1903 CAHL season
| 1903 CAHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Canadian Amateur Hockey League |
| Sport | ice hockey |
| Duration | January 3 – February 28, 1903 |
| Number of teams | 5 |
| 1903 | |
| Champion | Ottawa Hockey Club |
| Top scorer | Russell Bowie (22 goals) |
The 1903 Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) season was the fifth season of the league. Teams played an eight game schedule. Ottawa and Montreal Victorias tied for the league championship with records of six wins and two losses. Ottawa defeated the Victorias in a two-game playoff to win the season and their first Stanley Cup championship, the first of "Silver Seven" era.
League business
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Executive
- Harry Trihey, Shamrocks (President)
- P. M. Butler, Ottawa (1st Vice-President)
- A. D. Scott, Quebec ( 2nd Vice-President)
- Fred McRobie, Montreal (Secretary-Treasurer)
It was decided that league champions would not play for the Stanley Cup until after the season. If a challenge was ordered by the Cup trustees Montreal would default the Cup. A challenge was ordered by the Trustees and Montreal eventually agreed to play Winnipeg in January during regular season play.
This season saw the loss of several players to Hockey Leagues in the U.S., including Charlie Liffiton, Hod Stuart, Bruce Stuart, Eddie Hogan and George McCarron.
Season
Highlights
This season saw several impressive rookies including Frank McGee and Art Moore for Ottawa.
The season would be a two team race between Montreal Victorias and Ottawa, splitting their matches between each other. The season ended in a tie, which necessitated a playoff, won by Ottawa to win their first Stanley Cup. At the other end of the standing, Shamrocks did not win any games.
Final standing
| Team | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals For | Goals Against |
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| Ottawa Hockey Club | |
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| Montreal Victorias | |
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| Montreal Hockey Club | |
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| Quebec Hockey Club | |
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| Montreal Shamrocks | |
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Playoffs
Ottawa HC and Montreal Victorias played a two-game total-goals series.
| Ottawa HC | 1 | at | Victorias | 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John "Bouse" Hutton | G | Archie Lockerby | |||
| Harvey Pulford, Capt | P | Billy Strachan | |||
| Arthur Moore | CP | George Fairbank | |||
| Harry Westwick | RO | Russell Bowie, Capt | |||
| Frank McGee | C | Bert Strachan | 1 | ||
| Billy Gilmour | RW | Charles Allan | |||
| Suddy Gilmour | 1 | LW | Blair Russell | ||
| Dave Gilmour | C-Sub | ||||
| Referee – Harry Trihey | |||||
| Victorias | 0 | at | Ottawa HC | 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Lockerby | G | John "Bouse" Hutton | |||
| Billy Strachan | P | Harvey Pulford, Capt | |||
| George Fairbank | CP | Arthur Moore | |||
| Bert Strachan | RO | Frank McGee | 3 | ||
| Russell Bowie, Capt | C | Dave Gilmour | 2 | ||
| Blair Russell | LW | Billy Gilmour | 1 | ||
| Charles Allan | RW | Suddy Gilmour | 2 | ||
| Referee – Percy Quinn | |||||
Stanley Cup challenges
Winnipeg vs. Montreal
Another Montreal HC vs. Winnipeg Victorias best-of-three challenge series was held in early 1903. In game one, defending champion Montreal defeated Winnipeg, 8–1. game two was the first Stanley Cup challenge match to be replayed. Both teams skated to a 2–2 tie before the game had to be suspended at 27:00 of overtime because of a midnight curfew. It was then decided to discard the result and replay the game two days later. In the rescheduled contest, the Victorias won, 4–2, to even the series. However, Montreal won the decisive game three, 4–1, to retain the Cup.
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 29, 1903 | Montreal HC | 8–1 | Winnipeg Victorias | Montreal Arena |
| January 31, 1903 | Suspended at 27:00 of overtime due to curfew and the 2–2 tie was discarded | |||
| February 2, 1903 | Winnipeg Victorias | 4–2 | Montreal HC | |
| February 4, 1903 | Montreal HC | 4–1 | Winnipeg Victorias | |
| Montreal wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1 | ||||
Rat Portage vs. Ottawa HC
Ottawa defeated the Rat Portage Thistles 6–2, 4–2 (10–4) in a two-game, total goals series in Ottawa, March 12–14, 1903.
As the new CAHL and Cup champions, the Ottawas accepted a challenge from the Rat Portage Thistles of the Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association (MNWHA). Entering the best-of-three challenge series, the Thistles were younger and quicker than Ottawa; only one player on the Thistles was over the age of 20. However, poor soft ice conditions in Ottawa played a major factor as Ottawa swept the series with scores of 6–2 and 4–2.
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 12, 1903 | Ottawa HC | 6–2 | Rat Portage Thistles | Dey's Arena |
| March 14, 1903 | Ottawa HC | 4–2 | Rat Portage Thistles | |
| Ottawa HC wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0 | ||||
| Rat Portage | 2 | at | Ottawa HC | 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Dulmage | G | John "Bouse" Hutton | |||
| Mat Brown | P | Harvey Pulford, Capt | |||
| Tom Hooper, Capt | CP | Arthur Moore | |||
| Si Griffis | RO | Dave Gilmour | 1 | ||
| Billy McGimsie | 2 | C | Frank McGee | 2 | |
| Bill Martin | LW | Billy Gilmour | 3 | ||
| Roxy Beaudro | RW | Suddy Gilmour | |||
| Referee- Harry Trihey | |||||
| Rat Portage | 2 | at | Ottawa HC | 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Dulmage | G | John "Bouse" Hutton | |||
| Mat Brown | P | Harvey Pulford, Capt | |||
| Tom Hooper, Capt | CP | Dave Gilmour | 1 | ||
| Si Griffis | RO | Frank McGee | 2 | ||
| Billy McGimsie | 1 | C | Percy Sims | 1 | |
| Bill Martin | RW | Billy Gilmour | |||
| Roxy Beaudro | 1 | LW | Suddy Gilmour | ||
| Referee- Chauncy Kirby | |||||
For their win, the Ottawa players would each receive a silver nugget. From that point on the team would also be known as the Silver Seven.
