Ottawa Senators ( original ) seasons This documents the records and playoff results of seasons completed by the original - era Ottawa Senators ice hockey club , officially known as the Ottawa Hockey Club from the period of 1883 until 1934 . The first reference to the name ' Senators ' is in 1901 , although the nickname only apparently came into common use in the 1910s . For the period 1903 – 1906 , the club is best known as the ' Silver Seven ' , although this may be a later invention . History . The club began as a community - based sports club , founded in 1883 . In 1889 , the club joined the Ottawa Amateur Athletics Club , an offshoot of the Ottawa Amateur Athletics Association . Until the latter 1890s , the association ' s logo was on the club ' s jerseys . Prior to 1893 , most play was either exhibition , tournament or challenge series . Regular season round - robin play began in the 1893 season , partly due to the influence of Governor General Lord Stanley who donated his Stanley Cup at this time also . Over its history , the Ottawa club changed leagues regularly as leagues were disbanded over disputes and the progression from amateur community sporting club to professional hockey business . In the early 1890s , the club played in its own Ottawa City League , the Ontario Hockey Association ( OHA ) , and the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada ( AHAC ) simultaneously . The club left the OHA in 1894 over a dispute over the OHA championship . The club kept a ' seconds ' team in the City League , while the first team played in the AHAC . The AHAC league met its end in 1898 partly due to the Ottawa Hockey Club wanting to keep out the rival Ottawa Capitals hockey club . In 1905 , the Ottawa Hockey Club left the AHAC ' s successor , the Canadian Amateur Hockey League ( CAHL ) over a dispute regarding replaying games , joining the Federal Amateur Hockey League for a season before forming the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association ( ECAHA ) . In the period of 1906 – 1909 , the club changed from a purely non - paid amateur club to one with a mix of amateurs and paid players , and finally fully professional . From the period of 1910 onwards , the club held a franchise in the fully professional National Hockey Association ( NHA ) and its descendent the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . In 1934 , the NHL franchise and players moved to St . Louis , Missouri and the Senators name was carried on in senior amateur and semi - professional hockey . The end of all descendants of the original Ottawa Hockey Club came in 1954 when Tommy Gorman folded the Senators organization due to declining attendance in competition with televised hockey . Amateur era . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against " Amateur Hockey Association of Canada ( AHAC ) 1887 – 1898 . Ottawa HC played AHAC challenges in the league in 1887 , 1891 and 1892 , however regular seasons were not played until 1893 . In the 1889 and 1890 seasons , after the opening of the new Rideau Skating Rink , Ottawa played only exhibitions games against AHAC opponents . Professional era . Canadian Hockey Association 1910 . League was abandoned after two games . National Hockey League 1917 – 1934 .