Hall’s Montreal Canadiens were in Seattle, Washington, competing against the Seattle Metropolitans for the Stanley Cup. After game five, the series was tied at two wins each and a tie. However, game six was never played and a winner was never decided. Several players were hit by the flu and ended up in a Seattle hospital.
One of the affected players was Joe Hall. Five days after that fifth game was played, Joe fell to the disease, dead at 37 years old. Over 40 years later, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted him posthumously, perhaps providing some closure for old ghosts.
Joe Hall – Playing Career
Born in Staffordshire, England, Joe played in the National Hockey Association from 1909-10 to 1916-17. He played two more years in the newly formed National League, 1917-18 and 1918-19. All but one of his years in the NHA were spent with the Quebec Bulldogs. His First year was as a member of the Montreal Shamrocks.
Hall’s two years in the NHL were with the Montreal Canadiens. Over those two seasons, Joe played 37 games on defence, scoring 15 and assisting on one for 16 points while sitting 145 minutes in the penalty box. He led the league in PIM in both those years.
However, by the time the Canadiens and Metropolitans met up in 1919 to compete for the Stanley Cup, Joe Hall was already a four time champion. There’s a bit of an asterix associated with his first two wins as they came just months apart.
In 1906-07, Joe played for the Brandon Elks of the Manitoba Hockey League. However, he joined the Kenora Thistles to compete for the Stanley Cup. At the time, it was a challenge cup and competed for much the same way that boxers compete for the championship belt. In January, 1907, Kenora challenged reigning champions, the Montreal Wanderers, and won.
In March, they were challenged by the Brandon Wheat Kings and successfully defended their title. However, later in March, the Wanderers came calling and won back the Stanley Cup. Therefore, Hall won two Stanley Cup championships within three months in 1907.
After joining the Quebec Bulldogs of the NHA, Joe helped the team to consecutive championships in 1911-12 and 1912-13. By this time, it was an annual competition between east coast and west coast teams.
With the formation of the NHL for the 1917-18 season, Hall joined the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal finished first among the four teams during the regular season. Much different than today, each team had a 22 game schedule. The Canadiens were led by Joe Malone, Newsy Lalonde, Bert Corbeau and Georges Vezina. Hall scored eight goals over 20 games as a defenceman. His 60 penalty minutes tied him for the league lead.
The following year, the NHL was reduced to just three teams with each playing 18 games. The Canadiens finished behind the Ottawa Senators and ahead of the Toronto Arenas. Hall once again led the NHL with 85 PIM.
Then came the ill-fated 1919 Stanley Cup finals. Montreal and Seattle had split things right down the middle with two wins each and a scoreless draw. Montreal was coached by Newsy Lalonde and Georges Vezina fiercely guarded the nets. However, as mentioned above, game six was never played and a winner was never determined.
The Spanish Influenza pandemic lasted from 1918 until late 1920. It is estimated that anywhere from 50 to 100 million were killed by the disease worldwide.
In 1961, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted 12 players. Also entering that year were Syl Apps, Charlie Conacher, Hap Day, George Hainsworth, Percy LeSueur, Frank Rankin, Maurice Richard, Milt Schmidt, Oliver Seibert and Bruce Stuart.
Joe Hall – Rookie Card
Only two different hockey cards were produced of Joe Hall during his playing days. The Joe Hall rookie card appears as number 2 in the 1911-12 Imperial Tobacco C55 set. The card is valued at around 2.5x that of a common card and shows him as a member of the Quebec Bulldogs. The second card came the year after as number 16 in the 1912-13 Imperial Tobacco C57 set.
Joe Hall Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1909-10 | Montreal Shamrocks | NHA | 10 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 47 |
| 1910-11 | Quebec Bulldogs | NHA | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 1911-12 | Quebec Bulldogs | NHA | 18 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 30 |
| 1912-13 | Quebec Bulldogs | NHA | 17 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 78 |
| 1913-14 | Quebec Bulldogs | NHA | 19 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 61 |
| 1914-15 | Quebec Bulldogs | NHA | 20 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 52 |
| 1915-16 | Quebec Bulldogs | NHA | 23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 89 |
| 1916-17 | Quebec Bulldogs | NHA | 19 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 95 |
| 1917-18 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 20 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 60 |
| 1918-19 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 17 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 85 |
| NHL Totals | 37 | 15 | 1 | 16 | 145 | ||
| NHA Totals | 136 | 54 | 23 | 77 | 472 |