- Les Canadiens
Les Canadiens were a
Canadian ice hockey team in theNational Hockey Association in 1909-10. The team serves as the founding season of the currentMontreal Canadiens club of theNational Hockey League .History
On the idea of
Jimmy Gardner of theMontreal Wanderers ,Ambrose O'Brien set up the 'Les Canadiens' club as a Francophone team created to attract fans away from theMontreal Nationals of the rivalCanadian Hockey Association and provide a local rivalry for the Wanderers. To manage the club, Gardner directed to O'Brien to FrancophoneJack Laviolette who would manage and captain the club in its first season.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. This transfer occurred after the
1910 NHA season , when Georges Kennedy of Club Athletique Canadien threatened legal action against the NHA over the use of the 'Canadiens' name. For $7,500, O'Brien granted Kennedy the NHA franchise and assets of theHaileybury Hockey Club and suspended the 'Les Canadiens' franchise. The reason for the transaction being structured this way was not publicized. Later in life, O'Brien was quoted as saying he sold the Canadiens to Kennedy "too soon", when the sale of the Canadiens took place in the 1960s for millions of dollars. While the assets of the Haileybury club were transferred, it was all of the assets of Les Canadiens that Kennedy received. For the following season, the players of the 'Les Canadiens' team (and none of the Haileybury players) signed up with Kennedy, the club was managed by Laviolette and the club took over theJubilee Rink lease. Another version of the events, as stated in Holzman(2002) is that Kennedy received the franchise for free, but had to pay $7,500 forNewsy Lalonde . [Holzman(2002), p. 34]In 1911, O'Brien sold the suspended NHA franchise to Toronto interests who formed the
Toronto Blueshirts club, starting play in the NHA in 1912. He sold his Cobalt franchise to Quebec interests. In 1912, O'Brien left the hockey business, with the sale of theRenfrew Millionaires .ee also
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Montreal Canadiens
*National Hockey Association
*1909–10 Montreal Canadiens season References
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*External links
* [http://slam.canoe.ca/HockeyMontrealArchive/jan5_hab.html Slam report on first game]
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