It was the home arena of the Ottawa Hockey Club, variously known as the Generals. The first rink was opened on December 20, 1884, and was located on the Rideau Canal at Waller Street and Theodore Street (today's Laurier Avenue), next to the Dey Family boat works. The natural ice rink surface was 150 feet (46 m) by 60 feet (18 m). This location is today occupied by the Canadian Department of Defence headquarters, just south of the Federal Conference Centre, the old Union Station railway station. The rink was torn down in the fall of 1895 to make way for the Canada Atlantic Railway, which opened a station at Rideau Street and the Canal and laid rail tracks alongside the eastern bank of the Canal. The last hockey game at the rink was held on March 30, 1895. The boat works moved to Patterson Creek at Bank Street in Ottawa.

The second rink, an arena, opened on December 17, 1896. 'Dey's Skating Rink', its proper name, held an estimated 3,500 spectators. The ice rink measured 200 feet (61 m) by 81 feet (25 m), one of the largest indoor ice surfaces in Canada at the time. The arena featured a bandstand that could be used as a press box, and elevated seats. This was possibly the first arena designed for ice hockey in Canada, the second in North America after the St. Nicholas Rink, which opened in New York one month earlier. Dey's Skating Rink was located at Bay and Ann (now Gladstone) Streets, the location at the time being on the city outskirts, but served by city streetcars.

The first hockey game at the arena was between the Capitals of Ottawa and Cornwalls on December 19, 1896. The arena was the site of the first Stanley Cup win by the Ottawa Hockey Club, in 1903, and the site of numerous Stanley Cup challenge matches during the 'Silver Seven's' reign from 1903–1907, including the famous 1905 challenge of Dawson City.

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