Ice hockey in Ottawa Ottawa ice hockey clubs date back to the first decade of recorded organized ice hockey play . The men ' s senior - level Ottawa Hockey Club is known to have played in a Canadian championship in 1884 . Today , Ottawa hockey clubs are represented in all age brackets , in both men ' s and women ' s , in amateur and professional . Early hockey . Pre - cursor games of ice hockey are known to have been played in Ottawa . The 1850s medal pictured was presented to a shinny tournament champion . The illustration on the medal depicts two players . The sticks are field hockey sticks and the game was played with a ball . The medal is in the collection of the City of Ottawa archives . Early Amateur Era . James Creighton , the organizer of the first recorded organized game in 1875 moved to Ottawa and helped develop the game . He worked as a law clerk for the Senate chamber of the Parliament of Canada . Another important figure in the development of the game in Ottawa was P . D . Ross , the publisher of the Ottawa Journal , and later trustee of the Stanley Cup . The Ottawa Hockey Club , formed in 1883 . The club played its first competitive matches in the Montreal Winter Carnival tournament of 1884 , and helped form the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1886 . The team went into hiatus from 1887 until 1889 , when the new Rideau Skating Rink opened , and P . D . Ross helped to rebuild the hockey club . They would re - enter play in 1890 , in the Ontario Hockey Association . Ottawa HC were the first winners in the OHA , from 1890 - 1893 . They left the OHA after that season in a dispute over the location of playoffs for the Cosby Cup . This schism lead to today ' s organization of hockey in Ontario where the ODMHA is responsible for eastern Ontario rather than the OHA . When Lord Stanley was named Governor - General to Canada , he and his sons and daughter developed a keen interest in hockey , and games were played on a natural rink at Rideau Hall . His sons played on a team called the " Rideau Hall Rebels " . On March 8 , 1889 , the first recorded organized women ' s ice hockey match took place at Rideau Skating Rink . In 1892 , at an end - of - season banquet at the Russell House honouring the OHA champion Ottawa Hockey Club , Lord Stanley announced his donation of the " Challenge Cup " , later to be known simply as the Stanley Cup . In 1894 , Ottawa HC played in the first Stanley Cup playoffs against the Montreal Victorias , played in Montreal . In 1897 Ottawa HC rival Ottawa Capitals would play in Stanley Cup challenge against Montreal Victorias . In 1901 , the Ottawa Hockey Club won its first Canadian championship in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League , but did not challenge for the Stanley Cup . In 1902 , the Ottawa Hockey Club first used the nickname ' Senators ' . In 1903 , the Ottawa Senators won their first Stanley Cup at the Dey ' s Arena . The individual players each received a silver nugget , and the team picked up the nickname of the " Silver Seven " . From 1903 – 1906 , the Silver Seven would defeat all challengers in Stanley Cup play , losing in March 1906 to rival Montreal Wanderers in the 1906 ECAHA championship . In 1908 , the Ottawa Victorias would challenge the Montreal Wanderers for the Stanley Cup . Losing a two - game playoff , they were the last amateur team from Ottawa to challenge for the Cup . In 1909 , the Ottawa Cliffsides were the first champions of the Allan Cup , by virtue of winning the Interprovincial Hockey League . The Allan Cup was a new trophy given to the senior amateur champions of Canada , after the Stanley Cup was to be only contested by professional teams . Ottawa City Hockey League . The Ottawa City Hockey League was one of the first developmental competitive leagues . Teams played in junior and senior age groups . The league was formed in 1890 by the Ottawa Hockey Club , with senior teams only in the first season . Ottawa HC continued to operate a team in the OCHL , called the ' Seconds ' after concentrating its first team effort in the AHAC . The league operated until 1945 and its teams dispersed between Quebec and Ottawa leagues . Early Professional Era . The Ottawa HC / Senators helped found or were inaugural season members of several professional leagues in Canada : The Ottawa HC also played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , which became professional in 1908 . Ottawa HC played in the league before it became professional , but a second Senators professional team composed of former Silver Seven players , played in the then Federal Hockey League along with future NHA founders , the Renfrew Creamery Kings during the 1909 season . In 1934 , the Ottawa Hockey Association , the Senators NHL club owners , would split its hockey operations . The NHL club would relocate to St . Louis , Missouri and become the Eagles . The Eagles would play one season in St . Louis before the NHL bought out the Association and disperse the players . Separately , the Ottawa Senators were continued as a senior amateur team , the ' Senior Senators ' , taking the NHL club ' s place in the Ottawa Auditorium , using the same striped sweaters and ' O ' logo , but play senior amateur clubs in Quebec , including those the original Ottawa HC played before the rise of professionalism in hockey . The club would continue until 1954 , dissolving after crowds dwindled , citing the rise of hockey on television . The club would win the Allan Cup in 1949 . Ottawa Alerts . Teams were formed prior to 1915 at Ottawa Ladies College and the Young Women ' s Christian Association , but they did not play outside teams . In 1915 , the Ottawa Alerts were organized , featuring the best women ' s players in Ottawa . The team were immediately champions . In 1916 , the club defeated the Pittsburgh Ladies Club three times in one day , then defeated Toronto the following day . The team , based