Livingstone became manager of ice hockey and football at the Toronto Rugby and Athletic Association (TR & AA).

Shortly after, with the Wanderers and Ottawa in a tight two-way race for the league championship, Livingstone demanded that Lichtenhein follow through on his offer to play the forfeited game.

The NHA did not want one owner to have two clubs in the league, and Livingstone said that he would sell the Shamrocks; however, Frank Patrick and Lester Patrick of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, who had accused the NHA of reneging on an agreement with their league, raided the Blueshirts and signed away most of the team's players.

When he had not sold the team by the November 20, 1915, deadline set by the league, the NHA seized the franchise and kept it dormant for the season.

Before the season began, Livingstone argued with the owners of Arena Gardens over the terms for the use of their facility and threatened to move his team to Boston.

Canada intensified its contribution to World War I, and a number of pro and amateur hockey players volunteered for military service.

The 228th (Northern Fusiliers) Battalion, CEF of the Canadian infantry formed a team in the NHA, taking the place of the suspended Toronto Shamrocks franchise and sharing Arena Gardens with the Blueshirts.

Livingstone said that he would not accept anyone but Frank Nighbor in a trade, or Ottawa could buy Denneny for $1,800—more than double the NHA record for a player sale.

[7] At its annual meeting in November 1917, the NHA announced that it was suspending operations because of the difficulties in running a five-team league and the player shortages introduced by conscription in Canada during the off-season.

Having been cast aside by his former business associates, Livingstone spent the next several years in court, in a bid to be compensated for the loss of his franchise and his players.

In February 1918, the courts ruled that the NHA and its owners had not acted improperly in suspending operations of Livingstone's Toronto Hockey Club.

[8] Mounting legal bills from the dispute forced the Arenas to sell most of their stars, resulting in a horrendous five-win season in 1918–19.

The newly minted Arenas were readily admitted to the NHL as a full member in good standing, and continued to use Livingstone's players.

The court ruled in Livingstone's favour in January 1920 and awarded $20,000 in damages back-dated to April 1918,[9] but the issue was not settled.

In October 1923, a ruling was made that Arena Gardens had abused its position as a trustee of the assets of the Toronto Hockey Club—its player contracts—and finding damages of $100,000 in favour of Livingstone.

When the rights to his players reverted to him in 1918, Livingstone announced plans to launch the Canadian Hockey Association as a rival to the NHL.

The league would include the former NHA team from Quebec, now owned by Percy Quinn, the founding president of the Toronto Hockey Club.

In the summer of 1920, there was again talk that Livingstone might get the CHA off the ground, particularly after Percy Quinn was made managing director of Arena Gardens on June 17.

In 1924, Livingstone again announced that he was forming an international league that would have teams in Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Brooklyn, and Buffalo.

In March 1927, Livingstone tried to sell the team to Harry Herendeen, a Chicago miller,[12] but the league did not approve the transfer.

[13] Late in the season, the Coliseum refused to give Livingstone's team ice time, citing non-payment of rent.