1903 CAHL season

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
League	Canadian Amateur Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	January 3 – February 28, 1903
Number of teams	5
1903
Champions	Ottawa Hockey Club
Top scorer	Russell Bowie (22 goals)

League business

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
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

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

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

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

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

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

Stanley Cup engravings

Players

  Forwards

• Cecil Blachford (Winger)
• Jimmy Gardner (Winger)
• Charles Liffiton(Winger)
• Tommy Phillips (Winger)
• George Smith (Winger)
• Jack Marshall (Center)
• Archie Hooper (rover)

  Defencemen

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

  Goaltenders

• Billy Nicholson

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)

Players

  Forwards

• Hamilton Billy Gilmour
• Sutherland Suddy Gilmour
• Harry Westwick (also played rover)
• Percy Sims
• Frank McGee(also played rover)
• Dave Gilmour(also played cover point)

  Defencemen

• Harvey Pulford (point-Captain)
• Arthur Fraser (point-cover point)
• Arthur Moore(cover point)
• Frank Wood (point-cover point)
• Charles Spittal

  Goaltenders

• John "Bouse" Hutton

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

Bibliography

• 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

• List of Stanley Cup champions