at Dey ' s Arena was not in a league , but played exhibitions in a circuit from Montreal to Renfrew . Their first coach was the famous Hamby Shore . In 1922 – 23 , the Alerts won the Canadian championship . The club then passed under the sponsorship of the Ottawa Rowing Club . The team would win one more Canadian championship before it was folded in 1929 . World War II Years . During the World War II years , NHL players enlisted in the war effort . A large number of them were posted to Ottawa base . This included the complete Boston Bruins ' Kraut Line ' who played for the Allan Cup champion Ottawa RCAF Flyers from the Ottawa City Senior League in 1941 - 42 . In 1942 - 43 the Quebec Senior Hockey League ' s Ottawa Commandos also won the Allan Cup . Post - War teams . After World War II , Ottawa ' s RCAF Flyers , a senior amateur team , played in the 1948 Winter Olympics , representing Canada and winning the gold medal . The club had won the Allan Cup in 1942 . The Senior Senators continued to play in the Quebec Senior Hockey League after the war . While unaffiliated with any NHL team , Senators players were often the property of the Montreal Canadiens , Toronto Maple Leafs or former Ottawa - born NHLers reinstated as amateurs . Larry Regan , future GM of the Los Angeles Kings played for the Senators before moving to the American Hockey League . The QSHL became the QHL professional league when the Canadiens bought the league to get Jean Beliveau ' s contract in 1953 . By then , Tommy Gorman , who had owned the club when it was a member of the NHL , was back as owner of the team and the Ottawa Auditorium . In the face of national broadcasts on Saturday nights of the Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs , he suspended the club in December 1954 . The next team in Ottawa was the Ottawa - Hull Canadiens who were the relocated Montreal Junior Canadiens . They moved to Ottawa in 1956 . The team never belonged to a league , but played games against the Ontario Hockey Association senior and junior teams and also the professional Quebec Hockey League . In 1959 the Hull - Ottawa Canadiens were one of the founding teams of the Eastern Professional Hockey League . The junior team then moved to Brockville . Major Junior Hockey . The first Ottawa junior - age team to qualify for the Memorial Cup was the Ottawa Gunners of 1928 , followed by the Ottawa Primroses of 1931 . Although teams from the city competed in every season , no other teams from Ottawa made it that far until 1957 . The Ottawa - Hull Canadiens played as an independent team , against pro , senior - level teams and other junior - age team . The team qualified twice for the Memorial Cup finals , in 1957 and 1958 . The Junior Canadiens won the 1958 Cup to become the first Ottawa team to win the Cup . In 1959 , the junior team was moved to Brockville to make way for the pro Hull - Ottawa Canadiens . Some of its players moved up to the pro squad . The 1960s saw the return of top - level junior hockey to the city . The Ottawa 67s of the OHA began play in December 1967 at the new Ottawa Civic Centre . The Civic Centre , a Centennial project , had to open during 1967 or lose its federal funding . The 67s , which had been playing in Hull , narrowly accomplished the scheduled date , playing their first game in a partially - finished Civic Centre on December 29 , 1967 . The club has remained in the Civic Centre ever since , and as of 2009 , is considered one of the most successful junior franchises in Canada . The club has won the Memorial Cup and hosted the Memorial Cup tournament . World Hockey Association . The Ottawa Nationals played in the WHA ' s inaugural season 1972 – 73 . The team qualified for the 1973 WHA playoffs , losing in the first round . The team was not successful at the gate and left Ottawa when they could not come to terms with the City of Ottawa over the lease of the Civic Centre . They relocated the following season to Toronto , Ontario , to become the Toronto Toros ; which in turn , would relocate in 1976 – 77 to Birmingham , Alabama , as the Birmingham Bulls . A second try in the WHA was attempted in 1976 , when the Denver Spurs relocated to Ottawa to become the Ottawa Civics . The team folded after a handful of games , the final game against Gordie Howe and the Houston Aeros , played in Ottawa . Return of the NHL . The Senators were revived in 1990 after Bruce Firestone and Terrace Investments were granted an expansion franchise by the NHL . The Senators began play in the 1992 – 93 NHL season , playing their first three seasons in the Ottawa Civic Centre , while their new new arena , the " Palladium " ( now called Scotiabank Place ) , was constructed , moving in January 1996 . For their first four seasons , they were unsuccessful , finishing last in the league . In 1996 , the team first qualified for the playoffs and qualified for the playoffs in eleven - straight seasons , peaking with a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2007 , losing to the Anaheim Ducks . It had been 80 years since an Ottawa team had appeared in the Finals . Firestone , while ambitious , did not have the finances to support the team . The team struggled financially from the start , financing the arena and its infrastructure . A recession in the early 1990s and a low Canadian dollar put pressure on the club ' s finances also . When one of the club ' s bankers failed in the early 2000s , the Senators were forced into bankruptcy themselves . The club did not fold or relocate , instead re - emerging under the new ownership of Eugene Melnyk a multi - millionaire Canadian businessman with enough personal wealth to own the club outright . Since Melnyk took over , the club has been successful financially , bolstered by the strong play of the on - ice product and strong attendance . The club expanded the seating capacity of Scotiabank Place and built the nearby Bell Sensplex arena facility .