 The Ottawa HA's Ottawa Hockey Club had existed for some time, forming to compete in the 1884 Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournament (considered the Canadian championship at the time), later competing in the challenge-based (rather than regularly scheduled) Amateur Hockey Association of Canada.Ottawa HC was the dominant team in the OCHL, winning the OCHL's inaugural and consecutive league championships.In the early days, the OCHL had a relationship with the geographically larger Ontario Hockey Association (OHA), which also formed in 1890.