Toronto Blueshirts

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Toronto Blueshirts were a professional National Hockey Association team that played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

[edit] History

When the National Hockey Association was founded in 1909, it comprised four teams: the Montreal Wanderers, the Renfrew Creamery Kings (a.k.a. the Millionaires), the Haileybury Hockey Club and Cobalt. A fifth franchise had been granted to Toronto, to be owned by Eddie McCafferty, but the lack of an arena left the club on hold.

In 1912, NHA hockey finally made its way to Toronto, when the Creamery Kings franchise was relocated there. Because of the distance to the NHA's other cities (Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa), two teams were placed in the Ontario capital: Charlie Querrie's Tecumseh Hockey Club and the Toronto Hockey Club, owned by Frank Robinson and Percy Quinn.

The Toronto Hockey Club was quickly dubbed the Blueshirts because of the team's blue sweaters embroidered with a white capital T.

In 1914, at the end of only their second season, the Blueshirts won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Montreal Canadiens in the NHA finals and the Victoria Aristocrats of the Pacific Coast Hockey League in the Cup finals.

After the victory, manager Quinn left the team, and they fell to fourth place in the six-team NHA with a record of 8 wins and 12 losses (down from 13 wins and 7 losses). In 1915, Robinson joined the Canadian military, leaving the Blueshirts effectively rudderless.

Sensing an opportunity, Edward J. Livingstone, owner of the Toronto Ontarios, purchased the Blueshirts from Robinson. (The Ontarios had previously been known as the Tecumsehs, and finished the 1914-15 season as the Shamrocks.)

When the PCHA's founders, Frank and Lester Patrick created an expansion team in Seattle and stocked it in a much-ballyhooed "raid" of the NHA -- a raid that only seemed to target the Blueshirts, who lost Cully Wilson, Frank Foyston, Harry Holmes and Harry Cameron, among others -- Livingstone transferred his Ontarios/Shamrocks players to the Blueshirts team and allowed his original franchise to go dormant.

The Blueshirts skated to a record of 9 wins, 14 losses and 1 tie in 1915-16, and finished fifth in the five-team NHA.

Livingstone was frequently at odds with his fellow owners, particularly Sam Lichtenhein of the Montreal Wanderers. Tempers boiled over when the NHA added a second Toronto team in 1916-17, representing the 228th Battalion of the Canadian army. The 228th withdrew its team in the midst of the season when the unit was called overseas.

Ultimately, the National Hockey League would be formed as a vehicle by which to exclude Livingstone. The management of the Mutual Street Arena leased the Blueshirts franchise from "Livvy" for the 1917-18 season. The team won the Stanley Cup in 1918, after which the arena's ownership arranged to freeze out Livingstone permanently by applying for, and receiving, a new franchise, the Toronto Arenas. The Arenas became the St. Patricks, and finally the Maple Leafs.