1910–11 NHA season

League business

The annual meeting was held November 12, 1910, electing the following executive:

• Emmett Quinn (president and secretary)

Directors:

• Eddie McCafferty, Wanderers
• John Ambrose O'Brien, Renfrew
• W. P. Humphrey, Shamrocks
• George Kennedy, Canadiens
• Joe Power, Quebec

The Shamrocks resigned from the league and were not replaced. The Club Athletique-Canadien and the Quebec Hockey Club were granted franchises. Haileybury and Cobalt left the league. Club-Athletique-Canadien had made a claim on the Canadiens name and threatened a lawsuit if they were not granted a franchise. There are three written descriptions of this transaction. Coleman(1966) writes that George Kennedy, president of the CAC bought the Haileybury franchise. In Andy O'Brien's book, Ambrose O'Brien is quoted as saying that he sold the Canadiens to Kennedy. In Holzman's book, the franchise was given to Kennedy, but Kennedy had to pay O'Brien for the rights to Newsy Lalonde. In The Globe of March 7, 1911, it is claimed that Lalonde's sale was the first ever sale of a player.

The NHA decided to impose a $5,000 per team salary cap.

A second meeting, on November 26, 1910, updated the Board of Directors to:

• D'Arcy McGee, Ottawa
• James A. Barnett, Renfrew
• Adolphe Lecours, Canadiens
• Joe Power, Quebec
• Eddie McCafferty, Wanderers

The salary cap, while opposed by the players was upheld at the meeting.

Source: Coleman, p. 201–203.

Salary cap

The salary cap of $5,000 per club caused a situation where Bruce Stuart of Ottawa threatened a mass defection to a new league. However, the players found that the Arena Company, owners of the Montreal Arena would not rent to the players. There was no other suitable arena in Montreal available for a new league and the players had no choice but to abandon the effort. Some players took a large cut in salary: Marty Walsh, Fred Lake and Dubbie Kerr were paid $600 each where they had been paid $1,200 each in 1910. The dispute caused the cancellation of a pre-season exhibition series in New York for the Ottawas and Wanderers.

Rule changes

Games were changed from two periods of 30 minutes, to three periods of twenty minutes, with ten-minute rest periods. The Spalding hockey puck was adopted as the standard puck.

Regular season

Final standing

Note GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against

Results

† Protested by Renfrew.

‡ Replay of protested game. Played at Ottawa

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals scored, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Goaltending averages

Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average

Stanley Cup Pic

Ottawa played two challenges after the season at The Arena in Ottawa.

Stanley Cup challenges

Galt vs. Ottawa

Port Arthur vs. Ottawa

Marty Walsh was a "one-man wrecking crew", scoring ten goals against Port Arthur.

Post-season exhibition series

After the season a series was arranged between Renfrew and Montreal Wanderers and Ottawa to play in New York. Renfrew and Montreal played first, with the winner to play-off against Ottawa. After the Wanderers defeated Renfrew 18–5 (13–4, 4–1), Ottawa won a $2,500 prize for the two-game series winning 12–7 ( 7–2, 5–8 ).

Ottawa and Montreal then played a two-game series in Boston on March 22 and March 25, 1911 (the first game being the first professional hockey game in Boston). Ottawa won a $2,500 purse by a total score of 13–11 (5–7, 8–4). Ottawa had picked up Cyclone Taylor from Renfrew to play in the Boston exhibition games.

; Sources:

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1911 Stanley Cup was presented by the trophy's trustee William Foran. The Ottawa Hockey Club never did engrave their names on the Cup for their championship season.

† Missing from the team picture.These are the known non-playing members of 1911 Ottawa Hockey Club. The only team picture found of the Ottawa Hockey Club in 1911 includes 9 of the 10 players, and no non-playing members.

non-players =

• Thomas D'Arcy McGee† (President), Llewellyn Bates† (Vice President)
• Pete Green† (Coach), Patrick Baskerville† (Treasurer)
• Martin Rosenthal† (Secretary), Mac McGilton† (Trainer)
• George Bryson†, Fred Carling†, Charles Irvin† (Directors)
• Dave Mulligan†, Charles Sparks† (Directors)

engraving-notes =

• Ottawa put their names on the cup in 1909 and 1910 but did not in 1911. It was not until the trophy was redesigned in 1948 that the words "1911 Ottawa Senators" was put onto its then-new collar.

References

Bibliography

• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books, 12, 50. .

Notes

References

1. (March 7, 1911). "Puckerings". The Globe.
2. (1910-11-24). "Bomb in Ottawa Camp". The Globe.
3. (1910-12-13). "Still in the air". The Globe.
4. (1910-12-14). "Outlaws Hurrying to Cover". The Globe.
5. (1910-12-05). "No New York Trip". The Globe.
6. Coleman, p. 202
7. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i4ckAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3X4FAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=5437%2C1709302 Ottawa still holds the cup]
8. (March 22, 1911). "OTTAWA TEAM WINS $2,500 HOCKEY PURSE; Wanderers of Montreal Beaten in Final Game of Four Nights' Carnival.". New York Times.
9. (March 27, 1911). "Wanderers lose the $2,500 purse". Montreal Gazette.