The 1914–15 NHA season was the sixth season of the

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), officially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Lea ...

and played from December 26, 1914, until March 3, 1915. Each team played 20 games. The

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

won the NHA championship in a two-game, total goal playoff against the

Montreal Wanderers The Montreal Wanderers were an amateur, and later professional, ice hockey team based in Montreal. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), the National Hockey Association ...

. The Senators, however fell to the

Vancouver Millionaires The Vancouver Millionaires (later known as the Vancouver Maroons) were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926. Based in Vancouver, British Col ...

of the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was cons ...

in the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

championship. It was the second 'World's Series' between the NHA and the PCHA for the Stanley Cup.

League business

Directors

Emmett Quinn Thomas Emmett Quinn (September 10, 1877 – February 9, 1930) was a Canadian ice hockey executive, coach and referee. Quinn served as president of the National Hockey Association (NHA), the predecessor of today's National Hockey League (NHL). Hi ...

, president *

Frank Calder Frank Sellick Calder (November 17, 1877 – February 4, 1943) was a British-born Canadian ice hockey executive, journalist, and athlete. Calder was the first president of the National Hockey League (NHL), from 1917 until his death in 1943. He ...

, secretary-treasurer

Rule changes

At a meeting on March 30, 1914, held with the PCHA executives, the league decided: * adopt the lines separating the three zones for off-side purposes * to continue in six-man hockey, while the PCHA will continue in seven-man hockey * to drop fines in general for infractions and use minutes off * no player to come within five feet of players facing off * no face-offs closer than 10 feet from the goaltender * puck played after rebounding from goalkeeper no longer is offside Source: ''Toronto Globe'' At the November meeting of the league, the NHA decided: * charging a player into the boards is a major foul, * match foul penalized by 10 minutes off and $15 fine.

Pre-season

Along with Montreal Nationals president A. L. Caron, player

Art Ross Arthur Howe Ross (January 13, 1885 – August 5, 1964) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first to skate with the puck ...

attempted to organize a new hockey league with teams in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Boston. The arena owners in all of the cities turned down the new league and killed the idea. Ross was suspended by the NHA, but by January 7, Mr. Ross was reinstated. He signed with Ottawa.

Regular season

The Ontarios changed their team name to Shamrocks from the February 3 game forward. Ottawa traded

Percy LeSueur Percivale St-Helier LeSueur (November 21, 1881 – January 27, 1962) was a Canadian senior and professional ice hockey goaltender. He was a member of the Smiths Falls Seniors for three years, with whom his performance in a 1906 Stanley Cup cha ...

to the Ontarios for

Fred Lake Frederick Lovett Lake (October 16, 1866 – November 24, 1931) was a Canadian professional baseball catcher and Major League manager for Boston American and National leagues teams in the early 20th century. Lake hailed from Cornwallis Township, ...

Highlights

A record long overtime game was played in Quebec on January 13 between Quebec and the Canadiens. Quebec defeated Montreal 3–2 after 50 minutes and 28 seconds of overtime, on a goal by Jack McDonald. Coach Jack Laviolette had to take over for

Georges Vezina Georges may refer to: Places * Georges River, New South Wales, Australia * Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 19 ...

after Vezina was penalized.Coleman(1966), pg. 271 The Ontarios had to forfeit their February 3 game with the Wanderers after the McNamara brothers took a personal leave to attend their fathers' funeral. Owner

Eddie Livingstone Edward James Livingstone (September 12, 1884 – September 11, 1945) was a Canadian sports team owner and manager. He was the principal owner of the Toronto Shamrocks and the Toronto Blueshirts professional ice hockey clubs of the National Hocke ...

of the Ontarios asked for a postponement but the Wanderers refused. A game on February 17 between Toronto and Ottawa turned into a brawl before Toronto police arrested

and

Roy McGiffen Francis Roy "Minnie" McGiffin, last name sometimes spelt McGiffen, (March 2, 1890 – August 30, 1918) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played for the Toronto Blueshirts of the Canadian National Hockey Association (NHA) from 1912 ...

to calm the proceedings.

Final standings

Playoffs

League championship

Montreal and Ottawa played a two-game total-goals series to determine the league championship. In the first game, Ottawa's

scored in the first period to give the Senators the lead which they would not relinquish. In the second, Angus Duford scored to push the lead to 2–0 after two periods, and

Horace Merrill Horace Jefferson Merrill (November 30, 1884 – December 24, 1958) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who the Ottawa Senators in both the National Hockey Association and National Hockey League from 1912 to 1920. He won the Stanley Cup ...

and

Jack Darragh John Proctor Darragh (December 4, 1890 – June 28, 1924) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Darragh played the forward position for the Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League (NHL) and its predecessor the National Hockey ...

scored to make it 4–0. In the second game, the Wanderers' Donald Smith scored in the second period, but the Senators held the Wanderers off with tight checking to win the series 4–1 on goals. For the win, Ottawa was awarded the

O'Brien Cup The O'Brien Trophy, or O'Brien Cup, as labelled on the trophy itself, is a retired trophy that was awarded in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey leagues of North America from 1910 to 1950. It was ...

. Since the NHA champion of 1914 was the defending champion of the

, Ottawa now took possession and defence of the Stanley Cup as well. The Senators engraved their series win over the Wanderers on the Stanley Cup and travelled to Vancouver for the world championship series against the

Exhibition series

The Wanderers, Canadiens and Bulldogs played an exhibition series in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The Ontarios and Torontos played an exhibitions series in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Stanley Cup Final

As the 1914 Final was held in Toronto, all three games in this series were played at the arena of the PCHA's champion in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. The Millionaires swept the best-of-five series in three games.

Awards

Schedule and results

† Defaulted to Wanderers. Source: Coleman, pp. 272–273.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Goaltending averages

References

Bibliography

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:1914-15 Nha Season 1914–15 in Canadian ice hockey by league National Hockey Association seasons