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Western Ontario Hockey League

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The Western Ontario Hockey League ( WOHL ) was a junior ice hockey league in Ontario , Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association from 1969 until 2007. In 2007, the league became a division of the newly formed Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League along with the Mid-Western Junior Hockey League and Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League .

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104-807: The Western had been a part of the Big '10' until 1956, when the Eastern and Western conference were split into separate leagues—the Eastern becoming the Central, the Western becoming the Western League. In 1968, the St. Thomas Barons, Sarnia Legionnaires, Guelph Imperials, Chatham Maroons and Brantford Foresters broke away from the Ontario Hockey Association to form a Junior "A" League known as

208-663: A banquet. After this, the players took the Cup and attempted to drop-kick it over the Rideau Canal . The stunt was unsuccessful, as the Cup landed on the frozen ice and had to be retrieved the next day. Considering the lopsided score of the series, historians such as Paul Kitchen question why Dawson City was even granted a chance at the Cup. Dawson City had won no championships and did not belong to any recognized senior league. While team official Weldy Young knew Stanley Cup trustee P. D. Ross personally through their joint connection with

312-850: A challenge between Ottawa and the CAHL champion, but the CAHL refused to consider it. The next season, Ottawa joined the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), winning the league championship. The club was only in the FAHL for one season, and the Montreal Wanderers became their new rival. For the 1906 season, Ottawa, the Wanderers and several of the CAHL teams, formed the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), unifying

416-464: A competing Ottawa Senators professional team in the Federal League, and Tommy Phillips, who joined Edmonton. The club picked up Bruce Stuart from the Wanderers, Fred Lake from Winnipeg and Dubby Kerr from Toronto. This lineup had a successful season, winning 10 out of 12 games. Walsh led all scorers with 38 goals in 12 games, while Stuart had 22 and Kerr had 20. The season was clinched with

520-492: A full-time athletic director , OHA secretary W. A. Hewitt felt that the OHA should allow the director's involvement with the hockey team despite him being a paid professional. Hewitt proposed an amendment to the constitution which would allow the executive to scrutinize any coach and decide on the registration. The amendment was rejected by delegates who remained against any professionals in the OHA. Two years later, Hewitt brought up

624-528: A full-time coach, doctor, nutritionist, and athletic trainers . Ladds felt that junior hockey in Ontario needed to be more attractive to players, who were departing the OHA for leagues elsewhere in Canada. The OHA was governed by elected presidents from 1890 to 1980. From 1980 onward, a board of directors was elected, with a full-time employee to execute duties as the president. List of elected presidents of

728-553: A game against the Wanderers on January 11, which Ottawa won 12–2. However, Ottawa started the season with two losses out of three games and ended in second place behind the Wanderers again. Walsh tied for the scoring lead with 28 goals in 9 games (including seven in one match), while Phillips was close behind at 26 goals in 10 games. In 1908–09, the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association became completely professional and changed its name to

832-493: A huge welcome at the train station, had a welcoming dinner, and used the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Association's rooms for the duration of their stay. Young did not arrive in time to play for Dawson. The first game was close at the halfway point, Ottawa leading Dawson three to one. In the second half, the play became violent. Norman Watt of Dawson tripped Ottawa's Art Moore , who retaliated with

936-600: A linesman and cut his eyelid. Brantford's suspension was related to a violent playoff brawl against the St. Catharines Falcons . In 1987, the Port Elgin Bears withdrew from a Western Ontario Junior C Hockey League playoffs series due to perceived on-ice violence by the Hanover Barons . The OHA investigated the incident, which received national publicity when Port Elgin's coach was supported by Otto Jelinek ,

1040-664: A meeting in November 1890 to discuss the idea. On November 27, 1890, at the Queen's Hotel in Toronto, delegates from hockey clubs around Ontario formed the Ontario Hockey Association. The first executive was: In the beginning, the OHA had one league of senior men's hockey teams. This group included teams from Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, and London. In the first years, the schedule consisted of this group playing

1144-920: A new realignment. From 1999 until 2001, the league changed its name to the Greater Ontario Hockey League in an attempt to drop the "Junior B" designation [1] . The league has since referred to itself as the Western Ontario Hockey League. In 2007, the WOHL merged with the Mid-Western Junior Hockey League and the Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League to become the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League . These are

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1248-651: A permanent schism between Ottawa area teams competing in the Ottawa City Hockey League (OCHL) and the Ontario Hockey Association. Ottawa and area teams remain unaffiliated with the OHA; the official association under Hockey Canada is Hockey Eastern Ontario . It was at a dinner to honour the 1892 OHA champions at the Russell Hotel that the Governor General, Lord Stanley , announced his new Dominion Challenge Trophy, now known as

1352-535: A re-organization of Ontario's Jr. B hockey teams occurred prior to the 1978/79 with the folding of the short lived Southwestern Junior B Hockey League and the Mid-Ontario Junior B Hockey League . The realignment meant that the OHA had consolidated the Southern Ontario region from 7 to 5 Junior "B" leagues. Although this marks the birth of the modern Western Ontario Jr. B league, the teams in

