The Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) was an early men's professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

league. It was founded in November, 1909, as the result of a dispute within the Eastern Canada Hockey Association. The CHA survived only a few weeks of play in January 1910 before two teams jumped to the new

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), itself a seven-week-old league, causing dissolution of the CHA. The CHA held 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 ...

for its entire eight week existence, as the reigning champion

Ottawa Hockey Club Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of ...

was a founding member.

History

At the regular annual meeting of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association, held at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal on November 25, 1909, three teams from the ECHA (Ottawa,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and the

Montreal Shamrocks The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, and then amateur again men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886 to 1924, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They were spun off from the Montreal Shamrocks lacrosse club. Starting off ...

) resigned and formed the new Canadian Hockey Association. The new league then took applications from other teams including their former partner 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 ...

of the ECHA. The three teams had decided to form the new league after the Wanderers were sold to new owners that wanted to move the club to the smaller Jubilee Arena from their former home, the Montreal Arena. The other clubs, most specifically Ottawa, then the Stanley Cup champions, wanted to only play at the Montreal Arena. The CHA then opened their association to applications from other hockey clubs, rejecting applications from Wanderers which did not commit to the Arena, while accepting two other teams: the All-Montreal, organized by former Wanderers captain

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 ...

, and the francophone

Montreal Le National The Montreal Nationals (Le National de Montreal) were an amateur, later professional, and then amateur again men's senior-level ice hockey team. They are notable in that they were the first team to represent French Canada and were the first ice ho ...

. Play started on December 30. After a few games it was clear that fan interest was not there as only 800 fans were recorded for the game between the Nationals and the Shamrocks. After the January 8 game between All-Montreal and Ottawa, which was attended by only 1500 fans, Art Ross made plans to suspend the All-Montreal team and, along with Paddy Moran, join the Haileybury team of the NHA. League secretary

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 ...

notified the Ottawa team that the situation was hopeless. The Shamrocks announced that they would abandon the league. The CHA owners decided to proceed with an amalgamation with the NHA, entitling the league the "Canadian-National Hockey League". A meeting with the NHA on January 15, 1910 was planned to consider amalgamation with the CHA, but amalgamation was not discussed. Instead the NHA admitted Ottawa, Quebec, and the Shamrocks. The Le National were offered the franchise of

Les Canadiens Les Canadiens was the original name of the Montreal Canadiens professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey Association (NHA), as used in the 1910 season. This was the founding season of the Canadiens hockey club, which now is a franchise me ...

, but declined, partly due to the Canadiens' lease with the Jubilee Arena. No invitation was offered to All-Montreal and Quebec. The CHA ceased operations. During its brief season, the Ottawa Hockey Club won a Stanley Cup challenge against Galt HC, champions of the

Ontario Professional Hockey League The Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL), sometimes referred to as the Trolley League, and also known as the Canadian Hockey League in its time, was a professional ice hockey league in Canada. It was a fully professional league and consisted ...

(OPHL). For this, and a challenge during the NHA season, the Senators are considered co-champions of the Stanley Cup in 1910.

Final standing

Season summary

† This game, a scheduled CHA game, was counted in the NHA schedule.

Stanley Cup Challenges

During the CHA season, Ottawa as Cup champion played one challenge in addition to their regular schedule:

Ottawa vs. Galt

Ottawa played a two-game total goals series against Galt HC, champions of the

and prevailed with 12–3 and 3–1 victories.

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, ...

led Ottawa with 6 goals. Jim Mallen, older brother of Ottawa's

Ken Mallen William Kenneth Russell Mallen (October 4, 1884 – April 23, 1930) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He won two Stanley Cups in his career, in 1910 with the Ottawa Senators, and in 1915 with the Vancouver Millionaires. Mallen playe ...

played for Galt.

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1910 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 following Ottawa Hockey Club players and staff were members of the Stanley Cup winning team. 1910 Ottawa Hockey Club Senators

References

;General * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Hockey Association (1909-1910) Defunct ice hockey leagues in Canada Pre–National Hockey League 1909–10 in Canadian ice hockey by league