St. Louis Eagles

Thomas Franklin Ahearn, former president of the Ottawa Auditorium

The Ottawa Senators were founded in 1883 as an amateur club. They began paying their players "under the table" in 1903 and turned openly professional in 1907.[1][2] They were a charter member of the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1917, and won the Stanley Cup four times in the NHL's first decade (and seven times prior to the league's formation – including their time as the Silver Seven).[3][4]

However, for the better part of their tenure in Ottawa, the Senators played in the smallest market in the NHL. The 1931 census listed only 110,000 people in the city of Ottawa—roughly one-fifth the size of Toronto, the league's second-smallest market. The team started having attendance problems when the NHL expanded to the United States in 1924; games against the new American teams did not draw well.[5] Despite winning what would be its last Stanley Cup in 1927, the team lost $50,000 for the season.[6] The Senators asked the NHL for permission to suspend operations for the 1931–32 season in order to help eliminate debt. The league granted the request. During their suspended season, Ottawa received $25,000 for the use of its players, while the NHL co-signed a Bank of Montreal loan of $28,000 for the franchise.[7] The Senators returned for the 1932–33 season and finished in last place.[6] They finished last again in 1933–34 season. After the season, the Ottawa Auditorium, owners of the Senators, announced that the team would be moving elsewhere for the next season due to losses of $60,000 over the previous two seasons. Auditorium officials said they needed to move the Senators to a larger city in order to protect the shareholders and pay off their debts.[8]

The Senators' owners decided to move the franchise to St. Louis, Missouri, and the transfer was approved by the league on May 14, 1934. Thomas Franklin Ahearn resigned as president of the Ottawa Auditorium and Redmond Quain became president. Quain transferred the players' contracts and franchise operations to a new company called the Hockey Association of St. Louis, Inc. Eddie Gerard was hired to coach the new team.[9] The club was renamed the Eagles, inspired by the logo of the Anheuser-Busch brewing company, which was founded in St. Louis.[10][11] The Senators name and logo remained in Ottawa and would be used by a senior amateur team until 1954.[12] At the time, St. Louis was the seventh largest city in the United States, with over 800,000 inhabitants—[13] over seven times larger than Ottawa. Despite this, St. Louis had been denied an NHL franchise in 1932 because travel to the Midwest was considered too expensive during the Great Depression.[14]

Even before the debut of the Eagles, a problem had arisen for the new NHL club. There was already a professional hockey team in the city, the St. Louis Flyers, playing in the minor-pro American Hockey Association (AHA). The owners of the Flyers claimed they had an agreement with the NHL which prevented it from settling west of the Mississippi.[14] They threatened to sue for $200,000 in compensation as soon as the Eagles played their first game. Following a visit from the AHA President, the Flyers were asked not to go forward with the lawsuit. The Flyers did not pursue further legal action and eventually changed their home arena.[15][16]

The St. Louis Arena, as it looked on the day of its demolition - February 27, 1999.

At the time there were nine teams in the NHL, divided into two divisions, the Canadian and American. Logically, the Eagles should have been placed in the American Division with the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings. However, in defiance of all geographic reality, the Eagles retained the Senators' place in the Canadian Division alongside the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Maroons, and New York Americans.[17][18] The core of the Senators' players returned and the team played their games in the St. Louis Arena. The arena was built in 1929 to host the National Dairy Show, but had suffered financially. In 1931, an ice hockey rink was set up to attract new business.[19][20] Once the Eagles began play the St. Louis Arena gained the distinction of being the only NHL stadium with racially segregated seating.[21]

In their first game the Eagles succumbed to a late rally by the defending Stanley Cup champion Black Hawks, losing 3–1.[22] They registered their first win in the next game winning 4–2 over the Rangers. Following the win the Eagles went on an eight-game losing streak.[23] After the first 13 games the Eagles posted a 2–11–0 record placing them last in their division. Gerard resigned as head coach and was replaced by George "Buck" Boucher, the coach that Gerard himself had replaced after the franchise's last season in Ottawa.[24]

