| Quebec Bulldogs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1878[1] |
| History | Quebec Hockey Club 1878–1888 (independent) 1889–1890 (AHAC) 1891 (dormant) 1892–1898 (AHAC) 1899–1905 (CAHL) 1906–1909 (ECAHA) 1910 (CHA) 1910–1917 (NHA) 1917–1919 (dormant) Quebec Athletic Club 1919–1920 (NHL) Hamilton Tigers 1920–1925 |
| Home arena | Quebec Skating Rink (1878–1913) Quebec Arena (1913–1920)[2] |
| City | Quebec City, Quebec |
| Team colours | Blue, white |
| Stanley Cups | 2 (1912,1913) |
TheQuebec Bulldogs (French:Bulldogs de Québec) were anice hockey team based inQuebec City. The team was officially known as theQuebec Hockey Club (French:Club de hockey de Québec),[3] and later as theQuebec Athletic Club (French:Club athlétique de Québec). One of the first organized ice hockey clubs, the club debuted in 1878 with the opening of theQuebec Skating Rink. The club continued as an amateur team through various leagues, eventually becoming professional in 1908. The club would play in theNational Hockey Association (the forerunner to the NHL) and theNational Hockey League. In 1920, the team moved toHamilton, Ontario and became theHamilton Tigers.
The Quebec Hockey Club was founded in 1878, after the construction of the Quebec Skating Rink in 1877.[1] The club consisted of Anglo-Canadian players. Play was by exhibition only, against teams drawn from the club members or visiting teams from Montreal. In 1883, the club played in theMontreal Winter Carnival, and joined theAmateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) in 1888 and were members until 1898. After the AHAC, Quebec played in theCanadian Amateur Hockey League from 1899 to 1905, and theEastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association from 1906 to 1909. One player that went through the ranks of the Quebec Hockey Club wasDavid Watson (1869–1922), a journalist and newspaper owner who fought as a Major-General inWorld War I. Watson played for the Quebec HC as a cover point (an offensive defenceman) in the AHAC through the course of the 1890s.
The club came close to winning the Stanley Cup on two occasions. In the1894 season Quebec tied for the AHAC regular season lead with three other clubs. The AHAC drew up plans to hold the playoff solely in Montreal. Quebec declined to play in Montreal without one game in Quebec and the championship was eventually won by theMontreal Hockey Club. In 1904, Quebec won the CAHL outright. In a dispute, the club did not win theStanley Cup or challenge for it. TheOttawa Hockey Club was the defending champions in1903–04, but withdrew from the league. Quebec went on to win the CAHL and expected to receive the Stanley Cup as league champions. The trustees of the Cup instead ruled that the Cup went to Ottawa.
Two significant players on the Quebec Hockey Club during the later part of the first decade of the 1900s wereChubby andJoe Power, who would both later serve as politicians in Quebec. A third Power brother,Rockett Power, also represented the club.
In late 1909, Quebec became a founding member of theCanadian Hockey Association (CHA) in 1909. The CHA, however, would only last one month before being absorbed into the much more powerfulNational Hockey Association (NHA). Rejected by the new league, the Bulldogs sat out the inaugural1910 season. The following season,1910–11, the Bulldogs took over the defunctCobalt Silver Kings franchise, but had a rough initiation, finishing dead last with four wins and 12 losses in a 16-game season. On a positive note, and a sign of things to come,Jack McDonald scored 14 goals andTommy Dunderdale scored 13.
For1911–12, the Bulldogs went from worst to first, withJoe Malone having a spectacular season, to win theO'Brien Cup as champions of the NHA and theStanley Cup. The Dogs' record improved to 10 wins and eight losses while Malone scored 21 goals and Jack McDonald scored 18. In a Stanley Cup challenge, they crushed theMoncton Victorias in two games, 9–3 and 8–0, in the best-of-threeplayoff.
In their third season (1912–13), Quebec would again finish first overall with a record of 16-4 losses to retain the championship. Joe Malone won the scoring race with an unprecedented 43 goals. His teammate,Tommy Smith, was a close second with 39. In a Stanley Cup challenge after the season the team easily beat theSydney Millionaires in two games by a combined score of 20-5.
TheVictoria Aristocrats of thePacific Coast Hockey Association next challenged the Bulldogs. The powerhouse Bulldogs expected to bowl over the Aristocrats, but were shocked after splitting the first two games and then losing 6–1 in the decisive third game. However, the Stanley Cup Board of trustees did not recognise the challenge because it should have been played in Quebec. PCHA leader Lester Patrick refused. The Bulldogs were able to keep the Cup.
In December 1913, the Bulldogs moved to the newQuebec Arena.[2] The following seasons would see the Bulldogs drop from the top of the league. They would finish third overall in each of the next three seasons and in the last NHA season (1916–17) went second overall. After their two Stanley Cup wins, though, they would never again challenge for the Cup.
The Bulldogs, along with theMontreal Canadiens,Montreal Wanderers andOttawa Senators, were frustrated withToronto Blueshirts ownerEddie Livingstone's acrimonious dealings. However, they discovered that the league constitution did not allow them to simply vote Livingstone out. Instead, the four clubs joined in founding theNational Hockey League in 1917, and did not invite Livingstone to join them. Quebec's long-time managerMike Quinn had retired due to ill health. The other directors of the Bulldogs were unable to get enough financing to make the move to the NHL—no small consideration given that Quebec City was by far the smallest market in the league. They opted to suspend operations for the league'sinaugural season.[4] To balance out the schedule, the remaining three clubs granted a temporary franchise to the Toronto Arena Company, the direct ancestors of today'sToronto Maple Leafs.