1456-779: A series of elimination playoffs leading to a single-game final playoff. For the first three years the Ottawa Hockey Club was the champions, winners of the Cosby Cup . In 1894, the Ottawa team and the Association came to a disagreement over the venue of the finals, and Ottawa left the league. This was a schism that would lead to the forming of the Ottawa District Hockey Association, governing most of eastern Ontario ice hockey play. In 1892,

1560-461: A stick to the mouth of Watt. Watt promptly knocked Moore out, hitting him on the head with his stick. The game ended 9–2 for Ottawa. The game left a poor taste in the mouth for the Yukoners, who complained that several goals were offside . After the game, Watt was quoted as saying "[Frank] McGee doesn't look like too much", as he had only scored once in the first game. McGee scored four goals in

1664-563: A total of $ 6,000. The team was forced out of Tilbury by the end of the 1993–94 season, relocating to Walpole Island and folding in 1999. The team was a part of an investigation and subject matter of an episode of The Fifth Estate . In 1997, parents of players on the Kingsville Comets spoke out against hazing and campaigned for its end. The OHA stated it must educate its teams and players annually on acceptable practices to prevent incidents and change future behaviour. Each team

1768-477: A win against the Wanderers on March 3 in Ottawa, 8–3, as Ottawa won the league and Stanley Cup. Notable players of this time period include future Hall of Famers Percy LeSueur in goal, Dubby Kerr, Tommy Phillips, Harvey Pulford, Alf Smith, Bruce Stuart, Fred 'Cyclone' Taylor and Marty Walsh. The 1909–10 hockey season saw major changes in the hockey world, as the ECHA organization split and created two organizations,

1872-607: Is now known as the Ontario Hockey League . Although it is not a charter member of the OHA, the OHL is affiliated with the OHA and Ontario Hockey Federation . The OHA was founded in 1890 to govern amateur ice hockey play in Ontario. This was the idea of Arthur Stanley, son of Lord Stanley , then Governor General of Canada . Arthur played for the Ottawa ' Rideau Hall Rebels ' and in the course of exhibition play against other teams in Ontario, convinced team officials to hold

1976-545: Is recorded as the scorer of the club's first-ever goal, at the 1884 Carnival. Frank Jenkins was the first captain of the team; he later became the president of the hockey club in 1891 and of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHA or AHAC) in 1892. For the 1885 season, the club adopted gold and blue as its colours and returned to the Montreal tournament. Ottawa earned its first-ever victory at

2080-811: The Allan Cup . During the summer in 1989, the Metro Toronto Hockey League (MTHL) and the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA), broke away from the OHA and formed the Central Canada Hockey Association, due to disagreement with an OHA restructuring proposal which would have limited their voting powers. The dispute ended when the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF) was established, with equal representation for

2184-640: The Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL), shutting out the Capitals. The club won the CAHL 1901 season title, its first league championship since winning the OHA in 1893. It wished to challenge the Stanley Cup champion Winnipeg Victorias at first but chose not to after deliberating for a week after the season, although it also had the option to challenge in the 1902 season. According to hockey historian Charles L. Coleman, it

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2288-649: The Court of Appeal for Ontario overturned the decision which was then upheled by the Supreme Court of Canada . The OHA's position had been that girls could not play on a boys' team when equal opportunity existed to play on a girls' team in her geographic area. The OHA Senior A Hockey League ceased operations after the 1986–87 season, when it was reduced to three teams and the OHA was unable to find new teams. The league had become cost-prohibitive, and needed to cut costs and restructure senior ice hockey to compete for

2392-530: The Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League or Western Ontario Athletic Association (at the Senior level), which are run outside of Hockey Canada's jurisdiction and are not affiliated. Hockey Eastern Ontario represents the part of Ontario East of and including Lanark County , Renfrew County , and Leeds County , but not including the town of Gananoque . Hockey Northwestern Ontario has control of

2496-732: The Northern Ontario Hockey Association . Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the OHF include the Hockey Eastern Ontario and Hockey Northwestern Ontario . The OHA controls three tiers of junior hockey; the "Tier 2 Junior "A", Junior "B" , Junior "C", and one senior hockey league, Allan Cup Hockey . In 1980, the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League vacated what was known as Tier I Junior "A" hockey. The league

2600-524: The Stanley Cup , for the Canadian champions. Former player and president of the club, P. D. Ross, was selected by Stanley to be a trustee of the Cup. Ottawa HC did not win a game in its return to AHAC challenge play in 1890–91 , but in the next season of AHAC play in 1891–92 the club won the league championship, and held it for most of the season, from January 10 until March 7, 1892. The club took

2704-792: The Western Ontario Junior A Hockey League . A year later, the OHA pulled together a bunch of local teams (the Waterloo Siskins, Stratford Warriors, Sarnia Bees, St.Marys Lincolns and the London Squires) as well as the return of the Strathroy Rockets (who had joined the Central Junior B league for a season) and formed a new Western Ontario Junior "B" Hockey League. According to the WOJHL history,

