The 1910 NHA season was the first season of the National Hockey Association men's professional ice hockey league. The season started on January 5, but was suspended immediately and the league then absorbed the Ottawa and Shamrocks teams of the Canadian Hockey Association and the season continued from January 15 to March 15. Seven teams played 12 games each. The Ottawa Hockey Club played two Stanley Cup challenges during the season, but lost the Cup to their rivals the Montreal Wanderers who won the league championship and played a Cup challenge afterwards.
League business
After the Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) turned down the Wanderers' application to join, Wanderers' manager Jimmy Gardner, along with Renfrew's Ambrose O'Brien worked to put together enough teams to form a league. Gardner approached the Ottawa Senators of the Federal League to have an Ottawa entry, but the players decided to fold the team, rather than compete with the Ottawa Hockey Club. Gardner also approached the Mutual Street Rink of Toronto to form a professional team, but was turned down as the rink was fully booked.
According to Leo Dandurand, he spoke with Ambrose O'Brien on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the NHA and the Canadiens and Mr. O'Brien said the league was founded on December 3, 1909, at a private meeting at St. Lawrence Hall Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was disclosed to the public the next day at the Windsor Hotel. At the December 3 meeting four franchises were approved:
Wanderers (represented by P. J. Doran, R. R. Boon, Jimmy Gardner) Renfrew (represented by Ambrose O'Brien, George E. Martel, Jim Barnett) Cobalt (Thomas C. Hare) Haileybury (Noah Timmins) Canadiens (fronted by Ambrose O'Brien)
Eddie McCafferty acted as secretary, and he also was representative of interests in Toronto. A franchise would be held for a future Toronto team. The NHA discussed organizing a team in Ottawa with the Ottawa Lacrosse Club and getting Montreal Le National to join the NHA. The Wanderers and Renfrew signed a pact not to merge with the CHA unless Cobalt and Haileybury were also admitted. The teams pledged a $1,000 bond to stay together.
Former Canadiens owner Léo Dandurand later wrote that a decisive follow-up meeting in the creation of the NHA took place on December 3, 1909 at St. Lawrence Hall Hotel on Saint-Jacques Street, where Jimmy Strachan urged J. Ambrose O’Brien to form an all-French-Canadian club in Montreal.
On December 4, the NHA held an organizing meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal. The CHA was meeting at the hotel also, and a message was sent to the Ottawa, Shamrocks and Le National teams to seek a merged seven-team league. This was turned down by the CHA, which would not accept Cobalt and Haileybury. The CHA proposed that Renfrew and Wanderers join the CHA, but the NHA teams turned that proposal down.
An executive was elected: President – M. Doheney, Renfrew Vice-President – Thomas C. Hare, Cobalt Sec.-Treasurer – E. John McCafferty Executive – J. Ambrose O'Brien, Slaght, Boon, Jack Laviolette and Thomas C. Hare
At the meeting, a franchise for 'Les Canadiens' was granted, to be organized by Jack Laviolette. Mr. Hare of Cobalt put up a security deposit for the franchise on the understanding that it would be transferred to Montreal French sportsmen as soon as possible.Coleman(1966), pg. 179
The NHA decided to run the league in a more business-like manner. The league decided to write a standard player's contract. McCafferty, who was also secretary of the Montreal Baseball Club, was to draw up the contract. The NHA also decided to have professional referees. Both of these were innovations in the world of ice hockey.
