from Kurt Streeter of the New York Times,

Nobody made much of it when Joe Hall skated off the ice.

On March 29, 1919, his Montreal Canadiens were on the verge of losing Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals to the Seattle Metropolitans. Hall, 37, was one of hockey’s original enforcers, known for applying his wooden stick like a cudgel and delivering knockout blows. The Canadiens, behind by 3-0 heading into the third period, needed his pounding determination.

But he went meekly to the bench and sat down.

The Seattle crowd roared for the Metropolitans. The Canadiens mounted a comeback and won, 4-3, in overtime. Hall was gone.

Reporters failed to draw a connection between his departure — and the gaunt pallor of players on both teams — and the Spanish flu, which had swept across the world the year before. By the time the 1919 Stanley Cup finals had gotten underway, la grippe had become an afterthought....

Then the celebration turned somber. Days after Montreal’s comeback, players on both sides grew sick. More than half of the Canadiens, and the owner of the team, were stricken by the flu. Hall was suffering worst of all.

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