# 1910–11 NHA season

The 1910–11 NHA season was the second season of the now defunct National Hockey Association. The Ottawa Hockey Club won the league championship. Ottawa took over the Stanley Cup from the Montreal Wanderers and defended it against teams from Galt, Ontario, and Port Arthur, Ontario .

## League business

The annual meeting was held November 12, 1910, electing the following executive:
* Emmett Quinn (president and secretary)
Directors:
* Eddie McCafferty, Wanderers
* John Ambrose O'Brien, Renfrew
* W. P. Humphrey, Shamrocks
* George Kennedy, Canadiens
* Joe Power, Quebec
The Shamrocks resigned from the league and were not replaced. The Club Athletique-Canadien and the Quebec Hockey Club were granted franchises. Haileybury and Cobalt left the league. Club-Athletique-Canadien had made a claim on the Canadiens name and threatened a lawsuit if they were not granted a franchise. There are three written descriptions of this transaction. Coleman(1966) writes that George Kennedy, president of the CAC bought the Haileybury franchise. In Andy O'Brien's book, Ambrose O'Brien is quoted as saying that he sold the Canadiens to Kennedy. In Holzman's book, the franchise was given to Kennedy, but Kennedy had to pay O'Brien for the rights to Newsy Lalonde. In The Globe of March 7, 1911, it is claimed that Lalonde's sale was the first ever sale of a player.
The NHA decided to impose a $5,000 per team salary cap.
A second meeting, on November 26, 1910, updated the Board of Directors to:
* D'Arcy McGee, Ottawa
* James A. Barnett, Renfrew
* Adolphe Lecours, Canadiens
* Joe Power, Quebec
* Eddie McCafferty, Wanderers
The salary cap, while opposed by the players was upheld at the meeting.
Source: Coleman, p. 201–203.

### Salary cap

The salary cap of $5,000 per club caused a situation where Bruce Stuart of Ottawa threatened a mass defection to a new league. However, the players found that the Arena Company, owners of the Montreal Arena would not rent to the players. There was no other suitable arena in Montreal available for a new league and the players had no choice but to abandon the effort. Some players took a large cut in salary: Marty Walsh, Fred Lake and Dubbie Kerr were paid $600 each where they had been paid $1,200 each in 1910. The dispute caused the cancellation of a pre-season exhibition series in New York for the Ottawas and Wanderers.

### Rule changes

Games were changed from two periods of 30 minutes, to three periods of twenty minutes, with ten-minute rest periods. The Spalding hockey puck was adopted as the standard puck.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey Association :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| Ottawa Hockey Club | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 122 | 69 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 66 | 62 |
| Renfrew Creamery Kings | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 91 | 101 |
| Montreal Wanderers | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 73 | 88 |
| Quebec Bulldogs | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 65 | 97 |
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

## Stanley Cup challenges

Ottawa played two challenges after the season at The Arena in Ottawa.

### Galt vs. Ottawa

March 13, 1911 :
| Galt | 4 | at | Ottawa | 7 |
| Billy Hague | | G | Percy LeSueur | |
| Billy Baird | | P | Fred Lake | 1 |
| Ras Murphy | | CP | Hamby Shore | |
| Tommy Smith | 1 | RO | Jack Darragh | |
| Jim Mallen | | C | Marty Walsh | 3 |
| Louis Berlinguette | 2 | RW | Bruce Ridpath | 2 |
| Fred Doherty | 1 | LW | Albert Kerr | 1 |

### Port Arthur vs. Ottawa

Marty Walsh was a "one-man wrecking crew", scoring ten goals against Port Arthur.
March 16, 1911 :
| Port Arthur | 4 | at | Ottawa | 13 |
| Herman Zeigler | | G | Percy LeSueur | |
| Paddy McDonough | | P | Fred Lake | |
| Eddie Carpenter | 1 | CP | Hamby Shore | |
| Jack Walker | 1 | RO | Jack Darragh | |
| Mickey O'Leary | | C | Marty Walsh | 10 |
| Willard McGregor | 1 | RW | Bruce Ridpath | 2 |
| Wes Wellington | 1 | LW | Albert Kerr | 1 |

