The offseason of 1919 was notable for a couple of reasons. First, with the World War now concluded, many players were finally able to swap their khaki uniforms for hockey sweaters. And secondly, the NAHC was once again able to have four active clubs as the Quebec club, dormant for the past two seasons, finally returned to the fold. This relatively drama-free situation represented a 'new normal' for the sport as the club owners were generally united in purpose, something that had been missing while Jack Connolly was counted among its membership in previous years. 

While it was business as usual for both the NAHC and TCHA, Connolly continued to linger on the fringes of the hockey world, openly discussing his plans to start a rival professional league. The return to normalcy helped Connolly as well in his designs to start a rival pro loop based in the United States. He began to revisit his plans and approach potential partners in the U.S. And though the reception remained cool in most locations, the end of both the war and the flu pandemic would soon usher in a decade that would fully earn its moniker - the "Roaring Twenties" - and provide fertile ground in which Connolly could plant his seeds.

The return of Quebec meant that there were open questions for the NAHC's owners when they met at their November League meetings in Toronto. Former Champlains owner Auguste Raymond had sold the franchise rights to original owner Maurice Flaubert in 1918. Two of the other three NAHC owners: Bert Thomas of Toronto and Ottawa's Martin Delaware, felt that the club was "new" franchise and should therefore retain the rights to none of its former players. Surprisingly, the owner of the club with the most to lose, Montreal's Charles LeClerc (who had signed Paddy O'Donoghue, the former Quebec club's most valuable possession) felt that the rights should revert to the reactivated franchise. This might have been due to O'Donoghue flatly stating that he wished to return to Quebec. Regardless, with two owners for, and two against, the tie was broken by new NAHC President Lloyd McCandless. McCandless, the former NAHC Secretary under Percy Hopkins, took the view that the club was a resumption of the old club and therefore had the right to negotiate with any player who was on the Quebec club at the conclusion of its most recently completed season. This meant Paddy O'Donoghue was going back to Quebec (and Flaubert gave him a significant raise to do so).

Things out west were seemingly placid as well. George Yeadon had been elected President of the TCHA for a fifth-straight time and he continued to be a visionary and charismatic leader. The western league continued to sign players from the NAHC - a practice that was now shruggingly accepted on both sides. Three former Toronto Dukes (Frank Jarvis, Muzz Strang and Charles Rausse) all went west for the 1919-20 season. Rumor was that Jarvis, the Dukes' leading scorer and top right winger, left because he felt that management was going to give his job to young Jack Barrell. So he made a pre-emptive strike and took his friends Strang and Rausse with him.