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Dey's Boat Works




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Hockey team from Dawson posed in front of arena doors
(clearly marked Dey's Arena)



How it all started: The Formation of Dey's Arena

 

The Dey arena, being one of Ottawa's most prominent historical sports building in Ottawa (and perhaps in all of NHL history), has a rich story behind it. Built as a skating rink, it was not meant to be one of the most revered arena in history, but eventually housed the first Stanley Cup win for the Ottawa team, when the Dawson City Klondike team travelled 4,000 miles by dogsled to play the Ottawa Silver Sevens.

Back in the early 20th century was a time of entreprenurial and economic opportunity. People realized the potential of starting a venture or business in the Ottawa Valley area because of the national signifcance of the area.with both French and English residents.. Also the rising popularity of hockey as a national pastime brought a tremendous need for hockey related material and the rinks.

The Dey family was one of the first to build a hockey rink that deserves recognition as one of Ottawa's most celebrated and cherished historical buildings. Bringing the Ottawa Sentators (the Silver Seven as they were originally called) to glory, the Dey arena was one of the few arenas in which they played in. Although it is often neglected, the evolution of the sport's arenas are much like the evolution of hockey itself -- reflecting the spirit and constant growth of their team and home city. However, little is known about various early hockey arenas in Canada, and the Dey arena is no exception.. Nevertheless, there is enough history in Ottawa of both amateur and professional hockey to form a solid idea and background of this historic building that was recently honored with a plaque for its contribution in hockey and Ottawa culture

It is often mistaken by most people, that the Dey arena only existed by the Rideau Canal. That is simply not true -- in fact, there were three arenas that existed and built by the Dey brothers.

The first arena was opened on 1884. Destroyed to make way for the for the construction of the Canada Atlantic Railway, the legacy of the Dey's arena did not end there. The second one was built in 1896, as the first hockey arena designed specifically for hockey. However, even as one of Canada's largest arenas during that time, it was not big enough to handle a Stanley Cup audience of such intensity and fervor. So finally, the last arena was buiilt in 1907. (Click on the blue link for individual arena information/history).


The Dawson City Klondikes

 

The Dawson City Klondikes posing in front of Dey's Arena (circa. 1905)

 

During the 1904-1905 season, the Dawson City Nuggets travelled in a extoadinary trip, 4000 miles south, to play the Ottawa Silver Sevens in a Stanley Cup Challenge at Dey's Arena.

The trip began on december 21st, 1904, during the harsh winters of the Yukon. As part of their 8 day, 350 mile journey to Whitehorse, they travelled extensively by bicycing, dog-sledding and walking, much enthusiastic to begin their journey. From there, they took a train to Skagway, a sea port in Alaska. Just missing their boat to Vancouver, they fortunately found another boat that took them to Seattle, in which brought on much water and sea-sickness amongst the crew. The proceeded then to Vancouver by train, and on to Ottawa where they were fit into a spacious smoking car.

After 23 days passed, the Nuggest dinally arrived in Ottawa to find that only 36 hours was given for them to recover from their exhausting trip and prepare for the first (sold-out) match between them and Stanley Cup Champions of the Ottawa Silver Sevens on January 13th.

This historical game was to be held in the newly furnished Dey's Arena, which had become the Silver Sevens much cherished home, and the arena was about to be tested to see whether it could facilitate a sold-out crowd.

And because back in those days, there were no subs from any of the teams, they lost their first game 9-3 to the Ottawa Silver Sevens in the Dey's Arena. The second game the Ottawa Silver Sevcns won again by 23-2, and is in the record books as the biggest single game winners in Stanley Cup history, and up to the present day, has not been broken.

In 1997, the 23 day road trip was enacted with a newly formed Dawson City Nuggets team as they travelled by dogsled and snowmobiles to attend the commemoration of the Dey's Arena, and the historically famous Stanley Cup game. After travelling back to the area, where Dey's Arena has long been torn down, they met a similar gate losing against the Ottawa Sentator's Alumni on March 23rd.

Not surprisingly, they lost their first game 9-3. But they took some comfort that they had kept it respectably close under the circumstances. This sense of comfort gave way to proud confidence as they opted to spend the two days before Game Two "relaxing" in Canada's capital rather than training. This turned out to be a bad plan as they lost the second game 23-2, thus entering the record books as the biggest single game losers in Stanley Cup history. The record still stands.

The historical legacy of the Dey's Arena and the Ottawa Silver Sevens will never be forgotten.


DEY'S ARENA

During the early history of Ottawa hockey, many players and teams in the Ottawa capital region lacked a suitable rink to practice their sport and profess their love of the game in. Hockey mania had just sweeped the city, and it was common knowledge that if they were to fascilitate the sport, indoor hockey rinks must be built. The seasonal factor, with relatively warm summers and blistering cold winters, prevented many hockey teams to play whenever and wherever they wished. The Dey family knew this was a profitable enterprise to indulge in, and their fascination with thesupport logically led to an arena.

When Dey's Arena was built, it was a welcome addition to Ottawa's vibrant city growth. Along with supplementing the city's culture, it provided the Ottawa Silver Sevens (Senators) a venue in which to play and become a well-known force in the professional league. It was in the Dey's Arena that the Silver Sevens won their first Stanley cup, and the three seperate Dey's Arena provided the city with various vibrant memories.

