Cap Badge - 228th (Northern Fusiliers, Ontario) Battalion, CEF The 228th (Northern Fusiliers) Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in North Bay, Ontario, the unit began recruiting in early 1916 in Nipissing and Sudbury. After sailing to England in December 1916, the battalion became the 6th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops. The 228th (Northern Fusiliers) Battalion, CEF had one Officer Commanding: Lieut-Col. A. Earchman. The battalion established an ice hockey team, which played in the 1916–17 NHA season. The squad, playing in their khaki military uniforms, proved very popular, and was third in league standings with a 6-4 record when they dropped out of the league upon being ordered overseas. A scandal arose when hockey stars Eddie Oatman and Gordon Meeking were discharged, both subsequently claiming they had been paid bonuses and promised commissions to play hockey for the 228th. The National Hockey Association (NHA), officially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor to today's National Hockey League (NHL). Founded in 1909 by Ambrose O'Brien, the NHA introduced 'six-man hockey' by removing the 'rover' position in 1911. During its lifetime, the league coped with competition for players with the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the enlistment of players for World War I and disagreements between owners. The disagreements between owners came to a head in 1917, when the NHA suspended operations in order to get rid of an unwanted owner (Eddie Livingstone). The remaining NHA team owners started the NHL in parallel as a temporary measure, to continue play while negotiations went on with Livingstone and other lawsuits were pending. A year later, after no progress was reached with Livingstone, the other NHA owners decided to permanently suspend the NHA. The NHA's rules, constitution and trophies were continued in the NHL.