1903–04 Ottawa Hockey Club season
Introduction The '''1903–04 Ottawa Hockey Club season''', the club's 19th season of play, lasted from December 30, 1903, until March 11, 1904.Ottawa resigned from the CAHL after four games and played only Stanley Cup challenges for the rest of the season, winning them all.
Team business The Club moved to a new rink installed at the Aberdeen Pavilion, which provided 4,000 seats, more than Dey's Rink could provide. A partnership was struck with the Central Canada Exhibition Association which received 40% of the gross receipts and provided facilities. The Club contributed $500 to the installation of the rink.
Season === Highlights ===The season started out with Ottawa winning their first four games. A home game with Quebec was postponed when Quebec could not travel due to a severe snowstorm.In their third game against the Victorias at Westmount's arena, the Ottawa team arrived 1½ hours late due to a loss of their baggage. The game was called at midnight due to a curfew, with Ottawa ahead 4–1, with 16 minutes left to play. Ottawa and the Victorias had disagreed on substitution for injured players instead of 'recuperation time' and the Victorias used 43 minutes of injury time, which the Ottawa club complained was a stalling tactic to get the game canceled as Ottawa was ahead.One week later, the League met to reschedule the Quebec-Ottawa game. At the meeting, the League levied a $10 fine against Ottawa for its lateness to the Victorias game, and a fine to the Montreal Shamrocks for lateness to a game in Ottawa. The League then discussed the Ottawa-Victoria match and ordered it to be rescheduled. J. P. Dickson, Ottawa's representative to the meeting, had proposed that it only be played if the match mattered in the standings and threatened to take Ottawa out of the league if the league went ahead and forced the game to be played.The threat failed, and Dickson called a meeting of the Club back in Ottawa to discuss the situation. The Club executive, against Bob Shillington's wishes agreed to pull the Club out of the league. The team executive was concerned about losing its status as Stanley Cup champions over the matter and consulted with P. D. Ross who agreed that the Cup would stay with Ottawa. The Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) was consulted and Ottawa would join the FAHL for the next season. The Club then submitted its resignation from the CAHL.After leaving the CAHL, the Ottawas played only one game other than a Cup challenge, an 18—1 exhibition win over the Ottawa Capitals of the FAHL.=== Final standing === Team Games Played Wins Losses Ties Goals For Goals Against Quebec Hockey Club       Montreal Victorias       Montreal Hockey Club       Montreal Shamrocks       Ottawa Hockey Club      === Results === Month Day Visitor Score Home Score Jan. 9   Victorias  6   Ottawa     10 16  Ottawa     8   Montreal   3 30† Ottawa     4   Victorias  1 Feb. 6  Shamrocks  5   Ottawa     10  –   Montreal       Ottawa        –  Ottawa         Shamrocks      –  Quebec         Ottawa        –  Ottawa         Quebec       † Ordered to be replayed but never replayed as Ottawa resigned from league.=== Goaltending averages === Name GP GA SO Avg.Hutton, John Bouse  4  15  0  3.82=== Scoring === Name GP G A Pts PIMFrank McGee  4  12   1  13  9Alf Smith  4  7  1  8  6Suddy Gilmour  3  6  1  7  3 Rat Westwick  4  5  1  6  0 Scott  2  2  0  2  0 Art Moore  4  0  0  0  9 James McGee  2  0  0  0  3 Harvey Pulford  2  0  0  0  3
Stanley Cup Challenges === Winnipeg vs. Ottawa ===Before the CAHL season started, Ottawa defended the Cup against the Winnipeg Rowing Club in a best two-of-three series played in Ottawa 9–1,2–6,2–0 (2–1).The first game was filled with rough play, with Alf Smith knocking out Joe Hall with a stick hit to the head and knocking out Nick Bawlf. Hall returned to the game and Hall and Smith fought, leaving Hall with a five stitch cut and Smith a four stitch cut. Westwick scored four goals, Frank McGee three. The Ottawa fans booed Ottawa for their rough play. After the game, Winnipeg captain Billy Breen said it was the 'dirtiest game of hockey he had ever played. 'The second game was tame by comparison. Because of the injuries of the first game, Winnipeg needed replacements and added Tammy Hamber of the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club. Ottawa did not play a rough game and Winnipeg won by a 6–2 score. There was speculation that Ottawa had let up to ensure a lucrative third game.In the third game, Winnipeg showed that it was capable of keeping up with Ottawa. Smith missed the game to be replaced by Billy Gilmour. The game was scoreless after the first half. Frank McGee scored the winning goal and Suddy Gilmour scored a second goal to clinch the game with seven minutes to play during a power play. Hamber was protested by Ottawa, although he was allowed to play. Referee Trihey was confronted by rough play in the first half, which he countered with ever-increasing penalties to players. According