The Ottawa Capitals were the competing clubs of the Capital Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA) of

Ottawa 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 ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. The Association competed in

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 ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

and other athletics. Perhaps best known are the early amateur

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

men's

clubs which played from the 1890s until 1920. The club would challenge for 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 ...

in 1897, but abandon its challenge after one game, after it lost 15–2. The Capitals would later precipitate the breakup of the

Amateur Hockey Association of Canada The Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) was an amateur men's ice hockey league founded on 8 December 1886, in existence until 1898. It was the second ice hockey league organized in Canada, after one in Kingston, Ontario started in 1883. ...

(AHAC). The nickname 'Capitals' is sometimes applied to the

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 ...

(aka HC/Silver Seven/Generals/Senators), however the two teams were not affiliated. The Capital Lacrosse Club was also successful, and won the first

Minto Cup The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's box lacrosse team of Canada. It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto. Originally restricted to amateurs, within three years the first under-the-table professional ...

in 1901. The Capitals lacrosse club was one of the first amateur organizations that gave some of its players small amounts of money, causing a scandal that led to several of their athletes, including

Bouse Hutton John Bower "Bouse" Hutton (October 24, 1877 – October 27, 1962) was a Canadian ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Hockey Club. Hutton also played lacrosse as a goaltender for the Ottawa Capitals, and Canadian football as a fullback ...

and

Rat Westwick Harry "Rat" Westwick (April 23, 1876 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian athlete in ice hockey and lacrosse. Westwick – nicknamed the ''Rat'' for his small size – is most noted for his play with the Ottawa Hockey Club, nicknamed the ''Silver ...

, being banned from amateur play against other organizations that frowned on any dilution of the amateur standard.

Capital Hockey Club

The Capital Hockey senior club was created in 1896 by the Capital Hockey Association (CHA) hockey portion of the CAAA. The Capitals formed the Central Canada Hockey Association (CCHA) senior league, with

Brockville, Ontario Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with Le ...

and

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Central Canada, Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York (state), New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Unit ...

,Kitchen(2008), p. 83 in direct competition with the senior level of the

Ottawa City Hockey League The Ottawa City Hockey League (OCHL) was an amateur ice hockey league with junior, intermediate and senior level men's teams in Ottawa, Canada. Founded in 1890 by the local Ottawa Hockey Association (Ottawa HA), the OCHL was created to organize p ...

(OCHL) which had been organized in 1890 by the Ottawa Hockey Association (owners of the

). The OCHL also operated a junior and an intermediate league—the CAAA's junior Capitals played in the OCHL, winning the City championship in 1897. After winning the CCHA championship in 1897, the senior Capitals challenged the

Montreal Victorias The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. ...

HC for the Stanley Cup, but abandoned its challenge after only one game of a projected best-of-three, after losing 15-2. The club then joined the

(AHAC) intermediate division and won the 1898 intermediate championship. In 1898, the Capitals attempted to join the senior league of the AHAC, being accepted in a majority vote of the AHAC executive. Several clubs of the AHAC (including the Capitals' home town business competitor, Ottawa HC) resisted this. '' The Globe'' noted that the Capitals were "questionably amateur", referring to the paying of players. Rather than admit the Capitals, all five clubs dissolved the AHAC and formed the

Canadian Amateur Hockey League The Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) was an early men's amateur hockey league founded in 1898, replacing the organization that was formerly the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) before the 1898–99 season. The league existed for ...

(CAHL). The Capitals applied to the CAHL in 1899 but were turned down again. Unlike the AHAC, the CAHL required unanimous consent to join the senior ranks and the Ottawas vote was enough to block the club. Instead, the club joined the Senior league of the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

(OHA). In 1903, the club helped found the

Federal Amateur Hockey League The Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) was a Canadian men's senior-level ice hockey league that played six seasons, from 1904 to 1909. The league was formed initially to provide a league for teams not accepted by the rival Canadian Amateur Hock ...

, playing one season in

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

, finishing last. President Bill Foran of the Capitals was president of the FAHL. Foran later became a

trustee. The club took over the ice rink lease of Dey's Skating Rink, forcing the

to move to the

Aberdeen Pavilion The Aberdeen Pavilion (''Pavillon Aberdeen'' in French) is an exhibition hall in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Overlooking the Rideau Canal, it is located in Lansdowne Park, Ottawa's historic fairgrounds. For many years, the building was known as the ...

. The club withdrew from the league before the 1905 season. In 1919, by order of the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction include ...

, the Capital HA's CCHA teams, including the Capitals Hockey club, were forced to join the competing OCHL to be eligible for

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

play.

Capital Lacrosse Club

The Capitals were the pre-eminent lacrosse team in Ottawa from the 1890s. When the

was donated by the then Governor General

Lord Minto Earl of Minto, in the County of Roxburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1813 for Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Baron Minto. The current earl is Gilbert Timothy George Lariston Elliot-Murray-Kynynm ...

to signify the Canadian champions, the Capitals were the first team to win the trophy in 1901. The game was watched by the future King and Queen

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and Queen Mary in Canada for the royal tour that year. The Capitals lacrosse and ice hockey teams had a large overlap among its players, and ice hockey executive and Stanley Cup 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 ...

also had a hand with the lacrosse team. Brothers Eddie and Pat Murphy played both lacrosse and hockey for the Capitals, as did Ovide Lafleur. Other players on the Capital Lacrosse Club, such as

and

Horace Gaul Horace Joseph Gaul (December 21, 1883 – July 9, 1939) was a Canadian professional ice hockey and lacrosse player who played from 1904 until 1913 most notably with the Pittsburgh Professionals, Haileybury Comets, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Tecu ...

, played hockey for the

References

Bibliography

* *

Notes

{{reflist Defunct ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey teams in Ontario

Cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

Capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

Capital Hockey Club

Capital Lacrosse Club

See also

References

Bibliography

Notes