Schedule and results
| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. | 3 | Victorias | 4 | Ottawa | 3 |
| 3 | Shamrocks | 0 | Montreal | 10 | |
| 10 | Ottawa | 6 | Shamrocks | 1 | |
| 10 | Victorias | 11 | Quebec | 5 | |
| 17 | Montreal | 1 | Ottawa | 7 | |
| 17 | Quebec | 5 | Shamrocks | 3 | |
| 21 | Montreal | 5 | Victorias | 2 | |
| 24 | Ottawa | 6 | Quebec | 8 | |
| 24 | Victorias | 12 | Shamrocks | 7 | |
| 31† | Quebec | Montreal | |||
| Feb. | 4 | Shamrocks | 2 | Ottawa | 5 |
| 7 | Montreal | 9 | Quebec | 3 | |
| 7 | Ottawa | 7 | Victorias | 6 | |
| 11 | Victorias | 7 | Shamrocks | 3 | |
| 14 | Quebec | 3 | Ottawa | 10 | |
| 14 | Montreal | 6 | Shamrocks | 1 | |
| 21 | Ottawa | 3 | Montreal | 1 | |
| 21 | Shamrocks | 4 | Quebec | 5 | |
| 25 | Montreal | 2 | Victorias | 3 | |
| 28 | Quebec | 1 | Victorias | 3 | |
† Postponed and not played.
Player statistics
Goaltending averages
Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average
| Name | Club | GP | GA | SO | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Lockerby | Victorias | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | |
| Billy Nicholson | Montreal | 7 | 19 | 1 | 2.7 |
| Bouse Hutton | Ottawa | 8 | 26 | 2 | 3.3 |
| Jim Nichol | Victorias | 5 | 27 | 5.4 | |
| Paddy Moran | Quebec | 7 | 46 | 6.6 | |
| Patrick O'Reilly | Shamrocks | 8 | 56 | 7.0 | |
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals scored
| Name | Club | GP | G |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russell Bowie | Victorias | 7 | 22 |
| Frank McGee | Ottawa | 6 | 14 |
| Herb Jordan | Quebec | 7 | 12 |
| Billy Gilmour | Ottawa | 7 | 10 |
| Archie Hooper | Montreal | 6 | 9 |
| Jack Marshall | Montreal | 7 | 8 |
| Blair Russell | Victorias | 8 | 7 |
| Dave Gilmour | Ottawa | 4 | 7 |
| Suddy Gilmour | Ottawa | 7 | 7 |
| Harry Bright | Shamrocks | 8 | 7 |
Montreal Hockey Club February 1903 Stanley Cup champions
Roster
- Cecil Blachford (Winger)
- Jimmy Gardner (Winger)
- Charles Liffiton(Winger)
- Tommy Phillips (Winger)
- George Smith (Winger)
- Jack Marshall (Center)
- Archie Hooper (rover)
- Billy Bellingham (point)
- Dickie Boon (coverpoint-captain)
- Tom Hodge (point-coverpoint)
- Coaching and administrative staff
- C. G. Chitty (President)†, Clarence McKerrow (Manager), D. Browne (Coach)†
- H. C. Dewitt (Hon. Secretary/Treasurer)†, Frank Bicherdike (Director),
- George James (Director), Paul Lefbvre (Trainer)†
- † 3 non-players first names remain unknown.
Ottawa Hockey Club March 1903 Stanley Cup champions
Roster
- Hamilton Billy Gilmour
- Suddy Gilmour
- Harry Westwick (also played rover)
- Percy Sims
- Frank McGee(also played rover)
- Dave Gilmour(also played coverpoint)
- Billy Bawlf
- Harvey Pulford (point-Captain)
- Arthur Fraser (point-coverpoint)
- Arthur Moore(coverpoint)
- Frank Wood (point-coverpoint)
- Charles Spittal
- Coaching and administrative staff
- Placy Mituttler (President), Robert Shillington (Manager)
- Alf Smith (Coach), A. Mutchamor (Treasurer)†
- W. Halton (Secretary)†, Halder Kirby (Club Doctor), Jack Smith (Director)
- Llewellyn Bates, Chauncy Kirby, Martin Rosenthal, Charles Sparks (Directors),
- Mac McGilton (Ass’t Trainer), Pete Green (Trainer)
- Alf Smith did not play for Ottawa in 1903. However he was playing-coach for Ottawa Silver Sevens next 3 Stanley Cup winning seasons.
† Two executives first name remain unknown
See also
References
- Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc.
- Podnieks, Andrew (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 1-55168-261-3.
- ↑ Coleman 1966, p. 79.
| Preceded by Montreal Hockey Club 1902 |
Montreal Hockey Club Stanley Cup Champions January 1903 |
Succeeded by Ottawa HC 1903 |
| Preceded by Montreal Hockey Club January 1903 |
Ottawa Hockey Club 1903 Stanley Cup Champions 1903 |
Succeeded by Ottawa Hockey Club 1904 |
| Preceded by 1902 |
CAHL seasons 1903 |
Succeeded by 1904 |