The National Hockey Association of Canada was a professional hockey league that was founded on December 2, 1909. The league was formed in response to the formation of a league called the Canadian Hockey Association [CHA], a league that was primarily formed to exclude the Montreal Wanderers from playing with the other teams that had made up the Eastern Canada Hockey Association in 1908-09. The founding franchises were the Montreal Wanderers, Renfrew Creamery Kings, Cobalt Silver Kings, and Haileybury Comets. A second team from Montreal was admitted to the league to spark interest among French-speaking fans: Les Canadiens.
The schedules for both the NHA and the CHA started on December 30, 1909. The competition between the leagues for fans was taking its toll on both leagues. With five teams in Montreal alone, there was simply not enough public support. Discussions ensued to merge the CHA and the NHA, however when the dust settled, on January 15 1910, the CHA had been dissolved... [Click for more] and two CHA teams, Ottawa and the Montreal Shamrocks, were admitted to the NHA. All games played prior to January 15 were removed from thestandings.
The NHA's second season saw the withdrawal of the Montreal Shamrocks and the Haileybury and Cobalt clubs and the addition of the Quebec Bulldogs. Renfrew dropped out the following year leaving just four teams competing in 1911-12. The NHA admitted two Toronto teams, the Torontos and the Toronto Tecumsehs, for the 1912-13 season, bringing the league up to six teams.
World War I had a significant impact on the NHA, as its players enlisted in the military. As a result of the shortage of players, the Toronto Shamrocks dropped from the league in 1915-16. A new Toronto-based team was formed for the 1916-17 season, made up of players who had enlisted in the armed forces. The team was named the 228th Battalion. This team was forced to withdraw from the league when it was sent overseas for active duty. To balance the schedule, the league ordered the second Torontoteam (the Torontos) dissolved and their players distributed among the other clubs.
This action set about a course of events that would lead to the formation of the National Hockey League. The owner of the Torontos, Eddie Livingstone, was displeased with his treatment and sued the NHA. The other NHA owners were fed up with Livingstone and wanted no part of him. In November 1917, the NHL was formed as the four former NHA members - the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs (who later withdrew and were replaced by the Toronto Arenas) - without Livingstone, voted to form the new league.
Source: Trail of the Stanley Cup by Charles Coleman
Copyright 1998-2023 hockeyDB.com. All rights reserved.