John Ambrose O'Brien (May 27, 1885 – April 25, 1968), was an industrialist and sports team owner. He was a founder of the National Hockey Association (NHA), owner of the Renfrew Millionaires and the founding owner of the Montreal Canadiens professional ice hockey team.Born in Renfrew, Ontario, O'Brien became involved in hockey. He played as a youth and eventually owned two clubs in northern Ontario in Cobalt, Ontario and Haileybury, Ontario. In 1909, he founded the National Hockey Association, the Montreal Canadiens and bought the Renfrew Creamery Kings. In the 1909–10 NHA season, the Creamery Kings received the nickname "Millionaires" as O'Brien signed up several stars of the time to extravagant contracts, including Fred "Cyclone" Taylor and brothers Frank Patrick and Lester "the Silver Fox" Patrick, and acquired Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde in an attempt to win the Stanley Cup for Renfrew. The attempt was unsuccessful and he folded the team after two seasons. Wikipedia