Toronto Ontarios

Lore & Background

In 1913, Tom Wall purchased the bankrupt Tecumsehs and renamed them the Ontarios. The team continued to play in the Arena Gardens. The Tecumsehs had finished sixth in the six-team league, with a record of seven wins and 13 losses. Despite the addition of 27-goal scorer Jack McDonald and veteran Ottawa Senators defenceman Fred Lake, the Ontarios fared worse, winning only 4 games and losing 16, for a .200 winning percentage.

After one season, Wall sold the team to local amateur hockey impresario Eddie Livingstone. Livingstone acquired goaltender Percy LeSueur and forward Skene Ronan. He also added rookies Corb Denneny and Alf Skinner, and the McNamara brothers returned. The team had also acquired NHA scoring champion Tommy Smith before Livingstone took over. A tug of war developed over Smith's services: the Pacific Coast Hockey Association claimed Smith was their property; Livingstone insisted he belonged to Toronto. The PCHA's bosses, Lester Patrick and Frank Patrick, threatened they would raid the NHA for players the next season.

After the first game of the season in January 1915, the team was renamed the Toronto Shamrocks. Livingstone said the idea came from the players because eight members of the team claimed Irish descent. The team colours were kept the same, but the O on the jerseys was replaced with a green shamrock.

Reader's Guide

The Toronto Ontarios represent a transitional phase in early professional hockey in Toronto, existing for only two seasons before being renamed. Their significance lies in their role within the competitive and often unstable National Hockey Association, where franchise ownership changed hands rapidly and financial difficulties were common. The team's poor performance—winning only 4 of 20 games in their first season—underscores the challenges faced by new franchises in a league dominated by established clubs. The acquisition of the team by Eddie Livingstone set the stage for further turmoil, including a dispute with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association over player Tommy Smith, which highlighted the inter-league rivalries of the era. The Ontarios' brief history also illustrates the fluid nature of team identities in early hockey, as the franchise was renamed the Shamrocks in 1915 and later absorbed into Livingstone's other NHA team, the Toronto Blueshirts. Ultimately, the franchise was seized by the NHA and later reactivated for a military team, the Toronto 228th Battalion, before the league evolved into the National Hockey League, leaving the Ontarios as a footnote in the development of professional hockey in Toronto.

Did You Know?

• The Ontarios were formed when Tom Wall purchased the bankrupt Tecumsehs in 1913.
• Despite adding 27-goal scorer Jack McDonald, the Ontarios won only 4 games in the 1913–14 season.
• Eddie Livingstone acquired the team in 1914 and later renamed it the Toronto Shamrocks in January 1915.
• The team's jersey featured an O that was later replaced with a green shamrock.