An Explosive Beginning

    In the years before they moved into the Montreal Forum, the Montreal Canadiens played their games at the Mount Royal Arena. The arena was built as a replacement for the Jubilee Arena, which had the previous summer become the second Montreal arena to burn down in less then two years time.  On January 10, 1920 they played their first game at the newly built rink. They welcomed the Toronto Saint Patricks to the almost completed arena. The Canadiens made themselves at home in their new building. Edouard C. "Newsy" LaLonde of the Canadiens did better then just a simple first hat trick in the new building, he doubled it. LaLonde scored a record six goals in a 14-7 win over the Saint Patricks. The record set by LaLonde still stands to this very day. The Saint Patricks would not continue as doormats for the Canadiens, after a change of names to the Maple Leafs have very much held their own against the team frequently called the Habs.
  Tomorow we will look at a 318 point basketball game, that was decided by a mere 8 points.