## Post-season exhibition series

After the season a series was arranged between Renfrew and Montreal Wanderers and Ottawa to play in New York. Renfrew and Montreal played first, with the winner to play-off against Ottawa. After the Wanderers defeated Renfrew 18–5 (13–4, 4–1), Ottawa won a $2,500 prize for the two-game series winning 12–7 ( 7–2, 5–8 ).
Ottawa and Montreal then played a two-game series in Boston on March 22 and March 25, 1911 (the first game being the first professional hockey game in Boston). Ottawa won a $2,500 purse by a total score of 13–11 (5–7, 8–4). Ottawa had picked up Cyclone Taylor from Renfrew to play in the Boston exhibition games.
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location |
| March 17, 1911 | Montreal Wanderers | 14–4 | Renfrew | St. Nicholas Rink, New York |
| March 18, 1911 | Montreal Wanderers | 4–1 | Renfrew | St. Nicholas Rink, New York |
| March 20, 1911 | Ottawa | 7–2 | Montreal Wanderers | St. Nicholas Rink, New York |
| March 21, 1911 | Montreal Wanderers | 8–5 | Ottawa | St. Nicholas Rink, New York |
| March 22, 1911 | Montreal Wanderers | 7–5 | Ottawa | Boston Arena, Massachusetts |
| March 25, 1911 | Ottawa | 8–4 | Montreal Wanderers | Boston Arena, Massachusetts |

### Sources

* "WANDERERS AGAIN DOWN THE RENFREWS; Montreal Skaters Capture the Second Game of Canadian Hockey at Rink". New York Times. March 19, 1911. p. S2.
* "OTTAWA HOCKEY CLUB DOWNS WANDERERS; Stanley Cup Winners Show High Class Team Work and Skating at Local Rink". New York Times. March 21, 1911. p. 12.
* "OTTAWA TEAM WINS $2,500 HOCKEY PURSE; Wanderers of Montreal Beaten in Final Game of Four Nights' Carnival". New York Times. March 22, 1911. p. 12.

## Schedule and results

| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
| Dec. | 31 | Ottawa | 5 | Canadiens | 3 |
| Jan. | 2 | Renfrew | 2 | Quebec | 3 |
| Jan. | 5† | Wanderers | 4 | Renfrew | 2 |
| Jan. | 7 | Canadiens | 4 | Quebec | 1 |
| Jan. | 7 | Wanderers | 5 | Ottawa | 10 |
| Jan. | 10 | Quebec | 4 | Wanderers | 5 (overtime) |
| Jan. | 10 | Ottawa | 5 | Renfrew | 4 |
| Jan. | 14 | Renfrew | 1 | Canadiens | 4 |
| Jan. | 14 | Quebec | 5 | Ottawa | 13 |
| Jan. | 16 | Quebec | 5 | Renfrew | 10 |
| Jan. | 18 | Canadiens | 4 | Wanderers | 5 |
| Jan. | 21 | Canadiens | 4 | Ottawa | 5 (overtime) |
| Jan. | 21 | Wanderers | 5 | Quebec | 3 |
| Jan. | 24 | Renfrew | 5 | Ottawa | 19 |
| Jan. | 24 | Quebec | 5 | Canadiens | 9 |
| Jan. | 27 | Canadiens | 6 | Renfrew | 5 |
| Jan. | 28 | Ottawa | 8 | Wanderers | 2 |
| Feb. | 1 | Renfrew | 8 | Quebec | 7 |
| Feb. | 1 | Wanderers | 6 | Canadiens | 3 |
| Feb. | 3 | Wanderers | 5 | Renfrew | 8 |
| Feb. | 4 | Ottawa | 6 | Quebec | 4 |
| Feb. | 7 | Canadiens | 9 | Wanderers | 2 |
| Feb. | 11 | Quebec | 2 | Canadiens | 3 |
| Feb. | 11 | Wanderers | 4 | Ottawa | 9 |
| Feb. | 15‡ | Wanderers | 4 | Renfrew | 5 (at Ottawa) |
| Feb. | 15 | Canadiens | 4 | Quebec | 7 |
| Feb. | 18 | Renfrew | 4 | Wanderers | 6 |
| Feb. | 18 | Ottawa | 7 | Quebec | 2 |
| Feb. | 21 | Renfrew | 2 | Canadiens | 4 |
| Feb. | 22 | Wanderers | 3 | Quebec | 1 |
| Feb. | 24 | Ottawa | 7 | Renfrew | 8 |
| Feb. | 25 | Quebec | 3 | Wanderers | 2 |
| Feb. | 27 | Quebec | 11 | Renfrew | 10 |
| Feb. | 28 | Wanderers | 2 | Canadiens | 3 |
| Feb. | 28 | Quebec | 2 | Ottawa | 6 |
| Mar. | 2 | Ottawa | 7 | Wanderers | 11 |
| Mar. | 2 | Canadiens | 3 | Renfrew | 5 |
| Mar. | 4 | Renfrew | 7 | Ottawa | 6 |
| Mar. | 7 | Wanderers | 6 | Renfrew | 7 |
| Mar. | 8 | Ottawa | 4 | Canadiens | 3 |
| Mar. | 10 | Canadiens | 0 | Ottawa | 5 |
† Protested by Renfrew.
‡ Replay of protested game.

