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.

1903 CAHL season
LeagueCanadian Amateur Hockey League
SportIce hockey
DurationJanuary 3 – February 28, 1903
Number of teams5
1903
ChampionsOttawa Hockey Club
Top scorerRussell Bowie (22 goals)
CAHL seasons
← 1902
1904 →

League business

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Executive

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  • 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

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Highlights

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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

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Team Games Played Wins Losses Ties Goals For Goals Against
Ottawa Hockey Club
8
6
2
0
47
26
Montreal Victorias
8
6
2
0
48
33
Montreal Hockey Club
7
4
3
0
34
19
Quebec Hockey Club
7
3
4
0
30
46
Montreal Shamrocks
8
0
8
0
21
56

Playoffs

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Ottawa HC and Montreal Victorias played a two-game total-goals series.

March 7
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
March 10
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

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Winnipeg vs. Montreal

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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


Jan 29, 1903
Winnipeg Victorias 1 at Montreal Hockey Club 8
Fred Olsen G Billy Nicholson
Rod Flett P Billy Bellingham
Magus Flett CP Dickie Boon, Capt.
Billy Kean RO Archie Hooper 4
Fred Cadham, Capt. 1 C Jack Marshall 3
Tony Gingras 1 RW Jimmy Gardner
Fred Scanlon LW Tommy Phillips
Referee – Percy Quinn
  • Spare - Winnipeg Victorias - Dan Bain - C
  • Spares - Montreal - Cecil Blachford - RW, Tom Hodge - D, Charles Liffton - RW, George Smith - RW


Jan 31, 1903 stopped at 27 minutes overtime due to Sabboth Law
Winnipeg Victorias 2 at Montreal Hockey Club 2
Fred Olsen G Billy Nicholson
Rod Flett P Tom Hodge
Magus Flett CP Dickie Boon, Capt.
Billy Kean RO Archie Hooper 1
Fred Cadham, Capt. 1 C Jack Marshall
Tony Gingras 1 RW Cecil Blachford
Fred Scanlon LW Tommy Phillips 1
Referee – Percy Quinn
  • Spare - Winnipeg Victorias - Dan Bain - C
  • Spares - Montreal - Billy Bellingham - D, Jimmy Gardner - RW, Charles Liffton - RW, George Smith - RW


Feb 2, 1903
Winnipeg Victorias 4 at Montreal Hockey Club 2
Fred Olsen G Billy Nicholson
Rod Flett P Tom Hodge
Magus Flett CP Dickie Boon, Capt.
Billy Kean 3 RO Archie Hooper
Fred Cadham, Capt. C Jack Marshall 2
Tony Gingras 1 RW Cecil Blachford
Fred Scanlon LW Tommy Phillips
Referee – Percy Quinn
  • Spare - Winnipeg Victorias - Dan Bain - C
  • Spares - Montreal - Billy Bellingham - D, Jimmy Gardner - RW, Charles Liffton - RW, George Smith - RW


Feb 4, 1903
Winnipeg Victorias 1 at Montreal Hockey Club 4
Fred Olsen G Billy Nicholson
Rod Flett P Billy Bellingham
Magus Flett CP Dickie Boon, Capt.
Billy Kean 1 RO Archie Hooper
Fred Cadham, Capt. C Jack Marshall 2
Tony Gingras RW George Smith
Fred Scanlon LW Tommy Phillips 2
Referee – Percy Quinn
  • Spare - Winnipeg Victorias - Dan Bain - C
  • Spares - Montreal - Cecil Blachford - D, Jimmy Gardner - RW, Tom Hodge - D, Charles Liffton - RW,

Rat Portage vs. Ottawa HC

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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. Any chance that those factors could have helped the team was negated by soft ice conditions. 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 two games to none
March 12
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
March 14
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

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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

[1]

† Postponed and not played.

Player statistics

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Goaltending averages

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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

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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 Russel Victorias 8 7
Dave Gilmour Ottawa 4 7
Suddy Gilmour Ottawa 7 7
Harry Bright Shamrocks 8 7

Stanley Cup engravings

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1903 Montreal Hockey Club

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Players

  Forwards
  Defencemen
  • Billy Bellingham (point)
  • Dickie Boon (cover point-captain)
  • Tom Hodge (point-cover point)

Coaching and administrative staff

  • Charles G. Chitty (President), Clarence McKerrow (manager), Desse Browne (coach)
  • Harry C. Dewitt (Hon. Secretary/Treasurer), Frank Bickerdike (director),
  • George A. James (director), Paul Lefebvre (trainer)


1903 Ottawa Hockey Club

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Players

  Forwards
  Defencemen

Coaching and administrative staff

  • Percy M. Butler (President), Robert T. "Bob" Shillington (manager)
  • Alf Smith (coach), A.P Mutchmor (treasurer)†
  • Martin Rosenthal (Secretary), Halder Kirby (club doctor), Llewellyn Bates (Vice President),
  • W.H. Hutton†, Chauncy Kirby, Jack Smith, 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


References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Coleman 1966, p. 79.

Bibliography

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  • 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

See also

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Preceded by 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
Preceded by CAHL seasons
1903
Succeeded by