John Ambrose O'Brien

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O'Brien received this replica of the Stanley Cup from the Canadiens de Montréal in 1967

John Ambrose O'Brien (born May 27, 1885 in Renfrew , Canada, † April 25, 1968 ) was an industrialist and owner of a sports team. He was a co-founder of the National Hockey Association (NHA), owner of the Renfrew Creamery Kings and owner of the Canadiens de Montréal since its inception .

Life

O'Brien played ice hockey in his hometown as a youth before he was accepted into the University of Toronto. He later owned two clubs, in Cobalt and Haileybury . In 1909 he founded the "National Hockey Association" and the "Canadiens de Montréal" and also acquired the "Renfrew Creamery Kings". In the 1909-1910 NHA season, the Creamery Kings were nicknamed "Millionaires" when O'Brien signed extravagant deals with several stars of the time, including Fred Taylor , Frank and Lester Patrick, and Newsy Lalonde for the Renfrew Creamery Kings to win the Stanley Cup . The attempt failed and he ended his engagement in Renfrew after two seasons in 1911.

In November 1909, O'Brien applied for membership in the Canadian Hockey Association as the owner of the Creamery Kings . The application was rejected but was rejected. Outside of the rooms where the CHA meetings were held, he met Jimmy Gardiner , manager of the Montreal Wanderers . Together they developed the idea of ​​founding their own league with O'Brien's teams in Cobalt and Haileybury, the "Wanderers" and a new team "Les Canadiens" for Montreal , in order to arouse the interest of Francophone Montreal people as competition for the hikers . The "Montréal Canadiens" were born. O'Brien only owned this team for one season. After the season he was sued by George W. Kendall (Kennedy) owner of the "Club Athlétique Canadien", who claimed to have the legal rights to the name of the Canadiens. They reached an agreement and on November 12, 1910, Kendall purchased the team for $ 7,500.

The NHA teams were expensive to operate and the NHA was forced to cut salaries and introduce caps. O'Brien reduced his holdings. While he supported four teams in the NHA in 1910, only the Creamery Kings played in the 1910/1911 season. He sold the shares in the other teams. Before the 1911 season, the millionaires broke up and the players were split up among other teams. O'Brien never led a team again.

Honors

In 1962, John Ambrose O'Brien was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the builders and founding fathers of professional ice hockey .

As one of seven personalities who made a special contribution to the team, he was accepted as the founder of the Canadiens de Montréal in December 2006 in the newly created gallery of honor in Center Bell .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Canadian Dictionary of Biography online . Government of Canada Library and Archives. 2007. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
  2. ^ The Canadiens launch “Builders Row” . Club de hockey Canadien, Inc .. 2007. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME O'Brien, John Ambrose
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian industrialist and sports official in the NHA
DATE OF BIRTH May 27, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Renfrew , Canada
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 1968