<P> In the 1916--17 season, the NHA was facing numerous problems . The Quebec Bulldogs were in financial difficulty, while the league's most popular team, the Toronto 228th Battalion, was called away to fight in World War I. Several of the league's team owners were growing frustrated with Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone, with whom they had been having problems since 1915 . Prior to the start of the season, the owners of the Montreal teams, Sam Lichtenhein of the Wanderers and George Kennedy of the Canadiens, threatened to drop the Blueshirts from the league over a player dispute Livingstone was having with the 228th Battalion . Livingstone was also in a dispute with the Ottawa Senators over the rights to Cy Denneny, while Kennedy and Livingstone had a mutual dislike that occasionally threatened to come to blows at league meetings . </P> <P> The remaining owners used the loss of the 228th Battalion as a reason to eliminate the Blueshirts on February 11, 1917 . The Montreal teams led a motion to reduce the NHA to four teams by removing the Blueshirts, ignoring Livingstone's attempts to create a revamped five - team schedule . Livingstone was promised that his players would be returned to him after the season . The dispersal of the Blueshirts' players, organized by league secretary Frank Calder, was described by the Toronto Mail and Empire as a "raid of the Toronto players". At the same meeting, the league adopted a motion commanding Livingstone sell the Blueshirts by June 1 . </P> <P>--Sam Lichtenhein, as told to sports journalist Elmer Ferguson </P> <P> By November 1917, with the sale of Livingstone's Blueshirts still not completed, the remaining owners, realizing they were powerless under the NHA constitution to forcibly eject Livingstone, decided to suspend the NHA and form a new league without Livingstone . On November 26, 1917, following several meetings of the NHA owners throughout the month, the National Hockey League was created at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal . The new league was represented by Lichtenhein's Wanderers, Kennedy's Canadiens, Tommy Gorman on behalf of the Senators, and Mike Quinn of the Bulldogs . A new team in Toronto, under the control of the Toronto Arena Company, completed the five - team league . The NHL adopted the NHA's constitution and named Calder its first president . Quebec retained membership in the NHL, but did not operate that season, so their players were dispersed by draft among the other teams . </P>

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