Library and Archives Canada
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Institutional links
ARCHIVED - Backcheck: Hockey for Kids
Archived Content
This archived Web page remains online for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. This page will not be altered or updated. Web pages that are archived on the Internet are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats of this page on the Contact Us page.
Great Hockey Stories
1919 - The Stanley Cup Cancelled Due to Flu Outbreak
The 1919 Stanley Cup final in Seattle, USA, was cancelled when many members of the Montreal Canadiens team came down with the Spanish flu. This flu killed more than 20 million people around the world and about 30,000 to 45,000 of them were Canadians. People fell sick whether they lived in crowded cities or on isolated farms. Montréal was one of the cities that was hit the hardest.
When the Montreal Canadiens players became ill, each team had won two games, with one game tied. The Canadiens' "Bad" Joe Hall, a professional hockey player for eleven years, was one of the ones to get sick. He died in a Seattle hospital on April 5th, four days after the series had been called off.
Never before, or since, have the Stanley Cup finals been cancelled.
WORLD'S HOCKEY SERIES CANCELLED. Seven of the Canadians and Owner George Kennedy Stricken With "Flu"
Visit the website ARCHIVED - Backcheck: a Hockey Retrospective
