NHA

1910-11 Season

The 1910–11 NHA season was the second season of the National Hockey Association (NHA), and it was defined by significant league changes and a major dispute over player salaries. The league reduced its teams from seven to five after the Montreal Shamrocks, Haileybury, and Cobalt left, while the Quebec Hockey Club and a new version of the Montreal Canadiens (owned by George Kennedy of the Club Athlétique Canadien) were granted franchises. The season saw the NHA’s directors impose a strict $5,000 per team salary cap, a move strongly opposed by the players, including Ottawa’s Bruce Stuart, who threatened a mass defection to a new league. However, the players’ rebellion failed when the owners of the Montreal Arena refused to rent their facility to the dissenters, forcing the players to accept large pay cuts and uphold the cap. The NHA also adopted a new rule changing games from two 30-minute periods to three 20-minute periods and established the Spalding puck as the standard.

The Ottawa Hockey Club (often referred to as the Ottawa Senators in retrospect) dominated the regular season, finishing with a 13–3–0 record to capture the league championship and the O’Brien Cup. Ottawa’s offensive firepower was immense, scoring 122 goals, led by Marty Walsh, who topped the league with 35 goals, and Dubbie Kerr, who finished second with 33 goals. As NHA champions, Ottawa took over control of the Stanley Cup from the previous champion, the Montreal Wanderers. They successfully defended the Cup twice in post-season challenges, defeating the Galt Professionals (7–4) and the Port Arthur Bearcats (13–4), with Marty Walsh famously scoring 10 goals in the latter challenge. Although the team’s victory was undisputed, the Ottawa Hockey Club never engraved their names on the Stanley Cup for this specific championship, an omission that was eventually rectified when the trophy was redesigned in 1948.