Sydney Millionaires

The first game of the 1914 season was a disastrous one for the Millionaires.  In front of 1800 fans, the Millionaires were beaten by a score of nine to four by the New Glasgow Cubs.  The game started out fast and the ice was describe as being in perfect condition.  After two periods, the score was tied at four apiece.  The game fell apart for the Millionaires in the second period when they were outplayed by New Glasgow who took advantage of Ken Randall being removed from the game for fighting with Neil Wilkie.  Poor goaltending by the newly acquired George Minnock was also responsible for the loss.  New Glasgow was able to score five unanswered goals in the third period.  This lopsided loss was a big disappointment for the champion Millionaires and many of their fans left the game with the opinion that "the game was literally thrown away from the way things went during the last period".

Meanwhile, in Halifax, the hockey community began to scramble, hoping to save professional hockey for the upcoming season.  Rumors were circulating that new leagues would be formed.

There was an announcement from Halifax that really put the leagues future in jeopardy in late November.  It was announced that Manager Gordon Isnor of the Socials had not come to terms with the Halifax Arena Company.  Manager Isnor was requesting seventy percent of the gate receipts along with the 100 dollar fee paid to the New Glasgow Cubs when they played in the city.  The Arena Company managed by Brownie Mahar was willing to provide the Halifax teams with sixty percent of the gate revenues.  Isnor in turn threatened to fold the Socials and retire from hockey and the MPHA if demands were not met.  There was also a rumor that the Crescents and their manager J.T. Murphy had not come to terms with the Arena Company but that was denied by Mahar.

News came from New Glasgow that the Cub's franchise was in serious trouble and it was possible that they would not have a team for the 1914 season.  The Cubs management decided to demand a hundred dollars per game from the Halifax Arena whenever they played in that city.  In 1913 they were granted the sum of sixty dollars to play each game in Halifax but when they arrived in Halifax for the first game of the 1913 season they refused to go on the ice unless they were granted $80 dollars a game to match what Moncton was getting from the Halifax Arena Company.  During the previous year's negotiations, Cubs manager Chester Greggory, promised the Halifax contingent that the payment would be only for the 1913 season.  News from Halifax was that the arena management were not planning to budge.  The worry for New Glasgow fans was that Glace Bay was interested in a team and that the league may drop the Cubs in favor of a new team from Cape Breton.

It was announced on November 4th, that George Stewart, a former MPHA player originally of Sackville New Brunswick was completing an application for an Amherst team in the MPHA.  Stewart who was reportedly backed by several businessmen in Amherst went as far as to request the release of several Amherst men currently playing in the MPHA with the Halifax Socials.  The one major stumbling block to Amherst's application was the size of it's rink.  Many believed that Amherst did not have a rink large enough to support a professional team.