The 1910–11 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

and also the second 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 ...

(NHA). The club would improve to an 8–8 record, second in the league. It was the first season 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 ...

and he would lead the league in

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

(GAA) with a record of 3.9 goals per game.

Newsy Lalonde Édouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde (October 31, 1887 – November 21, 1970) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League (NHL) and a professional lacrosse player. Lalonde is regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse's ...

joined the team from Renfrew and led the team with 19 goals.

Team business

This was the first season under new owner

George Kennedy George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academ ...

. After the 1910 NHA season, Kennedy who was an owner of the Club Athlétique-Canadien claimed the name 'Canadiens'. It was his intention that he would be granted admission to the NHA and if refused would insist that the Canadiens name be dropped.Jenish, p. 33 Kennedy and partner Joseph-Pierre Gadbois had previously shown interest in 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 ...

but a purchase was not completed. The Club Athletique de Canadien (CAC) joined the NHA at the NHA meeting of November 12, 1910, for $7,500. At the same meeting, both Haileybury and Cobalt teams dropped out and Quebec joined the league. The new Canadiens organization would operate the Haileybury franchise and Quebec operate Cobalt's franchise.

Ambrose O'Brien John Ambrose O'Brien (May 27, 1885 – April 24, 1968) was a Canadian industrialist and sports team owner. He was a founder of the National Hockey Association (NHA), owner of the Renfrew Millionaires and the founding owner of the Montreal Canad ...

owner of the Haileybury, Cobalt and Les Canadiens franchise, kept the Canadiens franchise and let it lie dormant. It is not clear why the transfer of the Canadiens from O'Brien to the CAC was done this way. Later news reports brought up the disposition of the players as an issue. The players of the Haileybury and Cobalt teams were not transferred. Both the Haileybury and Cobalt teams resumed play in the Temiscaming League. At the same time, the league was fighting with the players over a salary cap and it was not clear if the players were property of the teams or free agents. After securing a franchise, Kennedy demanded

's return from Renfrew or the team would not operate. At first, Renfrew claimed that Lalonde was their property, but Kennedy signed Lalonde on December 12. Terms of the contract were kept secret, as the league had imposed a $5,000 salary cap and the newspapers had rumoured an offer or $2,500. Offers of $500 per season were being turned down by the players, who instead tried to form a rival league. Kennedy signed Jack Laviolette to manage the team. The club moved out of the

Jubilee Rink A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of ...

, instead signing a lease with the

Montreal Arena The Montreal Arena, also known as Westmount Arena, was an indoor arena located in Westmount, Quebec, Canada on the corner of St. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue. It was likely one of the first arenas designed expressly for hockey, opening in 18 ...

along with the

. The two teams effectively crowded out any rival league from playing at the Arena. The Jubilee Rink was owned by the Wanderers owners and could keep any rival league out. The players eventually capitulated to the NHA owners.

Regular season

After an exhibition match by the Canadiens in

Chicoutimi, Quebec Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and comm ...

, against a team with

in goal,

Joseph Cattarinich Joseph Jean Étienne Stanislas Cattarinich (November 13, 1881 – December 7, 1938), was a Canadian professional Ice hockey player, and co-owner of horse racing tracks in Canada and the United States as well as a co-owner of the Montreal Canadien ...

the then-goaltender of the Canadiens was so impressed by Vezina's play that he suggested to team management that they sign Vezina and he would step aside. It was Cattarinch's final game playing with the club. He would later become part-owner of the club.

Team business

Regular season

Final standings

Schedule and results

Playoffs

References

See also