2808-514: The Yukon Territory in 1905. Organized by Joe Boyle, a Toronto-born prospector, who had struck it rich in the Yukon gold rush of 1898, The Dawson City Nuggets had Lorne Hanna, who had played for Brandon against Ottawa in a 1904 challenge and two former elite hockey players: Weldy Young, who had played for Ottawa in the 1890s, and D. R. McLennan, who had played for Queen's College against

2912-419: The "Marlboroughs got off very easily. When Winnipeg Rowing Club played here, most of their players were carried off on stretchers." The Silver Seven participated in perhaps the most famous (described as "the most storied of all Stanley Cup challenges", "a fantastic legend in Cup history", and "one of the most memorable feats in Canadian sporting history" ) Stanley Cup challenge of all, that of Dawson City of

3016-572: The "Royal Rink" starting on March 5, 1883, as recorded in the Ottawa Daily Citizen : " The Ottawa Hockey Club had its first contest on the ice at the Royal Rink last night. There was good play made on both sides. " The club first participated competitively at the 1884 Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournament (considered the Canadian championship at the time) wearing red and black uniforms. Future Ottawa mayor Nelson Porter

3120-594: The 'away' team, Ottawa was given a bye to the final game. On March 23, 1894, at the Victoria Rink , Ottawa and Montreal HC played for the championship. Ottawa scored the first goal, but Montreal would score the next three to win the game 3–1. Ottawa captain Weldy Young fainted from exhaustion at the end of the game. For the period of 1894 to 1900, the club did not win the league championship, finishing as high as second several times, and fifth (last) once. For

3224-455: The 1896–97 season, the Ottawa club unveiled the first use of the 'barber-pole' style sweaters of horizontal bars of black, red and white. This basic style would be used by the club until 1954 except for the 1900 and 1901 seasons, when the team used a plain sweater with only the letter 'O' on the front. In 1898, the AHAC dissolved over the admission of the intermediate-level team Ottawa Capitals of

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3328-526: The 1904 season in a horseback riding accident. He was also the Ottawa Football Club's captain at the time. The funeral cortege was estimated at a half-mile in length, and it included Canadian prime minister Wilfrid Laurier . Until the 1906–07 season, the players were not paid to play hockey, as the team was abiding by the principles of amateur sports. Ottawa HC had an advantage in attracting top players to its squad. The players could work for

3432-456: The AHAC. Ottawa HC won the Ottawa and Ontario championships, and two games against AHAC opponents, but lost to the AHAC champion Montreal HC in its one challenge for the championship. The team was the OHA champion for that league's first three years. The first championship was played on March 7, 1891, at the Rideau rink and was won 5–0 by Ottawa over Toronto St. George's. The 1891 championship

3536-649: The Canadian Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport. Port Elgin team officials were given one-year suspensions when the OHA found no evidence to justify abandoning the series. When 13 people from the Tilbury Hawks were charged with sex-related crimes in 1994, the OHA sought to eliminate hazing from and suspended the team's officials for one year. Team trainer Paul Everaert and captain Ed Fiala pleaded guilty to their charges and were fined

3640-654: The Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) and the National Hockey Association (NHA). The CHA was formed to 'freeze out' the Wanderers, whose ownership change led the team to move to a smaller arena. At the same time, millionaire businessman J. Ambrose O'Brien, who wanted his Renfrew Creamery Kings to challenge for the Stanley Cup, saw his Renfrew application to join the CHA rejected. Together with the Wanderers, O'Brien instead decided to form

3744-578: The Capital Amateur Athletics Association active at the time. In the 1889–90 season , Ottawa HC played two competitive games but this was to increase greatly the next season. The 1890–91 season saw the club play 14 games, playing in three leagues. Ottawa HC was a founding member of two new leagues, the Ottawa City Hockey League (OCHL) and the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and also rejoined

3848-664: The Eastern Canada Hockey Association (ECHA). This led to the retirement of several stars, including Ottawa's Harvey Pulford and Montreal's Russell Bowie, who insisted on keeping their amateur status. The Montreal Victorias and Montreal HC founded the Interprovincial Amateur Hockey Union , leaving only Ottawa, Quebec, Montreal Wanderers and Montreal Shamrocks in the ECHA. It was another season of player turn-over for Ottawa. Besides Pulford, Ottawa lost Alf Smith, who formed

3952-671: The Montreal HC 'second' team. In November 1889, the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Club (OAAC) was opened at the corner of today's Elgin and Laurier Streets on the site of today's Lord Elgin Hotel . The Club building would also be the Hockey Club's headquarters. The OAAC was affiliated with the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Association (OAAA), and the Hockey Club through the affiliation also became OAAA members. When

