[10]
• On December 5, 2015, the Seattle Thunderbirds held a special "Seattle Metropolitans Night" to celebrate 100 years of Seattle hockey. During the game, the team wore replicas of the original Metropolitans jersey and temporarily changed the team name to the Seattle Metropolitans. The final score was a 3–2 Metropolitans win over the Tri-City Americans.
• Proclamation was signed to declare December 7th 2015, March 26th 2017, and December 23rd 2017 as Seattle Metropolitans day.
• The Seattle Jr. Totems of the Western States Hockey League named November 15–17, 2019, as "Seattle Hockey History Weekend" wearing Metropolitans' colored uniforms during games.
• The "S" logo of the National Hockey League's Seattle Kraken was made in homage to the Metropolitans logo.^[11]
• Plaque about Seattle Ice Arena and Seattle Metropolitans was installed at 1200 5th avenue Seattle, Washington to mark the spot where Seattle Metropolitans used to play.

Season-by-season record[]

1921 Seattle Metropolitans. Back row: Pete Muldoon, Bobby Rowe, Charles Tobin, Hugh "Muzz" Murray, Trainer Bill Anthony, Roy Rickey, Harry "Hap" Holmes. Front row: Jack Walker, Frank Foyston, Bernie Morris, Jim Riley.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Metropolitans Statistical Leaders[]

Hall of Famers[]

Five honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame are recognized as part of the Seattle Metropolitans team.^[12]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seattle Metropolitans.

• Seattle Metropolitans (1915-1924) - HistoryLink.org
• Page with Seattle Metropolitans history
• Seattle Metropolitans win the Stanley Cup on March 26, 1917
• Seattle Metropolitans tie the Montreal Canadiens in a plague-stricken Stanley Cup Final on March 29, 1919
• Muldoon, Pete (1887-1929)
• Morris, Bernie (1890-1963)