List of Ottawa Senators (original) seasons
This documents the records and playoff results of seasons completed by the original-era Ottawa Senators ice hockey club, officially known as the Ottawa Hockey Club from the period of 1883 until 1934. The first reference to the name 'Senators' is in 1901, although the nickname only apparently came into common use in the 1910s. For the period 1903–1906, the club is best known as the 'Silver Seven', although this may be a later invention. History The club began as a community-based sports club, founded in 1883. In 1889, the club joined the Ottawa Amateur Athletics Club, an offshoot of the Ottawa Amateur Athletics Association. Until the latter 1890s, the association's logo was on the club's jerseys. Prior to 1893, most play was either exhibition, tournament or challenge series. Regular season round-robin play began in the 1893 season, partly due to the influence of Governor General Lord Stanley who donated his Stanley Cup at this time also. Over its history, the Ottawa club changed leagues regularly as leagues were disbanded over disputes and the progression from amateur community sporting club to professional hockey business. In the early 1890s, the club played in its own Ottawa City League, the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), and the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) simultaneously. The club left the OHA in 1894 over a dispute over the OHA championship. The club kept a 'seconds' team in the City League, while the first team played in the AHAC. The AHAC league met its end in 1898 partly due to the Ottawa Hockey Club wanting to keep out the rival Ottawa Capitals hockey club. In 1905, the Ottawa Hockey Club left the AHAC's successor, the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) over a dispute regarding replaying games, joining the Federal Amateur Hockey League for a season before forming the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA). In the period of 1906–1909, the club changed from a purely non-paid amateur club to one with a mix of amateurs and paid players, and finally fully professional. From the period of 1910 onwards, the club held a franchise in the fully professional National Hockey Association (NHA) and its descendant the National Hockey League (NHL). In 1934, the NHL franchise and players moved to St. Louis, Missouri and the organization started operating a Senators club in senior amateur and semi-professional hockey. The end of all descendants of the original Ottawa Hockey Club came in 1954 when Tommy Gorman folded the Senators organization due to declining attendance in competition with televised hockey. Amateur era Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Independent 1883–84 - Montreal Tournament and exhibitions 1884–85 - Montreal Tournament and exhibitions 1885–86 - Montreal Tournament was cancelled and no exhibitions were held. The club planned to play in the February 1886 Winter Carnival at Burlington, Vermont, but withdrew after the dates of the carnival were changed. Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) 1887–1898