Edward J. Livingston was owner of the National Hockey Association's Toronto Blueshirts. He was an ongoing source of controversy among fellow NHA owners, he was often accused of exploiting loopholes in league regulations to create what some viewed as unfair advantages. Livingstone had particularly incited the wrath of owners when he merged his two Toronto teams (the Ontarios and the Blueshirts) after the Blueshirts had been deprived of its top players.

Livingstone sometimes offered contracts to other teams' members to not play hockey, and once campaigned to kick the Wanderers out of the league after the team tried to lure two of his top Toronto Blueshirts players. Throughout his battles with owners, Livingstone repeatedly threatened to start a rival league in the United States.

He was forced out of the league when the other teams owners decided to form a new league in 1917 without Livingston, the National Hockey League.