4056-468: The Montreal Victorias in an 1895 challenge . The remaining players were selected from other Dawson City clubs. Dawson City's challenge was accepted in the summer of 1904 by the Stanley Cup trustees and scheduled to start on Friday, January 13, 1905. The date of the challenge meant that Young had to travel separately to Ottawa, as he had to work in a federal election that December and would meet

4160-661: The NHA, and founded the Montreal Canadiens . In 1917, the NHA suspended its operation and its teams formed the National Hockey League . Ottawa was one of the founders of the CHA and one of the teams that had rejected Renfrew. However, after a few poorly attended games showed that fans had no interest in the league, Ottawa and the Montreal Shamrocks abandoned the CHA to join the NHA. Ottawa,

4264-473: The NHL franchise relocated to St. Louis, Missouri , to become the St. Louis Eagles . The organization continued the Senators as an amateur, and later semi-professional, team in Quebec senior men's leagues until 1954. The " Senior Senators " would win two Allan Cup titles: in 1943, and 1949. When the current Ottawa Senators debuted in 1992, they adopted the original team's black, red and white color scheme and nickname. The Ottawa Hockey Club (Ottawa HC)

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4368-479: The OHA appointed Vern Stenlund as its first "master mentor coach", to improve the quality of coaching and the player experience in junior hockey. In 2007, the three Southwestern Ontario leagues opted to merge to form a 27-team superleague, the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League in hopes of eventually being promoted to Junior A and to attempt to prevent player poaching from the 37-team Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League . OHA president Brent Ladds led

4472-425: The OHA as Junior A Leagues. The three remaining leagues, the Mid-Western Junior Hockey League , Western Ontario Hockey League , and Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League , who had been more dominant than their Toronto-area sister leagues in the Sutherland Cup department, were left to their own devices. The Metro Junior A Hockey League (MetJHL) operated independent from the OHA as of the 1995–96 season, when it

4576-508: The OHA had transitioned into being "a more nimble and responsive organization" than when he began; and was proud of his work to advance player safety and reduce on-ice injuries, which included increased penalties for rough play and certification programs for coaches and referees. Empowered by Hockey Canada , the OHA governs all Ontario senior and junior hockey not administered by Hockey Northwestern Ontario , Hockey Eastern Ontario , or Northern Ontario Hockey Association . This does not include

4680-441: The OHA hired George Panter as an assistant secretary, then later made Panter its business manager to oversee day-to-day operations. Hewitt retained his office at Maple Leaf Gardens where he kept the OHA's records, despite that a new office was opened across the road. Bill Hanley became the business manager in 1951, and Hewitt's role gradually decreased. The OHA established a permanent referee-in-chief position in 1952, and lessened

4784-426: The OHA in July 1982. The OHA and OHL disagreed on financial terms of affiliation, then the OHL decided to handle its own administration. The OHA and the OHL later reached an interim affiliation agreement, which allowed the OHL to compete at the Memorial Cup . In 1993, the Metro Junior B Hockey League and Central Junior B Hockey League , the OHA's two Toronto -area Junior B leagues, were officially recognized by

4888-523: The OHA on April 28, 1980, after a restructuring from an elected president into an elected chairman and an appointed president. He was to focus on the increasing business demands on the OHA, fundraising and publicity, and be a technical co-ordinator. He became the first paid full-time president of the OHA. He retired as OHA president in June 2012. He stated that when he began working for the OHA, he dealt with "three or four bench-clearing brawls [each] weekend", but that culture had changed over time. He felt that

4992-462: The OHA played home games at the arena, except for the University of Toronto teams. The trophy emblematic of Canadian Intermediate Hockey supremacy was the Hardy Cup . Only three teams from Ontario ever won the Hardy Cup (that ran from 1968 to 1990), two from the OHA: Georgetown Raiders in 1982 and Dundas Real McCoys in 1986. The third Ontario team was the Embrun Panthers of the Ottawa District Hockey Association . The intermediate classification

5096-496: The OHA, Northern Ontario Hockey Association , MTHL, and OMHA. The OHF was given the mandate to oversee hockey in Ontario, and be a review panel for three years to propose further restructuring if necessary. The OHA established bursaries as of the 1995–96 season, to counter the loss of players to scholarships in the United States. The OHA awarded the bursaries to students chosen to attend the University of Windsor , University of Waterloo , and Wilfrid Laurier University . In 1986,

5200-421: The OHA: W. A. Hewitt was named secretary of the OHA on December 8, 1903, to succeed William Ashbury Buchanan . As the secretary, Hewitt was the de facto referee-in-chief of the OHA. He spoke annually at referee meetings to review interpretations of new and existing rules of play, and sought consistency and more strict enforcement of the rules when dealing with dissent and physical play. In January 1948,

5304-420: The Ontario Hockey Association, concerned with growing violence in hockey, suspended the Streetsville Derbys and the Brantford Classics from playing in the 1986–87 season. The suspension of the Derbys had to do with a stick-swinging incident in the final game of the league quarter-final against the Nobleton Devils . A Nobleton player was struck in the back of the head with a two-hand slash, which also struck

