The first five Stanley Cups were won by the following NHL teams:
1918 – Montreal Canadians
1919 – Montreal Canadians
1920 – Ottawa Senators
1921 – Ottawa Senators
1922 – Toronto Maple Leafs
The 1918 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the National Hockey League (NHL) champion Toronto and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) champion Vancouver Millionaires. The series was held entirely in Toronto, the Toronto team won the series by three games to two in the best-of-five game series to win the Stanley Cup. It was the first series contested by the new NHL and subsequently the first Stanley Cup win by the Toronto NHL franchise team.
The Montreal Canadiens were the most dominant team in the early NHL, winning two Stanley Cups in the first three years. The Ottawa Senators were also a very successful team in the early years, winning two Stanley Cups in three years. The Toronto Maple Leafs won their first Stanley Cup in 1922.
The other Original Six teams, the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and Chicago Black Hawks, did not win the Stanley Cup in the first five years of the NHL.
