games was rather low as the series coincided with an opening session of the Canadian Parliament, which was a social affair at the time. While the matches between Ottawa and Montreal, held just days earlier, attracted around 3,000 spectators, the Thistles' games saw 1,500 and then 1,000 viewers. Ottawa won the first game 6–2, media summaries suggesting the Thistles were nervous and unprepared for Ottawa's skilled play. Ottawa won the second match 4–2 and retained the Cup. Though the press credited the Thistles for being vastly improved, they felt that overall the team lacked "the finer points of the game". The Thistles had a mixed reaction to their first Stanley Cup challenge. Small crowds made it a financial failure; the team lost about C$800, a considerable sum at the time. It was still seen as an important step for the team, as it showed they could compete with the best teams in Canada. Team captain Tom Hooper said that while they "were comparatively inexperienced, and... consequently a little nervous", they were "not in the least discouraged" and planned to "be better qualified to play them when [they] come after the puck next year". 1905 Stanley Cup challenge The Cup challenge was again played in Ottawa, this time in a best-of-three series. Media reports about the Thistles were more positive than those of 1903, the team being regarded as a strong chance for the Cup. Attendance for the series was considerable; the games attracted between 3,500 and 4,000 spectators, and hundreds more waiting outside for entry. There were also thousands across Canada who eagerly waited in newspaper offices and other venues for live telegraph reports on the games. Newspaper reports made a point of mentioning the home-grown nature of the team as some of them had begun to use professionals. The Thistles won the first match 9–3, using a new style of play. With forward passing forbidden in ice hockey, conventional strategy was for teams to shoot the puck into the opposing end and skate after it (thereby losing possession of the puck). Instead, as they moved forward, the Thistles emphasised skating and passing the puck back and forth keeping control of it. This strategy was aided by their point and cover-point men (early names for defencemen) who lined up on the ice side-by-side rather than one in front of the other as was common. Ottawa's star Frank McGee had missed