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5408-483: The Ottawa Rowing Club, and had not forgotten it. The Ottawas were the dominant team for three years: The end of the streak came in March 1906. Ottawa and the Montreal Wanderers tied for the ECAHA league lead in 1906, forcing a playoff series for the league championship and the Cup. Montreal won the first game in Montreal by a score of 9–1. In the return match, Ottawa replaced their goaltender Billy Hague and used goaltender Percy LeSueur , formerly of Smiths Falls. In

5512-414: The Ottawas. Alf Smith was also the coach. Other players of the 'Seven' included Angus "Bones" Allen , Dave Finnie , Arthur Fraser, Horace Gaul , Dave Gilmour , Suddy Gilmour , Jim McGee , Art Moore, Percy Sims, Hamby Shore , Charles Spittal , Fred White and Frank Wood. The club was able to continue the streak despite the death of one of its members. Jim McGee, Frank McGee's brother, died after

5616-429: The Toronto Globe : The style of hockey seems to be the only one known and people consider it quite proper and legitimate for a team to endeavor to incapacitate their opponents rather than to excel them in skill and speed ... slashing, tripping, the severest kind of cross-checking and a systematic method of hammering Marlboroughs on hand and wrists are the most effective points in Ottawa's style. According to one player,

5720-420: The Victorias' Russell Bowie , who scored seven goals in one game and six in another, and McGee, whose top performance saw him score five goals in a game. The two clubs faced off in a two-game total goals series to decide the league championship and Stanley Cup. The first game, played in Montreal on slushy ice that made it a desperate struggle to score, ended 1–1. The return match in Ottawa, witnessed by 3,000 fans,

5824-542: The Wanderers; they won the return match in Ottawa in March and went undefeated for the season, leaving Ottawa in second place. However, it may have affected the Wanderers in another way: they lost the Stanley Cup a week after the donnybrook in a Stanley Cup challenge series to the Kenora Thistles . The 1907–08 season was a season of change for Ottawa. Harry Smith and Hamby Shore left to join Winnipeg. Ottawa hired several free agents, including Marty Walsh , Tommy Phillips and Fred 'The Listowel Whirlwind' Taylor . Taylor

5928-416: The championship from Montreal HC, who were previously undefeated, and won five straight games before Montreal won the championship back by a 1–0 score in the last challenge of the season. Montreal's win in the final challenge was their only win of the season and their only one in four games against Ottawa. Lord Stanley, who often attended Ottawa HC games, felt the loss of the title after holding it all season

6032-420: The club began outside competition again in 1889–90, it was with new sweaters of white with black stripes and the OAAA red "triskelion" logo. It was during this period of affiliation with the OAAC, that the club would become known by the nickname "Generals", attributed to the club's insignia. The club is also referred to as the "Capitals" in literature, although there was a rival Ottawa Capitals club organized by

6136-429: The club in Ottawa. To get to Ottawa, several thousand miles away, the club had to get to Whitehorse by overland sleigh, catch a train from there to Skagway, Alaska , then catch a steamer to Vancouver , B.C. and a train from there to Ottawa. On December 18, 1904, several players set out by dog sled and the rest left the next day by bicycle for a 330-mile trek to Whitehorse. At first the team made good progress, but

6240-409: The club won the Stanley Cup 11 times, including challenges during two years it did not win the Cup for the season. In 1950, Canadian sports editors selected the Ottawa HC/Senators as Canada's greatest team in the first half of the 20th century. The club was one of the first organized clubs in the early days of the sport of ice hockey, playing in the Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournaments in

6344-436: The club, it may have been the political connections that Joe Boyle had with the government Interior Minister of the time, Clifford Sifton , that got Dawson City the series. Future Ottawa Senators owner Frank Ahearn later stated that Weldy Young had asked Ahearn to ask the Ottawa players to "not rub it in" as Dawson City did not expect to win. Ahearn mentioned this to McGee, who had had a row with Boyle when both were members of

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6448-461: The defending Stanley Cup champion and Wanderers' rival, was readily accepted by the NHA. This enabled Ottawa to continue the rivalry with the Wanderers and take in the gate revenues those games provided. The Wanderers won the championship in 1910, and Ottawa won in 1911 and 1915. It is during the NHA period that the nickname "Ottawa Senators" came into common usage. Although there had been a competing Senators club in 1909, and there had been mention of

6552-440: The early 1880s and founding the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada and the Ontario Hockey Association . Along with the rise of professionalism in ice hockey in the first decade of the 1900s, the club changed to a professional team and were founding members of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and its successor, the National Hockey League. The club competed in the NHL until the 1933–34 season . Due to financial difficulties,

6656-466: The first half of the second match and 10 in the second half, leading Ottawa to a 23–2 score; his 14 goals remains a record for a single game of major senior hockey. Eight of those 14 goals were scored consecutively in a span of less than nine minutes. Despite this high score, the newspapers claimed that Albert Forrest, the Dawson City goalie, had played a "really fine game", otherwise the score "might have been doubled". Ottawa celebrated by hosting Dawson at