The intention and objective of this site is to preserve a part of hockey history and Canadian culture that may be lost, if the sport becomes too modernized, that we forget where the roots came from. The Dey's Arena, which has long been torn down at its last site, has become a symbol of the passion and love of hockey that will never be forgotten. Even now, if one goes to the location of that arena, they will find a plaque commemorating the function and the impact it had on hockey history.

 We hope you will enjoy this experience into a significant part of hockey and Ottawa culture.

 Best Regards,  William Lin

 

The Original Dey's Arena

The original Dey's arena opened its doors to the public on December 20, 1884 at 2:30 pm. As the creation of William and Edwin Dey, it was intended to be the only competing rink with the city's only other arena, the Royal. They built it along the Rideau Canal, right beside the Boat Works, the company they founded previously. Boat Works was essentially a place where the Dey's built racing boats for various contractors. It was actually there that John Cockburn designed his first Ottawa River Pointer, which was a small boat craft used by lumbermen to sort the logs flowing down the river.

The arena was a most popular place, hosting many such events such as masquerades, skating carnivals, and other social events. However, it was their hope was that it would be primarily used for hockey games. The arena had many features that were absent from many hockey arenas at the time. The original Dey's arena possesed heated dressing rooms as well as electric ceiling lights. Although, it was not primarily a hockey arena (at the time), it was a place where Ottawa's professional hockey club could get together for meetings and practices.

In 1980, the hockey arena relocated to Waller St. During that time, however, it was no longer used by the Ottawa team. Instead it was used primarily for skating and ice carnivals until it was shut down in 1895, due to the construction of the Canada Atlantic Railway.

However, the Dey arena did not cease to exist. In fact, it was the dream of the Dey bro's to build an arena designed specifically for hockey...and that was what they did.

   
The Second Dey's Arena

After the first arena was shut down, it did not signal the end of the arena-bulding business for the Dey brothers. During the month of December 1895, William and Edwin Dey bought from the estate of James Maclaren a number of lots which they would use in the construction of their new arena. These lots, located near the northwest corners of  Bay and Ann Streets, were indeed where the new arena would be constructed. It was also considered convenient for the Dey brothers to construct the arena in that area because it was close to their residential homes on Florence St. This arena was built closer to the downtown core, and was jus in sight of the Parliament builfing of the nation's capital.The Dey brothers had purchased the lots for $2,450, which was plenty at the time, and financially risky considering that they didn't know if enough money was to be made in the hockey business. However, their love for hockey quelled any of those fears. Although it was for used for other sport's such as figure skating, it's main
purpose was to facillitate the hockey teams.

On December 17, 1896, the arena opened its gates to the public for figure skating. Two days later, the arena housed the beginning of the hockey season, with a match between the Capital Hockey Club and Cornwall. The Ottawa team also began their season on January 9th, 1897. Somewhat like the first arena, it had electric lighting and heated dressing rooms, but for some reason lacked ventilation. The ice surface, unlike many other arenas during that time, utilized a natural ice surface which spanned 81 but 200 feet and used no boards along the border. Only a one-foot outer rim presented itself around the rink. The rink also had spectator galleries at both ends of the arena which was fondly nicknamed the "Rush End", where spectators would stand during the whole night watching the game. Also along the south side of the rink, were elevated seats.

Estimated to have a audience capacity of 3,500, the arena was considered too small to house a Stanley Cup audience, shown during the Stanley Cup game of 1903. It was in this arena that the Ottawa Senators (formerly the Ottawa Silver Sevens) won their first Stanley Cup. The players on the Ottawa team and had grown up in and around the arena and were known as neighbours to the Dey extended family. However, altought the location was ideal for a hockey team, right in the centre of the city, its capacity was indeed too small to hold an audience that a Stanley Cup game should hold. It was this reason in which the Dey brothers were led to construct their third and final hockey arena.


 
The Third Dey's Arena

The third arena was constructed in the summer and fall during the year 1907. During that time, the building was considered to not be aesthetically pleasing, and the exterior of the rink was considered an eyesore to many of the inhabitants of that area. Devoid of any elegance, the building held more of a sentiment value than that of architectural value. The arena, which was much bigger than both the other rinks, held a holding capacity of 7,000 spectators, consisting of 4,500 seats and 2,500 standing places. Lke the two previous arenas, it had natural ice surface and was equipped with a internal heating system.

The building was located with easy access from an entrance on Laurier Ave. and a the Canal basin. On December 16, 1907, the arena opened up to the public for hockey practice. Not a month later, the Senators won their first game of the season, witnessed by 7,500 fans that managed to fit into the arena of only 7,000 seat capacity.

With its long legacy, the last Ottawa Senators game to be played in that arena was on March 10, 1923. The arena which withstood the test of time for 20 years, was to be taken down due to the obseletness of the arena in comparison to bigger and better arenas built during that era. Two weeks before the Dey's lease was expired on April 14, 1927, Esther Sherwood sold the rink and the property in which it stood on for $60,000. Bought and pressured by the Federal District Commission during that time, the Dey arena was then taken down in effort by the city to beautify Ottawa and its surrounding area. Although the city deemed it to be too unattractive to uphold, the arena was a beautiful example of Ottawa's love and refined taste for culture and the pursuit of it in the 20th century. It truly displays in Ottawa's history the love for the game of hockey.