Club History
In April 1934, after two seasons of losses, the directors of the Ottawa Auditorium, owners of the Ottawa Hockey Association, owners of the Ottawa NHL franchise, decided to relocate the NHL franchise to St. Louis. At the same time, it was decided to continue the Senators as a senior men's amateur team in the Montreal Group of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association (QAHA). Ottawa, being in a separate hockey grouping than Quebec, had to get the sanction of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association to join the QAHA. The application to join the QAHA was made by the manager of the Auditorium, Clare Brunton. The 'Senior Senators' took over the 'barber-pole' striped sweaters with the 'O' logo, and played in the same home arena, the Auditorium, but in an amateur league. After 1935, the NHL franchise was bought out and only the senior team was left to continue.
For the players, the team functioned as both a stepping stone to the NHL, and a place for former NHL players to play after leaving the NHL. In the 1934-35 season, Eddie Finnigan, Frank's brother, played for both the senior Senators and the St. Louis Eagles and returned to the Senators after his NHL days were over. Former NHL Senators Ray Kinsella and Syd Howe would return to Ottawa and play for the Senior Senators. Howard Riopelle, after a few years with the Canadiens, joined the Senators in 1951 and would mix working for his local business with playing for the Senators.
During the World War II years, the team operated as the Ottawa Commandos. During this time, NHL players who had enlisted in the Canadian armed forces, continued to play hockey in senior leagues. The Commandos had players such as goaltender Jim Henry of the New York Rangers, whose military posting was in Ottawa.
During its history the club's owners included James MacCaffrey, who was also its first manager, and who owned the football Ottawa Rough Riders and Tommy Gorman, who had had a partial ownership of the Senators previously from 1917 until 1925, and had gone on to be an NHL executive with the Chicago Black Hawks, New York Americans, Montreal Maroons and Montreal Canadiens. The team's first coach was Wes Richards and later coaches included Alex Smith and Georges Boucher.
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