This isn’t the first time the NHL has delayed or canceled a season.

The league has done it on five occasions, with most of them being man-made issues.

What makes this stoppage unique is it’s the first time in more than a century the league has halted games because of circumstances similar to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.

Here’s a brief look at the previous five stoppages the NHL has faced:

Year: 1919

Reason: Influenza pandemic

What happened: Following World War I, the Spanish Flu, as it became known colloquially, struck virtually every corner of the globe. The Pacific Northwest was hit particularly hard in late winter 1919 by the time the Stanley Cup Final was staged in Seattle.

During that era, the Stanley Cup was not the exclusive property of the NHL, which was founded in 1917. The NHL champion would face the champion of the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) for the Cup. A gentleman’s agreement called for the entire series to be played in the city of a league’s champion, alternating between the NHL and PCHA. As fate had it, the best-of-five series in 1919 would be hosted by the PCHA’s Seattle Metropolitans against the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.

Hockey was very different 101 years ago as the NHL played with six players on each side, and the PCHA used seven. The leagues agreed to alternate rules between games.

When the Metropolitans took a 2-1 lead after three games, the teams battled to a 0-0 tie that was halted after two overtimes (perpetual overtime we have come to embrace was not yet a concept). Contemporary accounts considered it to be one of the greatest games ever played.

That forced the powers-that-be to treat Game 5 as a replay of Game 4. Montreal won that contest 4-3 in overtime to even the series and drive it to a winner-take-all Game 6 on March 29.

Unfortunately, that game never was staged as a number of players came down with the flu, including several Canadiens who were hospitalized. The series was canceled a few hours before Game 6 on April 1.

Four days later, Canadiens defenseman Joe Hall, a future Hockey Hall of Famer, died from pneumonia that was brought on by the flu.

Today, the Stanley Cup, which has the names of previous champions engraved on it, acknowledges the 1919 final with a panel that simply reads:

1919

Montreal Canadiens

Seattle Metropolitans

Series Not Completed

Year: 1992

Reason: Players’ strike

What happened: The first and only players-initiated work stoppage in NHL history lasted 10 days in early spring. The previous collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHLPA expired before the start of the 1991-92 season. With the playoffs looming, players felt it was best to strike as owners typically made the bulk of their revenue from the postseason.

A new collective bargaining agreement was signed that gave players greater control over their likenesses for items such as trading cards and more rights as free agents.

The agreement was only two years, retroactive to the start of the 1991-92 season. The brevity of that agreement would lead to labor strife in the near future.

After the season was restarted, the Pittsburgh Penguins won their second Stanley Cup, completing a four-game sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final on June 1, marking the first time an NHL season concluded in June.

Today, the Stanley Cup Final, without any disruptions in the schedule, typically ends in mid-June.

Year: 1994

Reason: League lockout

What happened: With new commissioner Gary Bettman in place, the NHL wanted to institute a salary cap or even a luxury tax upon players’ salaries after operating without a collective bargaining agreement during the 1993-94 season.

Instead of waiting for players to strike, the owners opted for a lockout after players reported to training camp and participated in the preseason.

With the possibility of an entire season being canceled becoming all too realistic, the league blinked first as it agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that did not have any sort of containment on salaries aside from a cap on rookie salaries.

Owners also won some concessions in arbitration cases.

A shortened 48-game in-conference season began Jan. 20, 1995.

Year: 2004

Reason: League lockout

What happened: For the only time in the history of major North American professional sports, a league canceled an entire season in 2004-05.

Bettman and owners were determined to implement a salary cap. At the time, the league claimed it spent 76% of revenue on players’ salaries, a figure higher than the continent’s other major professional sports leagues.

The NHLPA rejected all six salary-cap models initially proposed by the NHL. Proposals by the NHLPA that called for revenue sharing and a luxury tax on the highest payrolls were rejected by the NHL.

Players eventually accepted a salary cap, but an impasse persisted over the cap being linked to league revenues.

After a deadline for an agreement expired, Bettman formally canceled the season Feb. 16, 2005.

The league and players would not resume negotiations until June 2005 and agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement, complete with a salary cap linked to league revenues, June 22.

The Stanley Cup acknowledges that lost season with a panel that reads:

2004–05

Season Not Played

The ramifications of those dark months are still felt today.

Without a season to base a draft order on, a weighted lottery was won by the Penguins and allowed them to draft Sidney Crosby.

While the league largely has enjoyed stability from the cost certainty it desired with a salary cap, the NHLPA went through several years of turmoil, going through several executive directors before hiring Donald Fehr, the man who formerly led the powerful Major League Baseball Players Association.

Year: 2012

Reason: League lockout

What happened: Following the expiration of the 2005 collective bargaining agreement that established the salary cap, the NHL opted to stage another lockout to limit the players’ share of revenue, introduce limits on the length of contracts and change free agency rules.

The split of revenue between the NHL and NHLPA was the base of the dispute. Players had received 57% of revenue in 2011-12. Owners wished to drop that figure to 46%.

Contractual limits also were a major issue, as previously there were few limits on the lengths of deals. The NHL wished to cap new contracts at four years.

After each side took the other to court throughout December, a resolution was reached in early January as the parties agreed to a 50% variance on revenue splits and a limit of eight years on contracts. An agreement was formalized by Jan. 12, 2013, and another 48-game in-conference season began Jan. 19.

This past summer, the NHL and NHLPA each had the option of reopening the agreement and causing it to expire by Sept. 15, 2020. Both sides declined to do so.

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