On This Date in Sports December 4, 1909: Le Founding
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
Ambrose O’Brien had applied for membership in the Canadian Hockey Association for his Renfrew Creamery Kings and was rejected he sought to create his own professional hockey league. Together along with Jimmy Gardner, O’Brien created the National Hockey Association. Gardner wanted a rival for his Montreal Wanderers aimed at the French population, that team would be called the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens would go on to become hockey’s most storied franchise.
As the first decade of the 20th Century came to an end, hockey was in a period of transition. The days of amateur hockey were over as professionals were now fighting for the Stanley Cup. Most of the teams in the battle for the Cup came from the Canadian Hockey Association. Ambrose O’Brien and Jimmy Gardner had hoped to bring their teams to the league but were rejected. After the rejection, the two began working on a plan to create a league of their own.
Ambrose O’Brien ran the Renfrew Creamery Kings while Jimmy Gardner was running the Montreal Wanderers. The league they created was called the National Hockey Association. The NHA would institute a new form of 6-on-6 hockey, removing the rover position. O’Brien and Gardner began to fill their league looking for other owners that were rejected by the Canadian Hockey Association. Gardner’s team was centered around the English population of Montreal. He sought a rival from the French population, leading O’Brien to create the Les Canadiens. He planned to have the team be a charter member of the NHA, which was founded on December 4, 1909. Once the team was secure, he would transfer the team to the French population of Montreal. The Montreal Canadiens officially called Le Club de Hockey; Le Canadien was run by Jack Laviolette, who was given free rein as General Manager and Coach.
The NHA began playing a month later, and it was clear that the league was the best organized to date, as members of the CHA started to jump ship and request to join the newly formed league. With most CHA leaving, the league would fold in 1910.
The NHA would last eight seasons before it was folded and reformed as the National Hockey League. Of those original NHA franchises founded by Ambrose O’Brien, only the Montreal Canadiens survive today as the oldest operating team in the NHL. The Canadiens struggled their first season, finishing last in the NHA at 2-10-0. In 1916 they began a winning tradition claiming their first Stanley Cup. They have won 23 more since becoming the most successful franchise in the history of the NHL with 24 Stanley Cup Championships.