6760-467: The game had been called at midnight, with a tied score. The league demanded that the game be replayed. The club agreed to play only if the game mattered in the standings. The impasse led to Ottawa leaving the league. For the rest of that winter, the club played only in Cup challenge series. Quebec went on to win the championship of the league and demanded the Stanley Cup, but the Cup's trustees ruled that Ottawa still retained it. The trustees offered to arrange

6864-471: The gate receipts at the Arena Gardens. Hewitt argued that 35 per cent of a larger arena in an established part of the city would be more profitable than 50 per cent of a smaller arena under construction in a newer part of the city. Hewitt promised to negotiate a better deal, in exchange for the contract with Arena Gardens to be renewed on a year-by-year basis. The OHA signed multiple five-year contracts with Maple Leaf Gardens , in which all Toronto-based teams in

6968-419: The government, and the work allowed the players to play for the team. Meanwhile, in the United States, the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) was paying players. In response to this, the ECAHA, while still having several purely amateur teams, started to allow professional players. The top teams could, therefore, compete for the top players and the gate attractions that they were. The only restriction

7072-460: The greatest teams of the early days of the sport, the club won numerous championships, starting with the 1891 to 1893 Ontario championships. Ottawa HC played in the first season during which the Stanley Cup was challenged in 1893, and first won the Cup in 1903, holding the championship until 1906 (the Silver Seven years). The club repeated its success in the 1920s, winning the Stanley Cup in 1920, 1921, 1923 and 1927 (the Super Six years). In total,

7176-419: The intermediate level was introduced. This was to organize teams of a lower standard than the seniors. The first champions were Berlin, defeating the Frontenacs 3–0. From 1893 to 1908, teams from the OHA could and did challenge for the Stanley Cup , including: As senior-level play became professional, Stanley Cup challenges by the amateur clubs ceased, having been banned from play against professionals. After

7280-512: The introduction of the Allan Cup in 1908, clubs from the OHA would compete for that instead. The Ontario Professional Hockey League started to play in 1908 for senior-level men's pro hockey teams in Ontario. Champions of the OPHL would continue to challenge for the Stanley Cup. The senior-level men's league of the OHA is today composed of the six teams of Allan Cup Hockey . In 1924, the OHA voted to keep its ban on professional coaches in amateur hockey. When Queen's University at Kingston hired

7384-426: The issue again and argued that, "the original intention of this rule was to control the [professional] coach, not exterminate him". His constitutional amendment was subsequently approved in the late-1920s. When the OHA contract with Arena Gardens was up for renewal in the late-1920s, some executives preferred the Ravina Gardens where teams could get 50 per cent of the gate receipts, compared to only 35 per cent of

7488-466: The junior-level was introduced for play at a lower level. It was not age-limited to young men under the age of 20 until 1896, when the OHA introduced the 'intermediate'-level play bracket. In 1919, the Memorial Cup was introduced, first called the 'OHA Memorial Cup', and was first won by University of Toronto Schools (UTS). It became the national championship trophy for junior-level play. In 1897,

7592-573: The league did not change. In 1989, the Metro league went renegade and eventually became a Tier II Junior "A" league. In 1993, the Central league was promoted to Tier II Junior "A" as well. Since then, the OHA has operated with 3 Junior "B" leagues, but due to the talent level of these 3 league there has been a recent push to bring all three leagues to the Tier II Junior "A" level and allow for

7696-419: The name caught on right there." (At the time, hockey teams iced seven men—a goaltender, three forwards, two defencemen and a rover ). The Silver Seven moved between three leagues during this time, and for a time were independent of any league. In February 1904, during the CAHL season, Ottawa resigned from the league in a dispute over the replaying of a game. The team had arrived late for a game in Montreal and

7800-533: The one challenge it played in that first 1887 season to the Montreal Victorias. After that season, Ottawa HC became inactive. The Royal Rink, which had been their primary facility, had been converted to a roller skating rink, and ice rink facilities were at a shortage. This changed with the opening of the Rideau Skating Rink in February 1889. One of the principal organizers in the restarting of

7904-444: The one game margin in the standings that led to Lord Stanley awarding the initial Cup to Montreal HC. In 1893–1894 , Ottawa HC finished in a four-way tie for first in the AHAC standings. A playoff was arranged in Montreal for the championship between Ottawa, Montreal HC and Montreal Victorias (the other first place club, Quebec, having dropped out of the playoff). These games would be the first Stanley Cup playoff games ever played. As

8008-551: The return match in Ottawa, Ottawa overcame the eight-goal deficit, getting a 9–1 lead to tie the series by the midway point of the second half. Harry Smith then scored to put Ottawa ahead, only to have the goal ruled offside. It was then that Lester Patrick of the Wanderers took it upon himself, scoring two goals to win the series 12–10. This was Frank McGee's last game and he scored two goals. Besides McGee, future Hall of Fame players Billy Gilmour , Percy LeSueur, Harvey Pulford, Alf Smith, Bouse Hutton and Harry Westwick played for

