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Wonderers One Season in NHL
The Wanderers would win only 15 of their next 44 games in two seasons, before the NHA was reorganized as the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Wanderers played only four games in the NHL’s inaugural season and lost all but one before their home rink, the Montreal Arena, burned down on January 2, 1918. At the time, they had lost star players Sprague Cleghorn and Odie Cleghorn and had appealed to the other teams for player help. Before the fire, they had successfully obtained goaltender Hap Holmes from Seattle of the PCHA and it seemed that they might turn around their misfortunes. After the fire, the Wanderers again appealed for reinforcements, but none were forthcoming.
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Wanderers Disband
Another offer came from the city of Hamilton; however, owner Sam Lichtenhein chose to fold citing he had already lost $30,000. Despite the suspicious nature of the fire there would be no official investigation for arson as the Wanderers only NHL season ended with a 1-5 record, as the Wanderers players would be distributed around. The team defaulted its next two games, against the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto, and then disbanded.
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later professional, men’s ice hockey team. The team played in briefly the National Hockey League (NHL).
Established
1918
City
Montreal
League History
1918 / National Hockey League
Team History
1918 / Montreal Wanderers
Nickname
Wanderers – The Wanderers nickname was the namesake of several earlier Montreal teams. Named Wanderers because they intended to wander throughout Canada to accept challenges.
Championship
Stanley Cup 0
Arena
1918 / Montreal Arena
Owner
1918 / P. J. Doran
Retired Number
*Blue is this team’s history