Toronto Blueshirts
NHA club that won the 1914 Stanley Cup.
The Toronto Hockey Club—also called the Torontos or the Toronto Blueshirts—was a professional ice hockey side that played in the National Hockey Association (NHA). Founded in 1911, the team began play the following year and captured its only Stanley Cup in 1914. The club later sparked a dispute among NHA owners that caused the league to shut down, leading directly to the creation of the National Hockey League (NHL). In the NHL, the Blueshirts were replaced by a new Toronto Hockey Club owned by the Toronto Arena Company, which had been the Blueshirts’ landlord. That new club leased the Torontos’ players temporarily, won the Stanley Cup in 1917–18, and was granted a permanent franchise for 1918–19—the team that eventually became the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The NHA had been founded in 1909 without any Toronto teams. League founder Ambrose O'Brien initially ran four franchises: Cobalt Silver Kings, Haileybury Comets, Les Canadiens, and Renfrew Creamery Kings. In 1910, O'Brien suspended Cobalt, Haileybury, and Les Canadiens, then sold one franchise to form the Montreal Canadiens (which took Les Canadiens’ players). By 1911, O'Brien wanted out of hockey entirely. Quebec interests bought one of his remaining franchises, and the last two were sold to groups planning to move them to Toronto. Toronto had lacked an arena with artificial ice large enough for an NHA team, but construction of Arena Gardens began in 1911. The arena was owned by the Toronto Arena Company, incorporated on September 19, 1911, with Sir Henry Pellatt as president, Lol Solman as managing director, and directors including Aemilius Jarvis, Joseph Kilgour, T.W. Horn, R.A. Smith, and Col. Carlson, plus two Montreal directors. W. J. Bellingham was the first manager.
Frank Robinson, Percy Quinn, and other investors bought one Toronto franchise for CA$2,000. Quinn was president of the Dominion Lacrosse Association, a pro lacrosse league modeled on the NHA. The second Toronto franchise went to a group tied to the Tecumseh Lacrosse Club, who paid CA$500 cash and promissory notes for CA$2,000. Although O'Brien had operated a team with that franchise, no players or other assets came with it. According to Coleman, the Torontos’ franchise was the one used by Les Canadiens; other sources say O'Brien sold the Canadiens to George Kennedy, leaving the matter unresolved.
- Founded
- 1911
- First season
- 1912
- League
- National Hockey Association (NHA)
- Stanley cup championships
- 1
- Stanley cup years
- 1914
- Arena
- Arena Gardens
- Ownership changes
- Frank Robinson, Percy Quinn; later Eddie Livingstone
Lore & Background
The Toronto Hockey Club was founded after NHA founder Ambrose O'Brien sold two franchises to Toronto interests in 1911. The franchise was bought by Frank Robinson, Percy Quinn and other investors for CA$2,000. The team was built from scratch and did not include any players from Les Canadiens. The first manager was Bruce Ridpath, a Toronto native and former Ottawa Senators player who intended to be a playing-coach but could not play due to an automobile injury. The Torontos played their first game on December 25, 1912, before 4,000 fans at Arena Gardens. The team included Cully Wilson and future hall-of-famers Hap Holmes, Harry Cameron, Frank Foyston, and Frank Nighbor. They finished the 1912–13 season in a tie for third place. In 1913–14, after manager Ridpath resigned and was replaced by Jack Marshall, the Torontos won the Stanley Cup by defeating the Montreal Canadiens in a playoff and then the Victoria Aristocrats of the Pacific Coast Hockey League in three straight games. After the Cup win, owner Quinn left the team, and the club fell to fourth place in 1914–15. Before the 1915–16 season, Robinson sold the team to Eddie Livingstone, owner of the Toronto Shamrocks. The Pacific Coast Hockey Association raided the Blueshirts, taking leading scorers Wilson and Foyston, goaltender Holmes, and other key players. Livingstone transferred Shamrocks players to the Blueshirts and let the Shamrock franchise go dormant. The Torontos finished last in 1915–16. Livingstone was frequently at odds with fellow owners, particularly Sam Lichtenhein. In 1916–17, the NHA added a second Toronto team representing the 228th Battalion, which withdrew mid-season. On February 12, 1917, the other owners suspended the Torontos for the rest of the season and distributed its players. Toronto was reinstated with the condition that Livingstone sell the club within 60 days, but he obtained a court order to prevent the sale. On November 22, 1917, the NHA owners announced the league would suspend operations, and about two weeks later they created the NHL without Livingstone. The Blueshirts were replaced in the NHL by a new Toronto Hockey Club under the ownership of the Toronto Arena Company, the Blueshirts' former landlord. The Torontos' players were leased to the Arena ownership temporarily and competed in the NHL in 1917–18, winning the Stanley Cup. The Arena Company was then granted a permanent franchise for the 1918–19 season that evolved into today's Toronto Maple Leafs.
Reader's Guide
The Toronto Blueshirts are significant as the first Stanley Cup-winning team from Toronto and as a catalyst for the formation of the National Hockey League. The club's ownership under Eddie Livingstone led to a dispute among NHA owners that resulted in the NHA suspending operations and the owners forming the NHL in 1917. The Blueshirts were not included in the new league; instead, a new Toronto Hockey Club, owned by the Toronto Arena Company (the Blueshirts' former landlord), took their place. The Blueshirts' players were temporarily leased to this new ownership and won the Stanley Cup in the NHL's inaugural 1917–18 season. The Arena Company's permanent franchise, granted for 1918–19, eventually evolved into the Toronto Maple Leafs. Thus, the Blueshirts' legacy is intertwined with the birth of the NHL and the establishment of a continuous Toronto franchise in the league.
Did You Know?
- The Toronto Hockey Club won its sole Stanley Cup championship in 1914.
- The club's first manager, Bruce Ridpath, was a Toronto native and former Ottawa Senators player who could not play due to an automobile injury.
More in Defunct Ice Hockey Teams 1-24
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