8112-413: The rival Capital Amateur Association to the AHAC by a vote of the league executive. The Capitals had won the intermediate championship of the AHAC and were eligible to join the senior ranks. After they were outvoted by the intermediate-level teams of AHAC which wanted to promote the Capitals to the senior-level, the senior-level Ottawa, Montreal HC, Montreal Victorias and Quebec clubs left the AHAC and formed

8216-406: The season, partially paid for by Ottawa sportsmen. Ottawa moved into their new arena, simply dubbed The Arena , with seating for 4,500 and standing room for 2,500. With the free-agent signings and the new arena, Ottawa started selling season-tickets, the first of their kind, $ 3.75 for five games, eventually selling 2,400. The capacity was topped with a crowd of 7,100 in the home opener, attending

8320-549: The section of Northwestern Ontario west of the 85th meridian . Please note: the Ontario Hockey League is not a member of the Ontario Hockey Association, but does carry a working relationship with it. Active trophies Retired trophies Ottawa Senators (original) Split in 1934: Senior Senators (amateur/semi-pro): St. Louis Eagles (pro): The Ottawa Senators were an ice hockey team based in Ottawa , which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club

8424-442: The study "Tomorrow's Game" to help teams manage their finances and volunteers, which began in 2006 as a survey of teams and leagues to assess priorities and gather recommendations. The study also proposed restructuring junior hockey as of the 2010–11 season, which would have reclassified teams from A to D levels, into a premier league and two developmental leagues. Teams in the proposed premier league would have been required to employ

8528-409: The team was Ottawa Journal publisher P. D. Ross , who also played on the team. Returning as captain was Frank Jenkins, and the other players were Halder Kirby, Jack Kerr, Nelson Porter, Ross, George Young, Weldy Young , Thomas D. Green, William O'Dell, Tom Gallagher, Albert Low and Henry Ami. In 1889, the club played only one match against an outside club, an exhibition at the Rideau rink against

8632-610: The team. When the steamer reached Vancouver, the area was too fogged in to dock, and the steamer docked in Seattle . The team then caught a train to Vancouver. The team left Vancouver on January 6, 1905, arriving in Ottawa on January 11. Despite the difficult journey, the Ottawas refused to change the date of the first game, only two days away. Ottawa arranged hospitable accommodations for the Dawson City team. The Yukoners received

8736-407: The teams that were in the league during its final independent season (2006-07). Records taken from Official Website . Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association ( OHA ) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the province of Ontario . Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with

8840-617: The temple with his stick, laying him out like a corpse" and Harry Smith cracked his stick across Ernie Johnson's face, breaking Johnson's nose. Discipline was first attempted by the league at a meeting on January 18, in which the Victorias proposed suspending Spittal and Alf Smith for the season, but this was voted down and the president of the league resigned. The police arrested Spittal, Alf and Harry Smith on their next visit to Montreal, leading to $ 20 fines for Spittal and Alf Smith and an acquittal for Harry Smith. The tactics did not work on

8944-546: The top teams into one league. The Silver Seven were well known for the number of injuries that they inflicted on other teams. In a Stanley Cup challenge game in 1904, the Ottawas injured seven of the nine Winnipeg players, and the Winnipeg Free Press called it the "bloodiest game in Ottawa." The next team to challenge the Ottawas, the Toronto Marlboroughs , were treated similarly. According to

9048-632: The tournament over the Montreal Victorias , but lost its final match to the Montreal Hockey Club (Montreal HC) to place second in the tournament. The 1886 Montreal tournament was cancelled due to an outbreak of smallpox and the club would not play an outside match again until 1887. On December 8, 1886, the first championship league, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada was founded in Montreal. It

9152-549: The weather turned warm enough to thaw the roads, forcing the players to walk several hundred miles. The team spent the nights in police sheds along the road. At Whitehorse, the weather turned bad, causing the trains not to run for three days and the Nuggets to miss their steamer in Skagway. The next one could not dock for three days due to the ice buildup. The club found the sea journey treacherous, and it caused seasickness amongst

9256-471: The workload on Hewitt. Hewitt retired in May 1966, then the OHA transferred the secretary's duties to Hanley and renamed his position from business manager to secretary manager. Hanley served as secretary manager until he retired in 1973, when he was succeeded by David Branch who filled the role until 1977. Brent Ladds was appointed secretary-manager of the OHA on July 6, 1977. He was appointed president of

9360-538: Was abolished in 1983 by the OHA. The top league, Major Intermediate A Hockey League was divided between the OHA Senior A Hockey League and the various Senior B leagues. In September 1985, the Supreme Court of Ontario ruled against an appeal for a girl to play in the OHA, stating that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was not violated since the OHA was a private organization. In June 1986,

