O'Brien is the man who put the Montreal Canadiens on the map in the first place. Working with Jimmy Gardner in 1909, he conceived and financed a new francophone club — "Les Canadiens" — as part of his push to build the National Hockey Association. He owned the team for its inaugural season before selling it to George Kendall (Kennedy) on November 12, 1910, for $7,500, setting the franchise on the path it has followed for more than a century since.