In 1918, the franchise was sold in principle toPercy Quinn. Quinn's actual intent was to use the Bulldogs to help resurrect the NHA. However, the other owners called Quinn's bluff by demanding a firm commitment to ice a team in the NHL for the1918–19 season. When Quinn refused to do so, the NHL canceled the franchise.[5] When no other Quebec-based group came forward, the Bulldogs sat out the 1918–19 season as well.
In May 1919, NHL president Calder and Mike Quinn made efforts to return Quebec to the league. Calder suggested that Quinn apply to the league for a new franchise. On December 2, 1919, the NHL approved the application of the Quebec Athletic Club for an NHL franchise.[5] Newspapers at the time now referred to the team as theQuebec Athletics[6] rather thanBulldogs.
While the team had been suspended, their star player, Joe Malone, played for the Canadiens. Malone rejoined the franchise, and won the scoring championship that year with 39 goals. Despite Malone's scoring and the presence of players likeHarry Mummery, Quebec had a dismal season, finishing last, with 4 wins and 20 losses.
Before the 1920–21 season, the NHL took back the franchise, and sold it to new owners who moved the team to Hamilton, where it became the Tigers. This helped to head off a potential competing league organized by Livingstone from setting up in Hamilton.[7]
The Tigers played in the NHL from1920 to1925. Due in large part to a team players' strike in the 1925 NHL playoffs, the franchise was revoked a second time that summer, this time for good. The entire Tigers roster was then sold toBill Dwyer, owner of the expansionNew York Americans franchise. However, the NHL does not reckon the Americans as a continuation of the Bulldogs/Tigers franchise. The Americans would play in the NHL from1925 to1942.
The last active Bulldogs player in major-league hockey wasDave Ritchie, who retired in 1926. The last active Bulldog player wasEddie Oatman, who played pro hockey until 1939 and played against the CAHL Quebec Beavers in 1929.
Over time, various hockey teams played in Quebec, including the minor-proQuebec Castors andQuebec Aces. Big-league hockey would not return to Quebec City until theQuebec Nordiques were founded in 1972 as part of the newWorld Hockey Association. They joined the NHL in 1979. However, as with the Bulldogs, they found the going difficult playing in the league's smallest market. They moved toDenver in 1995 as theColorado Avalanche. Apotential National Hockey League expansion bid for Quebec City has been tabled by the league's board of governors since 2015.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
| Season | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | Postseason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1888–89 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 2 | 3 | lost one AHAC challenge 2–3 to Montreal HC. | |
| 1890 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 5 | lost one AHAC challenge 1–5 to Montreal HC. | |
| 1891 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | lost one AHAC challenge by default to Montreal HC. | |
| 1892 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 3 | 6 | lost two AHAC challenges to Ottawa HC. | |
| 1893 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 46 | fourth, AHAC | Did not qualify |
| 1894 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 26 | 27 | 1st place tie, AHAC | Did not participate |
| 1895 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 27 | fifth, AHAC | Did not qualify |
| 1896 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 23 | 23 | third, AHAC | Did not qualify |
| 1897 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 22 | 46 | fourth, AHAC | Did not qualify |
| 1898 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 29 | 35 | fourth, AHAC | Did not qualify |
| 1899 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 31 | fifth, CAHL | Did not qualify |
| 1900 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 33 | 52 | fifth, CAHL | Did not qualify |
| 1901 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 43 | fifth, CAHL | Did not qualify |
| 1902 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 26 | 34 | fourth, CAHL | Did not qualify |
| 1903 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 30 | 46 | fourth, CAHL | Did not qualify |
| 1904 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 50 | 37 | first, CAHL | Did not challenge for Stanley Cup |
| 1905 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 78 | 45 | second, CAHL | Did not qualify |
| 1906 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 57 | 70 | fourth, ECAHA | Did not qualify |
| 1907 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 62 | 88 | fifth, ECAHA | Did not qualify |
| 1907–08 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 81 | 74 | third, ECAHA | Did not qualify |
| 1909 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 78 | 106 | third, ECAHA | Did not qualify |
| 1910 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 22 | n/a | Season incomplete |
| 1910–11 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 65 | 97 | fifth, NHA | Did not qualify |
| 1911–12 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 81 | 79 | first, NHA | Won O'Brien Cup Won Stanley Cup |
| 1912–13 | 20 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 112 | 75 | first, NHA | Won O'Brien Cup Won Stanley Cup |
| 1913–14 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 24 | 111 | 73 | third, NHA | Did not qualify |
| 1914–15 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 22 | 85 | 85 | third, NHA | Did not qualify |
| 1915–16 | 24 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 22 | 91 | 98 | third, NHA | Did not qualify |
| 1916–171 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 43 | 80 | sixth, NHA | Did not qualify |
| 1916–172 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 54 | 46 | second, NHA | Did not qualify |
| 1919–201 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 44 | 81 | fourth, NHL | Did not qualify |
| 1919–202 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 47 | 96 | fourth, NHL | Did not qualify |
| Relocated to Hamilton | |||||||||
| Totals | 311 | 134 | 175 | 3 | 267 | 1422 | 1662 | ||
Note: 1 = first half of season, 2 = second half of season
This list is incomplete.
