Les Canadiens was the original name of the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

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 h ...

team in 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), as used in the 1910 season. This was the founding season of the Canadiens hockey club, which now is a franchise member of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL).

History

On the idea of Jimmy Gardner of 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 ...

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 ...

set up the 'Les Canadiens' club as a francophone team created to attract fans away from the

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 ...

of the rival Canadian Hockey Association and provide a local rivalry for the Wanderers. To manage the club, Gardner arranged for O'Brien to hire francophone Jack Laviolette who would manage and captain the club in its first season.

Transfer to Kennedy

Ambrose O'Brien, who owned three other NHA clubs intended from the start that the club would be transferred to "French sportsmen" as soon as possible to operate. The franchise was offered to the Montreal Le National upon the NHA taking in the Ottawa and Shamrocks teams, but Le National declined. One reason offered is that Le National was committed to the Montreal Arena, and Les Canadiens were signed up for the Jubilee Arena. The transfer to Kennedy occurred after the

1910 NHA season The 1910 NHA season was the first season of the National Hockey Association men's professional ice hockey league. The season started on January 5, but was suspended immediately and the league then absorbed the Ottawa and Shamrocks teams of the C ...

, when Georges Kennedy of Club Athletique Canadien threatened legal action against the NHA over the use of the 'Canadiens' name. There are conflicting accounts of the subsequent transfer to Kennedy. According to Coleman's book, the transfer was a purchase of the Haileybury Hockey Club. For $7,500, O'Brien granted Kennedy the NHA franchise and assets of the Haileybury Hockey Club and suspended the 'Les Canadiens' franchise. The reason for the transaction being structured this way is not explained. A possible reason is that a Montreal franchise could be worth more in a potential future sale, while Haileybury was exiting the NHA anyway. According to Andy O'Brien's book, Ambrose O'Brien himself is quoted as saying he sold the Canadiens to Kennedy "too soon", commenting on a 1967 sale of the Canadiens for millions of dollars. Another version of the events, as stated in Holzman's book is that Kennedy received the franchise for free, but had to pay $7,500 for

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 Young's biography of Ambrose O'Brien, it is stated that the Canadiens name and players were transferred to Kennedy.Young (1967), p. 74. In any event, in the 1910–11 season manager Laviolette and the players of the 'Les Canadiens' team (and none of the Haileybury players) signed up with Kennedy. The Haileybury Hockey Club resumed play in the Temiscaming League.

O'Brien's exit

According to Coleman (1966), in 1911 O'Brien sold the suspended NHA franchise to Toronto interests who formed the

Toronto Blueshirts The Toronto Hockey Club, known as the Torontos and the Toronto Blueshirts, was a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They were a member of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The club was founded in 1911 and began operations in 1912 ...

club, starting play in the NHA in 1912. At the same time, he sold his Cobalt franchise to Quebec interests. In 1912, O'Brien left the hockey business completely, with the sale of the

Renfrew Creamery Kings The Renfrew Hockey Club, also known as the Creamery Kings and the Millionaires, was a founding franchise in 1909 of the National Hockey Association, the precursor to the National Hockey League. The team was based in the founder Ambrose O'Brien's ...

References

* * * * ;Notes

External links

Slam report on first game
{{Montreal Canadiens 1910 NHA season History of the Montreal Canadiens

History

Transfer to Kennedy

O'Brien's exit

See also

References

External links