Two Quebec-Based Teams Folded Within One Year

Published on August 2nd, 2024 9:33 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Over the history of the NHL, four teams have lasted just one year in the league.

Surprisingly, two of those teams - the Montreal Wanderers and Quebec Bulldogs - were based out of Quebec.

The Montreal Wanderers got their start in 1917 and didn't last very long.

The Wanderers were a successful francise prior to joining the NHL in 1917, but their luck quickly turned.

Just four games into the NHL's inaugural season, the Montreal Arena, home to the Wanderers, burnt to the ground.

World War I was taking place at the time, and the Wanderers simply didn't have enough players to field a team.

After defaulting two straight games, the Wanderers folded.

The Quebec Bulldogs made their official start in the NHL in 1919, despite being one of the founding members of the league.

After posting a terrible 4-20 record in their first and only season in the league, the Bulldogs were seized by the NHL and moved to Hamilton. The league wanted to head off a rival league from putting a team in Hamilton, so they quickly moved the Bulldogs after Quebec had played just one season in the league.

In 1930, the Philadelphia Quakers entered the league.

Talk about bad timing - the Quakers entered the league just as the Great Depression was starting, and the owners of the team had to sell off their best players just to try and stay afloat.

The Quakers amassed a comically bad record of 4-36-4 in their first and only season in the NHL. Instead of moving, the Quakers simply went under, and it would be until 1967 when Philadelphia would have another NHL team.

The last team to collapse after a single season in the NHL were the St. Louis Eagles, who entered the league in 1934.

The St. Louis Eagles were originally the Ottawa Senators, who were forced to suspend operations due to financial issues.

The Eagles didn't fare any better, and they were forced to sell their best players in order to try and stay afloat.

This didn't work - the Eagles franchise was bought back by the NHL, who suspended the team's operations and dispersed their players throughout the league.