The 1910–11 NHA season was the second

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 ...

of the now defunct

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 ...

. The Ottawa Hockey Club won the league championship. Ottawa took over the Stanley Cup from 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 ...

and defended it against teams from

Galt, Ontario Galt is a community in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario on the Grand River. Prior to 1973, it was an independent city, incorporated in 1915, but amalgamation with the town of Hespeler, Ontario, the t ...

, and

Port Arthur, Ontario Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay. Port Arthur had been the district seat o ...

League business

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

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 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 The Quebec Bulldogs (french: Bulldogs de Québec) were a men's senior-level ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The team was officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club (french: Club de hockey de Québec), and later as the Quebec Athletic 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 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 ...

. 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 Charles Bruce Stuart (November 30, 1881 – October 28, 1961) was a Canadian amateur and professional ice hockey forward who played for the Quebec Bulldogs, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Wanderers, Portage Lakes Hockey Club, Pittsburgh Victorias ...

of Ottawa threatened a mass defection to a new league. However, the players found that the Arena Company, owners of 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 1 ...

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 Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and former union official. He has been the 29th United States Secretary of Labor since March 23, 2021. A Democrat, he previously served as the 54th mayor of Boston from 2014, ...

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, ...

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 standings

Stanley Cup challenges

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

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: * * *

Schedule and results

† Protested by Renfrew. ‡ Replay of protested game.

Player statistics

Goaltending averages

Scoring leaders

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1911 Stanley Cup was presented by the trophy's trustee

William Foran William Michael Foran (February 4, 1871 – November 30, 1945) was an ice hockey executive, Stanley Cup trustee and government official. For over 50 years, he was secretary of the Board of Civil Service Examiners and its follow-up organizatio ...

. The Ottawa Hockey Club never did engrave their names on the Cup for their championship season. The following Ottawa Hockey Club players and staff were members of the Stanley Cup winning team. 1910–11 Ottawa Hockey Club Senators

References

Bibliography

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

Notes

External links

Oilers Heritage: The NHA
{{DEFAULTSORT:1910-11 Nha Season 1910–11 in Canadian ice hockey by league National Hockey Association seasons