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 1, despite arriving in Seattle the same morning.^[7] The Metropolitans would storm back to win Games 2, 3, and 4, outscoring Montreal 19-3. Fourteen of Seattle's goals were scored by Bernie Morris (including six in Game 4 alone).^[8] Games 1 and 3 were played under PCHA rules, including seven players per side, forward passing in the neutral zone, and no substitution for penalized players. Games 2 and 4 were played under NHA rules, including six players per side, no forward passing, and substitutions allowed.^[8]

Later years

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 defeated 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 4 of the 1919 Stanley Cup Finals resulted in a scoreless tie after two overtime periods. The Metropolitans' Cully Wilson netted the lone puck on the night only to have it waved off by referee Mickey Ion, who ruled that time had expired before the goal scored. The Metropolitans jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third period of Game 5 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 struck the two teams, ultimately killing Montreal's Joe Hall and hospitalizing four other Canadiens. Unable to field a team, Montreal offered to forfeit the Cup. 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 wore solid white uniforms^[9] to avoid confusion with Seattle's barber pole style of green, red and white.^[8] Games 4 and 5 of the series were relocated from Ottawa to 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

Seattle's later hockey teams have paid tribute to the Metropolitans. The National Hockey League owns the rights to the Metropolitans' trademarks in Canada. Paul Kim, an entrepreneur in Lynnwood, Washington, acquired the trademarks in the U.S. in 2016, after the prior owner abandoned them.^[10] Kim had intended to license the trademarks to a future NHL franchise in Seattle.^[11]

Metropolitans Stanley Cup Banner raised in Climate Pledge Arena

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.

The Seattle Jr. Totems of the Western States Hockey League named November 15–17, 2019 as "Seattle Hockey History Weekend" and wore the Metropolitans' colors during games.

The "S" logo of the NHL's Seattle Kraken was designed as an homage to the Metropolitans.^[12] On October 26, 2021, the Kraken raised a 1917 Stanley Cup Championship banner at Climate Pledge Arena before the team's game against the Canadiens. It was Montreal's first non-exhibition game in Seattle since the 1919 Stanley Cup Finals, which were not completed due to the Spanish flu pandemic.^[13] The Kraken's uniforms for the 2024 NHL Winter Classic feature a "barber-pole" stripe pattern inspired by the Metropolitans' uniforms.^[14]