551 Gladstone Ave/Bay St.
THE OTTAWA HOCKEY CLUB DEFEATED THE MONTREAL VICTORIAS AT THIS SITE ON MARCH 10, 1903 TO BRING OTTAWA ITS FIRST STANLEY CUP
One of the reasons I feel driven to search for and research these plaques is that sometimes, they disappear. Weather and time, revised building priorities, and vandalism all take their toll on the readability and accessibility of the plaques.
Before this memorial was installed, there was a plaque placed at this very site that has been destroyed. It was installed on the corner of Gladstone (Ann St.) and Bay, Thursday, March 20th, 1997, by Ottawa Mayor Jacquelin Holzman and Dawson City Mayor Glen Everitt (as that coming Sunday, the Dawson City Nuggets were going to play the Ottawa Senators Alumni at the Corel Centre). (The Ottawa Citizen, March 1997) This 1997 plaque was destroyed by vandals ten years later and replaced with a memorial in 2008. (The Ottawa Citizen, March 2014) The community group, The Dey’s Rink Memorial Committee, chaired by Mr. Kitchen, coordinated donations for the replacement. (The Ottawa Citizen, November 2008) Witnessing the 2008 unveiling of the replacement memorial was by the Memorial Committee, Mayor Larry O’Brien, and Councilor Diane Holmes. (The Ottawa Citizen, November 2008)
The Original Senators team, The Ottawa Hockey Club, was also known as the Silver Seven, and this rink was their first home arena where they won Ottawa’s first Stanley Cup. (The Ottawa Citizen, November 1997) The Dey Rink on Gladstone Ave. was built by the brothers, Ted and William Dey, on the land they purchased from James Maclaren. (The Ottawa Citizen, November 1997) The site was chosen to take advantage of the tram that traveled along Ann St. (now Gladstone). (The Ottawa Citizen, November 1997) The Gladstone/Bay location was the brother’s second indoor rink, the first built with their father Joseph Dey, beside the Maria street footbridge (now rebuilt as the Laurier Bridge) on the east side. (The Ottawa Citizen, November 1997) More importantly, the Gladstone/Bay location was Ottawa’s first indoor rink built to accommodate hockey specifications in addition to public skating. (The Ottawa Citizen, November 1997)
While the memorial is on the exact corner the skating rink was built in 1896, its street name has since changed. According to the Key Plan of Ottawa Vicinity May 1895, Gladstone Ave (nestled between McLeod and Florence streets was known as Ann Street. It originally derived its name from Ann McKay who was the wife of the master stonemason, Thomas McKay, on the canal project. (The Ottawa Citizen, February 2014) The combined lengths of Ann St., and Emily St., were renamed “Gladstone” to honour the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister William Gladstone (The Ottawa Citizen, February 2014) who had died in 1898, (The Evening Citizen, April 1898) as seen in the 1902 Ottawa City Directory.
The original rules to the Stanley cup as were posted May 1, 1893, in the Ottawa Journal, The Stanley Cup; His excellency’s gift to hockey associations. (The Ottawa Journal, May 1893) With modern rinks that can be maintained year-round, the Stanley cup is now held in June. But when the gift was first bestowed it was in the rules that the competition for the cup be held no later than the first Saturday in March. (The Ottawa Journal, May 1893) To make the Stanley Cup as available as possible, it was suggested that the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (the Eastern organization), and the Ontario Hockey Association (the Western organization) would be the competing organizations but “if another league is ever formed representing the best hockey”, the trustees may give its winning club the right to challenge for the cup. (The Ottawa Journal, May 1893) Nowadays the cup is competed for in the National Hockey League (NHL), with Canadian and US professional hockey teams (as opposed to amateur teams) with its Western and Eastern Conferences that vie for the cup.*
*Thank you to Rodney Quintyne for clearing up modern day hockey leagues for me.
Plaques, Statues and Cornerstones 