The 1903 Canadian Amateur Hockey League

Canadian Amateur Hockey League

The Canadian Amateur Hockey League was an early men's amateur hockey league founded in 1898, replacing the organization that was formerly the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada before the 1898–99 season. The league existed for seven seasons, folding in 1905 and was itself replaced by the Eastern...

 (CAHL) season lasted from January 3 until February 28. Teams played an eight game schedule. Ottawa and Montreal Victorias tied for the league championship with records of six wins and two losses.

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

Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

 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 Charles Liffiton, Hod Stuart

Hod Stuart

William Hodgson "Hod" Stuart was a Canadian professional ice hockey cover-point who played nine seasons for several teams in different leagues. He also played briefly for the Ottawa Rough Riders football team...

, Bruce Stuart, Eddie Hogan and George McCarron.

Highlights

This season saw several impressive rookies including Frank McGee and Art Moore

Arthur A. C. Moore

Arthur Augustus Cutler Moore was an elite amateur ice hockey defenceman for the Ottawa Hockey Club during the era that it was known as the Silver Seven from 1903 to 1906. The Club won the Stanley Cup in March 1903 and held it through numerous challenges until March 1906.-Personal life: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 Ottawa Senators (original) The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...	8	6	2	0	47	26
Montreal Victorias Montreal Victorias The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. The club played at its own rink, the Victoria Skating...	8	6	2	0	48	33
Montreal Hockey Club Montreal Hockey Club The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team is notable for winning the first Stanley Cup in 1893, and in a...	7	4	3	0	34	19
Quebec Hockey Club Quebec Bulldogs The Quebec Bulldogs were a men's senior-level ice hockey team officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club, later as the Quebec Athletic Club. Their recorded play goes back as far as the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1889, although the Quebec Hockey Club is known to have played since 1880...	7	3	4	0	30	46
Montreal Shamrocks Montreal Shamrocks The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886, merging with the Montreal Crystals club in 1896. They won the Stanley Cup ice hockey championship in 1899 and 1900...	8	0	8	0	21	56

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	Ottawa	7	Victorias	6
	7	Montreal	9	Quebec	3
	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.

Goalkeeper Averages

Name	Club	GP	GA	SO	Avg.
Archie Lockerby	Victorias	3	6		2.0
Billy Nicholson Billy Nicholson (ice hockey) Billy C. Nicholson was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive. He played goaltender and was a Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Hockey Club in 1902 as an amateur...	Montreal	7	19	1	2.7
Bouse Hutton Bouse Hutton John Bower "Bouse" Hutton was a Canadian ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Hockey Club. Hutton also played lacrosse as a goaltender for the Ottawa Capitals, and Canadian football as a fullback for the Ottawa Rough Riders...	Ottawa	8	26	2	3.3
Jim Nichol	Victorias	5	27		5.4
Paddy Moran	Quebec	7	46		6.6
P. O'Reilly	Shamrocks	8	56		7.0

Scoring Leaders

Name	Club	GP	G
Bowie, Russell Russell Bowie Russell G. "Russ, Dubbie" Bowie was a Canadian ice hockey player generally regarded as one of the best players of the pre-NHL era of the sport...	Victorias	7	22
McGee, Frank	Ottawa	6	14
Jordan, Herb	Quebec	7	12
Gilmour, Billy Billy Gilmour Hamilton Livingstone "Billy" Gilmour was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Hockey Club in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League...	Ottawa	7	10
Hooper, Art	Montreal	6	9
Marshall, Jack	Montreal	7	8
Russell, Blair	Victorias	8	7
Gilmour, Dave	Ottawa	4	7
Gilmour, Suddy Suddy Gilmour Sutherland Campbell "Suddy" Gilmour was a Canadian amateur athlete. He was a championship ice hockey player for the Ottawa Silver Seven of the 1900s. His brothers Billy Gilmour and Dave Gilmour also played for Ottawa at the same time....	Ottawa	7	7
Bright, J.	Shamrocks	8	7

Playoffs

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

March 7

Ottawa	1	at	Victorias	1
John Hutton		G	Archie Lockerby
Harvey Pulford		P	Billy Strachan
Arthur Moore		CP	George Fairbank
Harry Westwick		R	Russell Bowie
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	8
Archie Lockerby		G	John Hutton
Billy Strachan		P	Harvey Pulford
George Fairbank		CP	Arthur Moore
Bert Strachan		R	Frank McGee	3
Russell Bowie		C	Dave Gilmour	2
Blair Russell		LW	Billy Gilmour	1
Charles Allan		RW	Suddy Gilmour	2
Referee - P. Quinn

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 game two 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 Montreal Arena The Montreal Arena, also known as Westmount Arena, was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the corner of St. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue. It was likely one of the first arenas designed expressly for hockey, opening in 1898...
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

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

Kenora Thistles

The Kenora Thistles were an early amateur men's ice hockey team based in Kenora, Ontario, Canada, formed in 1885 as a senior team by a group of Lake of the Woods lumbermen. The club is notable for winning the Stanley Cup as an amateur team in 1907. The town is the smallest in population to have...

 of the Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association

Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association

The Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association was an early senior-level men's amateur ice hockey league, founded in 1903, and played one season, 1903-1904 before joining the Manitoba 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	6 – 2	Rat Portage Thistles	Dey's Arena Dey's Arena Dey's Arena, also known as Dey Brothers Rink, Dey's Skating Rink and The Arena, were a series of ice rinks and arenas located in Ottawa, Ontario, that hold importance in the early development of the organized sport of ice hockey in Canada...
March 14, 1903	Ottawa	4 – 2	Rat Portage Thistles
Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0

March 12

Rat Portage	2	at	Ottawa	6
Fred Dulmage		G	John Hutton
Mat Brown		P	Harvy Pulford
Tom Hooper		CP	Arthur Moore
Si Griffis Si Griffis Silas Seth "Sox" Griffis was a Canadian athlete of the early 20th century. In ice hockey, Griffis was a two-time Stanley Cup winner, with the 1907 Kenora Thistles and the 1915 Vancouver Millionaires...		R	Dave Gilmour	1
Billy McGimsie	2	C	Frank McGee	2
Bill Martin		LW	Billy Gilmour	3
Roxy Beaudro Roxy Beaudro Roxy Francis Beaudro was an American amateur, and later professional ice hockey winger. He was a member of the 1907 Stanley Cup champion Kenora Thistles.-Playing career:...		RW	Suddy Gilmour
Referee- Harry Trihey Harry Trihey Henry Judah "Flip" Trihey was a Canadian amateur ice hockey forward who played for the Montreal Shamrocks....

March 14

Rat Portage	2	at	Ottawa	4
Fred Dulmage		G	John Hutton
Mat Brown		P	Harvey Pulford
Tom Hooper		CP	Dave Gilmour	1
Si Griffis		R	Frank McGee	2
Billy McGimsie	1	C	Percy Sims	1
Bill Martin		RW	Billy Gilmour
Roxy Beaudro	1	LW	Suddy Gilmour
Referee- Chauncy Kirby Chauncy Kirby Chauncey Kirby was a Canadian ice hockey player in the 1890s for the Ottawa Hockey Club of the Ontario Hockey Association and Amateur Hockey Association of Canada . He was a member of the three-time Ottawa champions from 1891 to 1893...

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.

Montreal H.C. February 1903 Stanley Cup champions

Ottawa Hockey Club March 1903 Stanley Cup champions