Under Boucher's coaching the team showed improvement, posting a 3–3–3 record in the first nine games.[25] However, the early losing streak had already damaged the fan base. Their inaugural game drew 12,622 fans, but attendance quickly diminished.[14][22] In early January 1935 the team cut ticket prices to the lowest in the league in an attempt to bring out fans.[26] By February the financial state of the team forced the Eagles to essentially sell leading goal scorer Syd Howe to the Detroit Red Wings.[27][28] Officially, the trade broke down as such - Detroit received Howe and Ralph Bowman in exchange for Teddy Graham and $50,000.[29] At the time it was considered a large sum of money.[30] Likewise Frank Finnigan was sold to the Maple Leafs.[14] The Eagles were unable to maintain the early success under Boucher, and finished with the worst record in the league for the third year in a row, with a record of 11–31–6. With only 84 goals scored, they were the lowest scoring team in the league. Only the Montreal Canadiens allowed more goals during the season, surrendering 145 to the Eagles' 144.[31]

St. Louis Eagles NHL jersey on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame

By season's end the Eagles ownership had lost $70,000, due primarily to the cost of train travel. In those days, NHL teams traveled primarily by rail. Due to being in the Canadian Division, the Eagles had to make many trips to Montreal and Toronto. An attempt to stabilize the franchise by selling off some of its players netted $58,000. The owners had hoped to move again to save the franchise.[32] There was interest from Cleveland and also in a return to Ottawa, but neither came to fruition.[33][34]

As a result, the ownership again petitioned the NHL to allow them to suspend operations for a year. This time the NHL refused and the Eagles were put up for sale.[35][36] After no credible offers surfaced, the NHL bought the franchise and player contracts for $40,000, and opted to play as an eight-team league.[36] If the NHL ever resold the franchise, proceeds were to go to the Ottawa Hockey Association.[37] The NHL distributed the players under contract with St. Louis through a dispersal draft. Teams selected players in an order based on the previous season's standings. Teams with the lowest point totals selected first. The Chicago Black Hawks did not participate in the draft. Eighteen of the 23 players under contract were selected with the remaining players being placed in the minor leagues.[36][38] The players were distributed as follows:

• New York Americans: Forwards: Pete Kelly, Eddie Finnigan
• Montreal Canadiens: Goaltender: Bill Beveridge, Defenseman: Irv Frew, Forwards: Paul Drouin, Henri Lauzon
• Detroit Red Wings: Forward: Carl Voss, Goaltender: William Peterkin
• New York Rangers: Forward: Glen Brydson, Defenseman: Vernon Ayres
• Montreal Maroons: Forward: Joe Lamb, Goaltender: Bill Taugher
• Boston Bruins: Forward: Bill Cowley, Defenseman: Teddy Graham
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Forwards: Gerry Shannon, Cliff Purpur, Jim Dewey, Defenseman: Mickey Blake

No credible offers to purchase the dormant franchise ever surfaced. As a result, the Senators/Eagles franchise never took the ice again, and remain one of two NHL teams to fold after winning a Stanley Cup (the other being the Maroons).

In 1938, the Montreal Maroons attempted to move to St. Louis. They were denied by the NHL due to the high travel costs that plagued the Eagles.[39] The NHL returned to St. Louis in 1967, when the league doubled in size from the Original Six. The new team was named the Blues and they joined the Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Oakland Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the new expansion.[40]

• Syd Howe, 1934–35

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• Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc. Montreal, Quebec: National Hockey League. ISBN 0-8403-2941-5.
• Coleman, Charles L. (1967). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 2, 1927–1946 inc. Montreal, Quebec: National Hockey League.
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• Finnigan, Joan (1992). Old Scores, New Goals. The Story of the Ottawa Senators. Kingston, Ontario: Quarry Press. ISBN 1-55082-041-9.
• Fox, Tim (1995). Where we live: a guide to St. Louis communities. St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Historical Society. ISBN 1-883982-12-X.
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