1934–41: QAHA play

The Senators joined the 'Montreal Group' and played against six teams from the Montreal area: McGill, "Jr." Canadiens, Lafontaine, Royals, Verdun and Victorias. McGill and Victorias did not play on Sundays and played only half the schedule, points in their games counting for double.^[6] The Senators made their QAHA debut on November 10, 1934 at home against the Victorias.^[7] After the season, the play off format was for the first-place team to play the fourth-place team, and the second-place play the third. The other teams did not qualify.

1934–35

Ottawa played an 18-game schedule from November 10, 1934 through February 10, 1935. Training camp began on October 17 with open tryouts at the Auditorium in conjunction with the Eagles' training camp.^[8] The team would place third in the seven-team group, and played McGill in the semi-finals. The Senators would defeat McGill to advance to the finals against the Montreal Royals. Ottawa would lose the best-of-five 1–3-1. The club averaged 4,000 fans per game for ten season games, with crowds of 7,000 and 8,000 for play-off games.^[9]

1935–36

The Senators made a coaching change for 1935-36. Dr. Wes Patrick was replaced by Vic Wagner. The team made the playoffs but lost the best-of-five to Montreal 3-1.

1936–37

Wes Patrick returned to coach the Senators. The Lafontaine team was replaced by the Quebec Aces. Ray Kinsella returned from the pro ranks to play for the Senators. The Senators placed fifth and did not qualify for the playoffs.

1937–38

Canadiens were replaced by the Montreal Concordia Civics. Eddie Finnigan and Bill Touhey returned from the pros to play for the Senators. Ottawa placed third and met second-place Quebec in the playoffs. Quebec won the best-of-three series 3-2, all games won by the home team.

1938–39

Ottawa placed second and took on Concordia in the semi-finals, defeating them 4-3, 2-2, 3-1 (2-1) to advance to the finals. In the finals against the Montreal Royals, Ottawa lost three straight ( 2-3, 1-2(OT), 1-5) to lose the series.

1939–40

Former Ottawa Citizen sports editor Tommy Shields took over as coach this season. His first season as coach was unsuccessful as Ottawa finished out of the playoffs, placing fifth in the group. The Cornwall Flyers were added to the group, which lost the Victorias and McGill clubs in the group, operating only six teams. The Victorias club had operated since 1881.

1940–41

The team bounced back this season to finish first in the group with new coach Gene Chouinard. The Canadiens returned to the group to increase it to a seven team league. Ottawa faced the Cornwall Flyers in the semi-finals, and defeated them in a best-of-five 3-0-1 ( 5-0, 5-5, 1-0 and 3-2 ) to advance to the finals. The Senators faced the Royals again in the finals and lost their best-of-five 1-3 (6-2, 2-8, 5-11, 0-2).

1941–1954: Quebec Senior Hockey League

In 1941, the QAHA re-organized and put all of its senior teams in one league, the Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL), including the Senators.

In 1942–43, the club was known as the Commandos and it won the league championship and the Allan Cup.^[10]

In 1943–44, former NHL Senator Bill Beveridge played for the club. The club could not defend its championship. The Commandos lost in the first round of the playoffs (6–3, 1–5, 3–13) to the Montreal Royals.^[11]

In 1947, the club was bought by Tommy Gorman, who had returned to Ottawa and was promoting sports including boxing and horse racing in the capital.^[10] The club won the league championship three straight times from 1947–1949, and the 1949 club won the Allan Cup championship, led by Larry Regan, who would later coach the Los Angeles Kings. In 1950, the league was classified as "major" and was no longer eligible for the Allan Cup.

In 1953, the league was renamed the Quebec Hockey League (QHL) and became professional.

The team ceased operations on December 20, 1954 in the middle of the 1954–55 QHL season. Owner Gorman blamed television for a drop in attendance, as televised games of the Toronto Maple Leafs had started in the previous season in Ottawa and Canadiens telecasts were available within 20 miles of Ottawa.^[10][12]

Aftermath

In 1956–57, the void in Ottawa hockey would be filled by the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens, a junior farm team of the Montreal Canadiens. A senior version of the team would play in 1957–58 and 1958–59 in the OHA.

After the Quebec Hockey League folded in 1959, a new Eastern Professional Hockey League would be formed which included a new version of the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens. It lasted until 1963.

The Ottawa 67's junior ice hockey team was founded in 1967 to play in the new Ottawa Civic Centre, which replaced the Auditorium, which was torn down soon after. The 67's continue today in the same arena.

During the 1970s, Ottawa had two World Hockey Association teams. The first was the Ottawa Nationals which played in the WHA's 1972–73 inaugural season before relocating to Toronto. In 1976, the Denver Spurs finished the season as the Ottawa Civics, but it folded after the season's end.

T. P. Gorman's son, Joe Gorman, would eventually participate in the 1989–1990 campaign to bring the NHL back to Ottawa and gave his permission to use the Senators name. Their efforts were successful and the Ottawa Senators still play in the Ottawa metro area.

Notes