Quebec Bulldogs

The **Quebec Bulldogs** were a men's senior-level ice hockey team officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club and later as the Quebec Athletic Club.

One of the first organized ice hockey clubs, the club debuted in 1878 with the opening of the Quebec Skating Rink. They continued as an amateur team through various leagues, eventually becoming professional in 1908.

The club would play in the National Hockey Association (the forerunner to the NHL) and the NHL. In 1920, the team moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and became the Hamilton Tigers.

## NHL and the move to Hamilton: 1917–1925

The Bulldogs (along with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers and Ottawa Senators were frustrated with Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone's acrimonious dealings.

However, they discovered that the league constitution did not allow them to simply vote Livingstone out. Instead, the four clubs joined in founding the NHL in 1917 and did not invite Livingstone to join them. Quebec's long-time manager Mike Quinn had retired due to ill health.

The other directors of the Bulldogs were unable to get enough financing to make the move to the NHL—no small consideration given that Quebec City was by far the smallest market in the league.

They opted to suspend operations for the league's inaugural season. To balance out the schedule, the remaining three clubs granted a temporary franchise to the Toronto Arena Company; the direct ancestors of today's Toronto Maple Leafs.

In 1918, the franchise was sold in principle to Percy Quinn. However, Quinn's actual intent was to use the Bulldogs to help resurrect the NHA. However, the other owners called Quinn's bluff by demanding a firm commitment to ice a team in the NHL for the 1918–19 season.

When Quinn refused to do so, the NHL canceled the franchise. When no other Quebec-based group came forward, the Bulldogs sat out the 1918–19 season as well.

In May of 1919, NHL president Calder and Mike Quinn made efforts to return Quebec to the league. Calder suggested that Quinn apply to the league for a new franchise.

On December 2, 1919, the NHL approved the application of the Quebec Athletic Club for an NHL franchise. At the time, newspapers referred to the team as the Quebec Athletics rather than Bulldogs.

While the team had been suspended, their star player, Joe Malone played for the Canadiens. Malone rejoined the franchise, and won the scoring championship that year with 39 goals. Despite Malone's scoring and the presence of players like Harry Mummery, Quebec had a dismal season, finishing last, with 4 wins and 20 losses.

Before the 1920–21 season, the NHL took back the franchise, and sold it to new owners who moved the team to Hamilton, where it became the Tigers. This helped to head off a potential competing league organized by Livingstone from setting up in Hamilton.

The Tigers played in the NHL from 1920 to 1925. Due in large part to a team players' strike in the 1925 NHL playoffs, the franchise was revoked a second time that summer, this time for good.

The entire Tigers roster was then sold to Bill Dwyer, owner of the expansion New York Americans franchise. However, the NHL does not reckon the Americans as a continuation of the Bulldogs/Tigers franchise. The Americans would play in the NHL from 1925 to 1942.

The last active Bulldogs player in major-league hockey was Dave Ritchie, who retired in 1926. The last active Bulldog player was Eddie Oatman, who played pro hockey until 1939 and played against the CAHL Quebec Beavers in 1929.

Over time, various hockey teams played in Quebec, including the minor-pro Quebec Castors and Quebec Aces. Big-league hockey would not return to Quebec City until the Quebec Nordiques were founded in 1972 as part of the new World Hockey Association. They joined the NHL in 1979. However, as with the Bulldogs, they found the going difficult playing in the league's smallest market.

They moved to Denver in 1995 as the Colorado Avalanche. A potential NHL expansion bid for Quebec City has been tabled by the league's board of governors since 2015.