Regular season
The first Canadiens game ever took place on January 5 under a cloud. Didier Pitre had signed a contract with both the Canadiens and the Nationals. Pitre was risking a $2,000 fine and 60 days jail time. The Nationals had a legal injunction against Pitre playing for the Canadiens. This contributed to an over-capacity crowd at the Jubilee Rink of about 5,000. Pitre did play (he was guaranteed any fines by Canadiens' management) and court action commenced. Pitre was found not to have a binding contract with the Nationals by the courts. By this time, the CHA had folded, and no contract was enforceable. Pitre would have a long career with the Canadiens, playing into the 1920s.O'Brien(1971), pp. 4–9
On January 15, a meeting was held by the league executive and Ottawa and Montreal Shamrocks were admitted to the NHA. The games played before that date were thrown out, and games from that date forwards counted towards the final standings.Coleman(1966), pg. 182
On January 22, at a game between Renfrew and Shamrocks, Shamrock's Joe Hall was ejected for striking the judge-of-play Rod Kennedy. After regulation time, the game was tied. Referee Tom Hodge proposed that Hall return for the overtime, but Renfrew objected and did not play the overtime. Hall was later fined $100 for the incident and suspended until January 30. The game was ordered replayed but wasn't due to ice conditions and the game results were accepted as a tie.Coleman(1966), pp. 185–186
On Cyclone Taylor's first return to Ottawa as a member of the Renfrew team, he made his famous promise to score a goal backwards against Ottawa. This led to incredible interest, with over 7000 in attendance. A bet of $100 was placed at the King Edward Hotel against him scoring at all. The Senators would win 8–5 (3 goals in overtime) and more importantly keep Taylor off the scoresheet. Later in the season at the return match in Renfrew, Taylor made good on his boast with a goal scored backwards. This was the final game of the season, and the Senators had no chance at the league title, and don't appear to have put in an effort, losing 17–2.Coleman(1966), pg. 189
Final standing
Note GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against Team GP W L T GF GA Montreal Wanderers 12 11 1 0 91 41 Ottawa Hockey Club 12 9 3 0 89 66 Renfrew Creamery Kings 12 8 3 1 96 54 Cobalt Silver Kings 12 4 8 0 79 104 Haileybury Hockey Club 12 4 8 0 77 83 Montreal Shamrocks 12 3 8 1 52 95 Les Canadiens 12 2 10 0 59 100
Results
Month Day Visitor Score Home Score Jan. 5 Cobalt 6 † Canadiens 7 (OT 5'35") 8 Cobalt 6 Wanderers 10 † 12 Cobalt 11 Renfrew 9 † 15 Renfrew 2 Wanderers 7 15 Shamrocks 3 Ottawa HC 15 18 Cobalt 7 Haileybury HC 6 (OT 3') 19 Canadiens 4 Renfrew 9 22 Canadiens 4 Ottawa HC 6 22‡ Renfrew 1 Shamrocks 1 22 Wanderers 2 Haileybury HC 4 25 Wanderers 11 Cobalt 6 25 Haileybury HC 2 Shamrocks 3 (OT 30") 26 Ottawa HC 8 Canadiens 4 28 Shamrocks 2 Renfrew 10 29 Haileybury HC 4 Ottawa HC 11 Feb. 1 Haileybury HC 3 Wanderers 8 2 Canadiens 3 Shamrocks 8 4 Haileybury HC 3 Renfrew 6 5 Shamrocks 1 Wanderers 10 5 Ottawa HC 5 Cobalt 4 7 Haileybury HC 5 Canadiens 9 9 Wanderers 11 Shamrocks 6 9 Ottawa 8 Haileybury HC 4 12 Shamrocks 6 Haileybury HC 12 12 Renfrew 5 Ottawa HC 8 (OT 10') 12 Wanderers 9 Canadiens 4 15 Shamrocks 4 Cobalt 11 15 Renfrew 8 Canadiens 6 19 Ottawa HC 5 Wanderers 7 19 Renfrew 12 Cobalt 7 22 Renfrew 11 Haileybury HC 5 23 Ottawa HC 9 Shamrocks 6 24 Canadiens 7 Cobalt 11 25 Wanderers 5 Renfrew 0 26 Cobalt 5 Ottawa HC 11 26 Canadiens 3 Haileybury HC 15 Mar. 2 Cobalt 3 Wanderers 7 5 Wanderers 3 Ottawa HC 1 5 Cobalt 6 Canadiens 4 8 Cobalt 6 Shamrocks 8 8 Ottawa HC 2 Renfrew 17 9 Canadiens 6 Wanderers 11 11 Shamrocks 4 Canadiens 5 (OT 12') 11 Cobalt 4 Renfrew 15 15 Haileybury HC 14 Cobalt 9
† Games played before January 15, which were played before the CHA teams joined were not counted against the final standings.
‡ The January 22 game was abandoned due to an on-ice incident. It was ordered replayed on March 2 in Ottawa, but wasn't played due to soft ice in Ottawa.
