The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

The demise of the original Ottawa Senators no doubt had many factors to consider when they left for St Louis at the conclusion of the 1933-34 season.

But one that is not talked about much is the fanbase they catered to...how, intentional or not (likely intentional), the Senators seemed to have an English players only rule, and that likely alienated a large number of francophone fans in the Ottawa area.

At the dawn of the 20th century, it seemed all professional teams had only players who spoke English. As years rolled on and the birth of the Montreal Canadiens came to fruition, that started to change. But since the French community in Ottawa didn't have a hero they could relate to who wore the barber poles, they mostly stayed away from attending the games...unless the Canadiens came to town.

The final years of the Senators where they sold off players and had attendance problems to deal with, whenever Montreal came to town the citizens across the river in Hull and other French communities would always buy tickets to the Ottawa Auditorium to see the Habitants in action. One particular player, French-speaking Aurele Joliat, who was born in Ottawa in 1901, is a prime indication of the short-sightedness of Senators management. For some reason, the Senators didn't sign him, even though almost all of their talent came from the Ottawa valley and he was visible in the amateur leagues of Ottawa and Iroquois Falls. He won three Stanley Cups in 16 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame: a gem of a player Ottawa could have easily gotten on their roster.

He might have just been one player, but if Ottawa had signed him, maybe they could have gotten the extra fan support they needed to keep the smallest hockey market in the NHL alive, or at the very least, weathered the storm during the days of the Great Depression.

It's just too bad it happened at all.