## Player statistics
### Goaltending averages

| Name | Club | GP | GA | SO | Avg. |
| Georges Vezina | Canadiens | 16 | 62 | 0 | 3.9 |
| Percy LeSueur | Ottawa | 16 | 69 | 1 | 4.3 |
| Riley Hern | Wanderers | 16 | 88 | 0 | 5.5 |
| Paddy Moran | Quebec | 16 | 97 | 0 | 6.1 |
| Bert Lindsay | Renfrew | 16 | 101 | 0 | 6.3 |

### Scoring leaders

| Player | Team | GP | G | PIM |
| Marty Walsh | Ottawa Senators | 16 | 35 | 51 |
| Dubbie Kerr | Ottawa Senators | 16 | 33 | 45 |
| Don Smith | Renfrew Creamery Kings | 16 | 26 | 49 |
| Bruce Ridpath | Ottawa Senators | 16 | 23 | 51 |
| Odie Cleghorn | Renfrew Creamery Kings | 16 | 20 | 66 |
| Newsy Lalonde | Montreal Canadiens | 16 | 19 | 63 |
| Didier Pitre | Montreal Canadiens | 16 | 19 | 22 |
| Ernie Russell | Montreal Wanderers | 11 | 18 | 26 |
| Jack Darragh | Ottawa Senators | 16 | 18 | 36 |
| Frank Glass | Montreal Wanderers | 16 | 17 | 31 |

## Stanley Cup engraving

The 1911 Stanley Cup was presented by the trophy's trustee William Foran. The Ottawa Hockey Club never did engrave their names on the Cup for their championship season.
The following Ottawa Hockey Club players and staff were members of the Stanley Cup winning team.
1910–11 Ottawa Hockey Club Senators

### Players
#### Centres

* Jack Darragh(rover)
* Bruce Stuart(rover-Captain)
* Marty Walsh

#### Wingers

* Bruce Ridpath
* Albert "Dubbie" Kerr
* Horace Gaul†

#### Defencemen

* Alex Currie
* Hamilton Hamby Shore
* Fred Lake

#### Goaltenders

* Percy LeSueur

### Coaching and administrative staff

* Thomas D'Arcy McGee† (President), Llewellyn Bates† (Vice President)
* Pete Green† (Coach), Patrick Baskerville† (Treasurer)
* Martin Rosenthal† (Secretary), Mac McGilton† (Trainer)
* George Bryson†, Fred Carling†, Charles Irvin† (Directors)
* Dave Mulligan†, Charles Sparks† (Directors)
† Missing from the team picture.These are the known non-playing members of 1911 Ottawa Hockey Club. The only team picture found of the Ottawa Hockey Club in 1911 includes 9 of the 10 players, and no non-playing members.

### Stanley Cup engraving

Ottawa put their names on the cup in 1909 and 1910 but did not in 1911. It was not until the trophy was redesigned in 1948 that the words "1911 Ottawa Senators" was put onto its then-new collar.