Player statistics
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals scored, PIM = Penalties in minutes Name Club GP G PIM Montreal CanadiensRenfrew Hockey Club 11 38 56 Montreal Wanderers 12 32 51 Cobalt Silver KingsHaileybury Hockey Club 12 32 26 Renfrew 12 24 25 Montreal Wanderers 11 20 23 Cobalt Silver Kings 12 20 27 Haileybury HC 12 20 53 Ottawa HC 11 19 44 Cobalt Silver Kings 12 17 8 Ottawa HC 12 16 32
Goaltending averages
Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average Name Club GP GA SO GAABilly Nicholson Haileybury 1 3 3.0Riley Hern Wanderers 12 41 1 3.4Bert Lindsay Renfrew 12 54 4.5Jack Winchester Shamrocks 5 26 5.2Percy LeSueur Ottawa HC 12 66 1 5.5Paddy Moran Haileybury HC 11 80 7.3George Broughton Shamrocks 5 43 8.6Joe Cattarinich Canadiens 3 23 7.7Teddy Groulx Canadiens 9 77 8.6Chief Jones Cobalt 12 104 8.7Bill Baker Shamrocks 2 26 13.0
Stanley Cup challenges
During the season, Ottawa, as Cup champion, played a challenge against Edmonton Hockey Club in addition to their regular schedule. They had played a challenge during the CHA season against Galt.
Ottawa vs. Edmonton
Edmonton was champion of the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association.
Edmonton 4 Ottawa 8+ January 18, 1910 Jack Winchester G Percy LeSueur William Field P Fred Lake Hugh Ross CP Hamby Shore Fred Whitcroft 2 RO Bruce Stuart, Capt. 2 Harold Deeton 1 C Marty Walsh 1 Hay Millar 1 RW Gordon Roberts 4 Bert Boulton LW Bruce Ridpath 1 Referees – Bowie & Campbell
Edmonton 7 Ottawa 13+ January 20, 1910 Jack Winchester G Percy LeSueur William Field P Fred Lake Hugh Ross CP Hamby Shore 1 Fred Whitcroft 3 RO Bruce Stuart, Capt. 5 Harold Deeton 2 C Marty Walsh 1 Hay Millar RW Gordon Roberts 3 Bert Boulton 2 LW Bruce Ridpath 3 Referees – Bowie & Campbell
NHA league champions take over Stanley Cup
The Wanderers won the championship of the NHA and took possession of the Stanley Cup from Ottawa. They had a challenge from Berlin, champions of the Ontario Professional Hockey League and easily defeated them. For 1910, there would be two Stanley Cup holders, Ottawa which held and defended it until March, and Montreal for the rest of the year.
Wanderers vs. Berlin
Berlin 3 Wanderers 7+ March 12, 1910 Hugh Lehman, Capt. G William "Riley" Hern Albert Seibert 1 P Jack Marshall Harvey Corbeau 1 CP Ernie Johnson Edward "Toad" Edmunds RO Frank "Pud" Glass, Capt. Roy Anderson C Harry Hyland 3 Ezra Dumart RW Ernie Russell 4 Oren Frood 1 LW Jimmy Gardner Referees – Bowie & Kirby
NHA exhibitions at New York After the season, the NHA arranged an 'international championship' at New York City's St. Nicholas Rink. Like the previous spring, Ottawa and Wanderers played a two-game series in New York for a purse of . Wanderers won both games 4–3. Renfrew next travelled to New York and defeated the Wanderers in a single game for .
Date Winning Team Score Losing Team March 15, 1910 Montreal Wanderers 4–3 Ottawa HC March 16, 1910 Montreal Wanderers 4–3 Ottawa HC March 19, 1910 Renfrew 9–4 Montreal Wanderers
Source
Stanley Cup engraving The 1910 Stanley Cup was presented by the trophy's trustee William Foran. The Wanderers never did engrave their names on the Cup for their championship season.
The following Wanderers players and staff were members of the Stanley Cup winning team.
+ 1910 Montreal Wanderers Players Forwards Frank "Pud" Glass (rover-Captain) Jack Marshall (center) Bill Chipchase (left wing) Jimmy Gardner (left wing) Ernie Russell (right wing) Harry Hyland (left wing-center) Defencemen Cecil Blachford (point) Ernie "Moose" Johnson (cover-point) Goaltender William "Riley" Hern
non-players = Filbert Strachan (President) Dickie Boon (Manager) Robert "Bob" Stephanson (Vice President) Dr. Walter Dorion (Director) Paul Lefebvre (Trainer)
engraving-notes = Montreal Wanderers did not put their name on the Stanley Cup. When the trophy was redesigned in 1948, the words "1910 Montreal Wanderers" were put onto its then-new collar.
See also Canadian Hockey Association List of pre-NHL seasons 1909 in sports 1910 in sports List of Stanley Cup champions
References