Thomas Franklin "Frank" Ahearn (May 10, 1886 – November 7, 1962) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Ahearn is best known as an owner of the
original Ottawa Senators National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL) hockey club and a Canadian Member of Parliament.
Life and career
Ahearn was born in
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, Ontario, Canada, the son of
Thomas Ahearn and Lilias MacKay Fleck.
His father was a prominent Ottawa citizen who owned Ottawa Electric and the
Ottawa Electric Railway Company. He was educated at Kent Street Public School, Ottawa Collegiate and privately tutored. Around 1900, he organized the Buena Vista hockey team which played on an open-air rink at Laurier Avenue and Bronson, with an old streetcar for dressing facilities.
In 1909, he married Norah Lewis, granddaughter of Archbishop
John Travers Lewis and also of
Sir Collingwood Schreiber.
Thomas Franklin Ahearn served in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, as a captain in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, from 1914 until 1916, when he was injured and returned home.
Mr. Ahearn became involved with the Ottawa Senators in the period when they won three Stanley Cups in four years between 1920 and 1923. In 1924, he bought out majority owner
Tommy Gorman
Thomas Patrick Gorman (June 9, 1886 – May 15, 1961), known as "T.P." or "Tommy", was a Canadian ice hockey executive, sports entrepreneur and athlete. Gorman was a founder of the National Hockey League (NHL), won the Stanley Cup seven times a ...
. In 1926-27, the Senators won the Cup with one of the most impressive rosters ever assembled. This imposing collection included
Jack Adams
John James "Jolly Jack" Adams (June 14, 1894 – May 1, 1968) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and general manager in the National Hockey League and Pacific Coast Hockey Association. He played for the Toronto Arenas, Vancouv ...
,
King Clancy
Francis Michael "King" Clancy (February 25, 1902 – November 8, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto ...
,
Alec Connell
Alexander "The Ottawa Fireman" Connell (February 8, 1902 – May 10, 1958) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Falcons, New York Americans and Montreal Maroons teams in the National Hock ...
,
Cy Denneny
Cyril Joseph Denneny (December 23, 1891 – September 10, 1970) was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League from 1917 to 1929 and the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hock ...
,
Frank Finnigan,
Hec Kilrea
Hector Joseph "Hurricane" Kilrea (June 11, 1907 — September 6, 1969) was a Canadian ice hockey forward. He played for the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Falcons, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League between 1925 ...
,
Frank Nighbor
Julius Francis Joseph Nighbor (January 26, 1893 – April 13, 1966) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played primarily for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and National Hockey League (NHL). He also ...
and
Hooley Smith
Reginald Joseph "Hooley" Smith (January 7, 1903 – August 24, 1963) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Maroons, Boston Bruins and New York Americans between 1924 and 1941. He won the St ...
.
Winning the Stanley Cup was the last hurrah for the franchise. Due to a combination of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and the smaller population of Ottawa, the club lost money every year after, leading the club to suspend operations for one year, move home games to other cities, and finally move to Missouri to operate as the
St. Louis Eagles
The St. Louis Eagles were a professional ice hockey team that played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Based in St. Louis, the Eagles played for only one year, the 1934–35 NHL season.
The team was founded in 1883 as the Ottawa Senators (ori ...
, and operated the Senators as an amateur/semi-professional senior club. After one season in St. Louis, the Ottawa owners sought to suspend operations again and were turned down by the league. Finally, on October 15, 1935, the Eagles and their players were bought out by the NHL, dispersing the players to other NHL teams and suspending the franchise, with a promise to pass along the proceeds if the franchise was resold. (The franchise would be reinstated eventually in 1992) In the years of his owning the Ottawa Senators, his losses were over $200,000, a loss he said he never regretted. At the time of the dissolution of the NHL franchise, Ahearn was a minority owner of the consortium which owned the
Ottawa Auditorium
The Ottawa Auditorium was a 7,500-seat arena located in Ottawa, Ontario. It was located in Downtown Ottawa at the corner of O'Connor and Argyle Streets, today the site of the Taggart Family YMCA. Built primarily for ice hockey, the arena was al ...
arena and the Senators.
Like his father, Ahearn was involved in politics, and was elected to the
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...
in 1930 and 1935.
Ahearn was a vice-president of the Ottawa Light, Heat and Power Company. In 1940, he resigned to become president of the Ottawa Electric Company. He also had his own firm, Rowatt-Ahearn Ltd. and became president of the Ottawa Electric Railway Company in 1938 after his father died. Ahearn also had interests in several other Ottawa businesses including Wallace Realty Company, the Ottawa Car Manufacturing Company, the Ottawa Gas Company, the Ottawa Investment Company, Ahearn & Soper and other businesses.
He was elected to the
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...
in 1962 as a builder. He was inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame in 1966.
Ahearn died in 1962 at his home at
7 Rideau Gate, Ottawa, and was interred in Beechwood Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Norah, son Thomas Trevor, and daughters Joan and
Lilias.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahearn, T. Franklin
1886 births
1962 deaths
Businesspeople from Ottawa
Canadian sportspeople of Irish descent
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Ottawa
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
National Hockey League owners
Ottawa Senators (original) personnel
Politicians from Ottawa
Stanley Cup champions
20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada