The National Hockey Association (NHA), officially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey League (NHL). Founded in 1909 by Ambrose O'Brien, the NHA introduced 'six-man hockey' by removing the 'rover' position in 1911. During its lifetime, the league coped with competition for players with the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the enlistment of players for World War I and disagreements between owners. The disagreements between owners came to a head in 1917, when the NHA suspended operations in order to get rid of an unwanted owner, Eddie Livingstone. The remaining NHA team owners started the NHL in parallel as a temporary measure, to continue play while negotiations went on with Livingstone and other lawsuits were pending. A year later, after no progress was reached with Livingstone, the other NHA owners decided to permanently suspend the NHA. The NHA's rules, constitution and trophies were continued in the NHL. History Founding In November 1909, the Eastern Canada Hockey Association (ECHA), holder of the Stanley Cup and ostensibly the pre-eminent ice hockey league, was in the midst of a dispute. The Montreal Wanderers team of the ECHA had been bought by P. J. Doran, owner of the Jubilee Rink in Montreal and he intended to move the team's games there. The Jubilee was smaller than the Wanderers' current rink, the Montreal Arena which meant visiting teams would earn less on their trips to play the Wanderers. On November 25, 1909, the other teams in the league disbanded the ECHA and formed the new Canadian Hockey Association (CHA), which excluded the Wanderers. At the same time, Ambrose O'Brien of Renfrew, Ontario– scion of a prosperous silver mine owner and founder of the Renfrew Creamery Kings ice hockey team –was seeking admission to the ECHA so as to be able to contest the Stanley Cup. The team had applied to the Stanley Cup trustees as champions of the Federal League, but had been rejected. At the November 25 CHA founding meeting, held at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, O'Brien applied to join the CHA but the application was rejected. Sitting in the lobby of the hotel after the CHA meeting, O'Brien met Jimmy Gardner of the Wanderers, whose team had also been rejected by the CHA. Together, they decided to form their