9464-517: Was an unsuitable way to determine the championship. In the letter announcing the Stanley Cup, Stanley suggested that the AHAC start a 'round-robin' type regular season format, which the AHAC implemented in the following season of 1892–93 . The key match-up in that season for Ottawa was a loss in the opening game of the season against the Montreal Victorias on January 7, 1893, as Ottawa split its season series with eventual winner Montreal HC, both teams otherwise winning all of their games. This loss provided

9568-419: Was composed of several clubs from Montreal plus a Quebec City club and the Ottawa club. Ottawa's Thomas D. Green was named the first president of the league. The league did not have a set schedule, and instead games were played in "challenge series", whereby a team held the championship and entertained challengers until the end of the season, a format the league employed until 1893. Under the format, Ottawa lost

9672-448: Was due to the "lateness of the season". The Ottawa Journal openly supported the idea, stating that the players were 'racked' and would be at a serious disadvantage to travel to Winnipeg. Notable players of this period included Albert Morel and Fred Chittick in goal, leaders of the league several times in goaltending, and future Hall of Famers Harvey Pulford , Alf Smith , Harry Westwick and brothers Bruce Stuart and Hod Stuart . It

9776-544: Was during this period that the nickname Senators was first used; however, from 1903 to 1906, the team is better known as the Silver Seven. The first "dynasty" of the Ottawa HC was from 1903 until 1906, when the team was known as the "Silver Seven". The era started with the arrival of Frank McGee for the 1903 season and ended with his retirement after the 1906 season. Having lost an eye in local amateur hockey, he

9880-458: Was founded by a small group of like-minded hockey enthusiasts. A month after witnessing games of hockey at the 1883 Montreal Winter Carnival , Halder Kirby , Jack Kerr and Frank Jenkins met and founded the club. Being the first organized ice hockey club in Ottawa, and also the first in Ontario , the club had no other clubs to play that season. The only activities that winter were practices at

9984-471: Was given a silver nugget by team executive Bob Shillington , an Ottawa druggist and mining investor. He gave them nuggets instead of money since the players were still technically amateurs and to give them money would have meant disqualification from the league. In a 1957 interview, Harry Westwick recalled that at the presentation "One of the players said 'We ought to call ourselves the Silver Seven.' and

10088-464: Was hired away from the IPHL for the 1907-08 season for a CA$ 1,000 (equivalent to $ 28,492 in 2023) salary and a guaranteed federal civil service job. He was an immediate sensation and earned the new nickname of 'Cyclone' for his fast skating and end-to-end rushes, the nickname attributed to the Canadian governor-general Earl Grey . Phillips was signed from Kenora to an even higher salary of $ 1,500 for

10192-409: Was on ice coated with an inch of water. The conditions did not hinder Ottawa, as they won 8–0, with McGee scoring three goals and the other five shared among the three Gilmour brothers, Dave (3), Suddy (1) and Bill (1), to win their first Cup. This started a period in which the team held the Stanley Cup and defeated all challengers until March 1906. For that Stanley Cup win, each of the team's players

10296-649: Was opposed to a ruling by the CAHA which gave jurisdiction over junior hockey in the province to the OHA. Several teams departed the MetJHL to join the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJHL) which was affiliated with the OHA. The MetJHL insisted on its own administration and was opposed to paying fees to the OHA. The MetJHL rejoined the OHA in 1997, then merged into the OPJHL in 1998. In 2001,

10400-599: Was persuaded, despite the threat of permanent blindness, to join the Senators. The youngest player on the team and standing 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall, he went on to score 135 goals in 45 games. In the 1905 challenge against the Dawson City Nuggets , he scored 14 goals in a 23–2 win. He retired in 1906 at the age of 23. In the 1903 CAHL season , Ottawa and the Montreal Victorias both finished in first place with 6–2 records. The top scorers were

10504-534: Was required to have a youth worker serving as a prevention services co-ordinator; and handbooks were given to players annually which covered hazing, alcohol, drug use, tobacco, and sexual harassment. The OHA then requested that the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) include the education in coaching certification programs, and for it to be available to all hockey administrators. The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) split from

10608-405: Was that the status of each and every player had to be publicized. The period saw the rivalry between the Senators and the Wanderers continue, and at times it was brutally contested. On January 12, 1907, a full-scale "donnybrook" took place between the two teams at a game in Montreal. Charles Spittal of Ottawa was described as "attempting to split Blachford's skull", Alf Smith hit Hod Stuart "across

10712-568: Was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League (NHL) and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934. The club, which was officially the Ottawa Hockey Club (Ottawa HC), was known by several nicknames, including the Generals in the 1890s, the Silver Seven from 1903 to 1907 and the Senators dating from 1908. Generally acknowledged by hockey historians as one of

10816-486: Was the only OHA final played in Ottawa, as Ottawa played the 1892 final in Toronto, defeating Osgoode Hall 4–2, and in 1893, the Toronto Granites defaulted by not appearing for the championship match scheduled for Ottawa. The club resigned from the OHA in February 1894 after the OHA refused the club's demand to have the 1894 final in Ottawa and ordered Ottawa HC to play the final in Toronto. The dispute caused

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