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 The National Hockey Association (NHA), initially 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 Leagu ...

(NHA), owner of the Renfrew Millionaires and the founding owner of the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team.

Biography

O'Brien was born in Renfrew, Ontario, the son of

Michael John O'Brien The Hon. Michael John O'Brien (19 September 1851 – 26 October 1940) was a railway builder, industrialist and philanthropist. He was named to the Senate of Canada in 1918. He was a founder of the town of Renfrew, Ontario. He was instrumental in ...

, a Canadian businessman, and later one of the owners of mines in

Cobalt, Ontario Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 989 at the 2021 Census. In the early 1900s, the area was heavily mined for silver; the silver ore also contained cobalt. By 1910, the community was the fourth hi ...

during the Cobalt silver rush. O'Brien played varsity

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. He moved to the Cobalt area and founded two ice hockey clubs, in Cobalt, Ontario and

Haileybury, Ontario Temiskaming Shores is a city in the Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It was created by the amalgamation of the town of New Liskeard, the town of Haileybury, and the township of Dymond in 2004. The city had a total populatio ...

, funded by his father. In 1909, he founded the

, Les Canadiens, later

, and bought the Renfrew Creamery Kings. In the 1909–10 NHA season, the Creamery Kings received the nickname "Millionaires" as O'Brien signed up several stars of the time to extravagant contracts, including Fred "Cyclone" Taylor and brothers Frank Patrick and Lester "the Silver Fox" Patrick, and acquired Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde in an attempt to win the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () 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, and the International Ic ...

for Renfrew. The attempt was unsuccessful and he folded the team after two seasons. While in Montreal for business in November 1909, O'Brien was asked by the then owners of the Creamery Kings to apply to join the Canadian Hockey Association. He made the application but was turned down. Outside the hotel room where the CHA meetings were occurring he met Jimmy Gardner, manager 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 ...

. Together, they developed the idea of starting their own league with O'Brien's Cobalt and Haileybury teams, the Wanderers and a new team "Les Canadiens" for Montreal to capture francophone Montrealers' interest as a rival for the Wanderers. As a result, the

were born. O'Brien only owned the team for one season. After the season, he was sued by George W. Kendall (Kennedy) owner of the Club athlétique Canadien, claiming the legal rights to the Canadiens name. A settlement was reached and on November 12, 1910 Kendall acquired the team for $7,500. Operation of the NHA teams was expensive and the NHA was forced to implement salary caps and maximum salaries. The O'Briens reduced their involvement. Whereas in 1910, four O'Brien-backed teams played in the NHA, only one, the Millionaires, played in 1910–11, O'Brien having sold the other three NHA franchises. Before the 1911–12 season the Millionaires were also no more, its players dispersed to the other NHA teams. O'Brien was never a team owner again. O'Brien was inducted as a builder into the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

in 1962. He died on April 24, 1968.Obituary
/ref> In December 2006, as the founder of the Montreal Canadiens, John Ambrose O'Brien was an inaugural inductee in the team's newly created 'Builders Row' in the

Bell Centre Bell Centre (French: ''Centre Bell)'', formerly known as Molson Centre, is a multi-purpose arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened on March 16, 1996, it is the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), ...

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Ambrose 1885 births 1968 deaths Canadian ice hockey owners Montreal Canadiens executives Hockey Hall of Fame inductees University of Toronto alumni People from Renfrew County History of the Montreal Canadiens

Biography

See also

Notes

External links