championship in 1902. Thus, the two Winnipeg clubs left the league before the start of the season and formed their own two-team league, the Western Canada Hockey League. Playing in the new three-team senior league, the Thistles won the championship and were allowed to issue a challenge for the Stanley Cup, held at the time by the Ottawa Hockey Club (also known as the Senators). For the 1903–04 season the Thistles competed again in the three-team Manitoba league. Prior to the season, the team was invited to join the Western Canada Hockey League, which still had only the two Winnipeg clubs. While they had downplayed the Thistles' importance before, the Winnipeg clubs were impressed by their play during the Stanley Cup challenge and considered it financially viable to add the team. The Thistles declined the offer and remained in the Manitoba league. Brandon won the league championship, and earned the chance to compete for the Cup against Ottawa, who won the series and retained it. Before the 1904–05 season the two Manitoba leagues merged to become the Manitoba Hockey Association. The Thistles were bolstered by the presence of Tommy Phillips (who had returned to visit his dying father) and goaltender Eddie Giroux, the only player not from Rat Portage. Giroux moved from Toronto with the promise of a job in the lumber industry and for a chance to play ice hockey. The Thistles easily won the league championship, and again challenged Ottawa for the Stanley Cup. 1903 Stanley Cup challenge Donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, the Stanley Cup was originally awarded to the top amateur team in Canada, who would then accept challenges from the winners of other leagues. From its inception until 1912, the Cup was nearly always won by teams from Montreal, Winnipeg, and Ottawa. In 1903 Ottawa won the Cup, after finishing the season tied for first in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League with the Montreal Victorias. They played a two-game, total-goal series for the league championship. The Montreal Hockey Club, who had held the Cup, finished third in the league and therefore lost the right to keep it. The Thistles travelled to Ottawa for a two-game series to be decided on total goals scored. Relatively unknown outside Manitoba and Western Ontario, there was little press coverage of the team before the start of the series. Attendance at the