1924/25 Victoria Cougars
With the legendary Lester Patrick as coach and general manager, and
players such as netminder Harry 'Happy' Holmes and forwards Frank
Foyston and Frank Fredrickson in the line-up, the Victoria Cougars
proved that you could beat them, and join them. The 1924/25 Cougars
earned the reputation of being the last team from outside of the
National Hockey League to have its name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
Two seasons later, the Cougars were in the NHL themselves, but far
away from Victoria.
The Cougars' road to the 1925 Stanley Cup took the team through
Saskatoon and Calgary, before a showdown with the Montreal Canadiens.
Victoria disposed of both the Saskatoon Sheiks and the Calgary Tigers
in two-game / total-goal series, to capture the Western Canada Hockey
League championship.
The WCHL championship earned the Cougars a shot at the National Hockey
League champion Montreal Canadiens, with the Stanley Cup on the line.
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The Cougars defeated the
Canadiens in a best-of five series, winning three-games-to-one and
outscoring their eastern opponents 16-8. Three of the four games were
held in Victoria, while the other was played in Vancouver.
The Victoria Cougars returned to the Stanley Cup finals the following
year, losing three-games-to-one to the Montreal Maroons. All four of
those games were played in Montreal.
The Cougars' loss to the Maroons also marked the last time that a team
from outside of the NHL would be allowed to contest for the Stanley
Cup. No longer would the champions of the east face off against the
winners in the west for Lord Stanley's cup. Since the 1926/27 season,
the playoffs in the National Hockey League have decided the Stanley
Cup Champions.
The Cougars bid farewell to Victoria in 1926, after the team was sold
and moved to Detroit. The club was known as the Cougars for four
years, before being renamed the Detroit Falcons. After two seasons as
the Falcons, the franchise became known as the Detroit Red Wings.
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