Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs—were eager to disassociate themselves from Livingstone. On October 19, a meeting of the NHA board of directors was held. Livingstone did not attend, sending lawyer Eddie Barclay. Barclay was informed by the directors that Toronto would not be permitted to play in the 1917–18 season due to the difficulty of operating a five-team league, both in scheduling and availability of players during wartime. However, the NHA's constitution didn't allow the other teams to simply vote Livingstone out. Livingstone responded by publicly announcing that he would set up an international circuit and raid the NHA players. On November 9, 1917, it was reported that the Toronto NHA franchise had been sold to Charles Querrie of the Toronto Arena corporation. At this point, NHA president Robertson and secretary Frank Calder denied that the NHA would change, dissolve or adopt other subterfuge. This sale never completed. At the November 10, 1917 annual meeting of the NHA Livingstone was represented by J. F. Boland, who stated that if the league operated that the Toronto franchise intended to be a full member. The NHA voted to suspend operations for the 1917–18 season but not wind up the organization, and meet in one year's time. Efforts began immediately by the NHA clubs to form a new four-team replacement league. However, Livingstone was not invited to join them. While the Ottawa and two Montreal clubs were committed to playing, Quebec's status was unclear. If Quebec, which had run into financial trouble, could not play then a new temporary Toronto franchise would be granted to balance the schedule with a fourth team. On November 26, 1917, representatives of the Ottawa, Quebec, and Montreal NHA clubs met at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal. The decision to start a new league, called the National Hockey League, was finalized and announced. The Quebec franchise was suspended and a franchise for Toronto was granted to the Arena Gardens of Toronto, Limited, an ownership group fronted by Henry Pellatt that owned and managed the Arena Gardens where the Blueshirts had played. The Toronto franchise was intended to be 'temporary' for only for the inaugural season, with the NHL instructing the company to resolve the dispute with Livingstone, which included litigation between Livingstone and the NHL, or transfer ownership of the Toronto franchise back to the League at the end of the season. The team was loaned the Blueshirts' players