to the ''Gazette'' report on the game, at one point only three Ottawa players were on and four Winnipeg players, meaning seven were sent off. During the break between the first and second halves, the ice was not cleaned. The audience numbers were down and this was attributed to the Ottawa Post Office being on fire. Date Winning Team Score Losing Team LocationDecember 30, 1903Ottawa HC 9–1Winnipeg Rowing Club Aberdeen Pavilion, OttawaJanuary 1, 1904Winnipeg Rowing Club 6–2Ottawa HCJanuary 4, 1904Ottawa HC 2–0Winnipeg Rowing ClubOttawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1+ December 31, 1903 Ottawa (9) Winnipeg (1) Player G Pos Player G John "Bouse" Hutton     G  Art Brown   Harvey Pulford, Capt     P  Percy E. Brown   Arthur Moore      CP  S. Crawford Richards   Harry Westwick  4   R  Joe Hall   Frank McGee  3   C  William Breen, Capt   Suddy Gilmour   1  LW  Billy Bawlf  1 Alf Smith  1   RW  Clint E . Bennest   Jim McGee     sub  Claude Borland   Billy Gilmour     sub Harry Kirby   '''Referee''' – Harry Trihey'''Umpires''' – William A. Northey, C. J. Hanratty'''Source:''' ''Montreal Gazette''+ January 1, 1904 Ottawa (2) Winnipeg (6) Player G Pos Player G John "Bouse" Hutton     G  Art Brown   Harvey Pulford, Capt     P  Percy E. Brown   Arthur Moore      CP Eric "Tammy" Hamber   Harry Westwick  1   R  Joe Hall  1 Frank McGee      C  William Breen, Capt  2 Suddy Gilmour      LW  Billy Bawlf  2 Alf Smith  1   RW  Claude Borland  1 '''Referee''' – Harry Trihey'''Umpires''' – M. J. McCrory, C. J. Hanratty'''Source:''' ''Montreal Gazette''+ January 4, 1904 Ottawa (2) Winnipeg (0) Player G Pos Player G John "Bouse" Hutton     G  Art Brown   Harvey Pulford, Capt     P  Percy E. Brown   Arthur Moore      CP  Eric "Tammy" Hamber   Harry Westwick     R  Joe Hall   Frank McGee    1  C  William Breen, Capt   Suddy Gilmour   1   LW  Billy Bawlf   Billy Gilmour     RW  Claude Borland   '''Referee''' – Harry Trihey'''Umpires''' – M. J. McCrory, C. J. Hanratty'''Source:''' ''Montreal Gazette''=== Toronto vs. Ottawa ===Next, Ottawa would defeat the Ontario Hockey Association champion Toronto Marlboros in a two-game total-goals series, played in Ottawa, 6–3,11–2 (17–5). Date Winning Team Score Losing Team LocationFebruary 23, 1904Ottawa HC 6–3Toronto MarlborosAberdeen Pavilion, OttawaFebruary 25, 1904Ottawa HC 11–2Toronto MarlborosOttawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0In the first game, the Marlboros led the Ottawas 3–1 after the first half before the Ottawas scored five in the second half to win the game.+ February 23, 1904 Ottawa (6) Toronto (3) Player G Pos Player G John "Bouse" Hutton     G  Eddie Giroux   Harvey Pulford, Capt. 2   P  Pete Charlton   Arthur Moore      CP  Dr. A. Wright   Harry Westwick     R  Tommy Phillips   Frank McGee    2  C  Herb Birmingham  3 Alf Smith   1   RW  F. McLaren   Suddy Gilmour   1  LW  Edgar Winchester   '''Referee''' – T. Hodge'''Umpires''' – W. Foran, J. Fitzgerald'''Source:''' ''Montreal Gazette''In the second game, Ottawa led by 6–0 at the half, leaving the result not in doubt. The crowd was estimated at 1500.+ February 25, 1904 Ottawa (11) Toronto (2) Player G Pos Player G John "Bouse" Hutton     G  Eddie Giroux   Harvey Pulford, Capt. 2   P  Pete Charlton   Arthur Moore   1   CP  Dr. A. Wright   Harry Westwick  1   R  Tom Phillips  1 Frank McGee   5  C  Herb Birmingham   Alf Smith   2   RW  F. McLaren   Suddy Gilmour   2  LW  Lal Earls  1 '''Referee''' – T. Hodge'''Umpires''' – Wiiliam Foran, J. Fitzgerald'''Source:''' ''Montreal Gazette''=== Wanderers vs. Ottawa ===A two-game series between the Montreal Wanderers and Ottawa Hockey Club was arranged, for the Stanley Cup and the FAHL championship. The teams played the first game in Montreal to a tie of 5–5.Montreal refused to play overtime, demanding that the game be considered a no-contest and proposed that the series start over as a best two-of-three series. The Cup trustees demanded that the series continued as scheduled and the Wanderers abandoned the challenge. Date Winning Team Score Losing Team LocationMarch 2, 1904''Ended in a 5–5 tie''Montreal ArenaOttawa wins series; Montreal is disqualified for refusing to play second game in Ottawa.According to the ''Gazette'', the game saw "the dirtiest game ever seen between two senior teams at the ''Arena.''" Thirty-six penalties were called. Leahy was injured and replaced by Mallan. James Strachan, president of the Wanderers was quoted as saying that the Wanderers would not go to Ottawa and play with Dr. Kearns as referee. Ottawa took a 2–0 lead, before the Wanderers scored five in a row. The Ottawas came back with three, the final goal by Frank McGee.+ March 2, 1904 Ottawa (5) Montreal (5) Player G Pos Player G John "Bouse" Hutton     G  Billy Nicholson   Jim McGee     P  Billy Strachan   Alf Smith      CP  Billy Bellingham   Harry Westwick  2   R  "Pockey" Leahy, Ken Mallan  11 Frank McGee  1   C  Jack Marshall  1 Billy Gilmour    1  RW  Jimmy Gardner  1 Suddy Gilmour   1  LW  Cecil Blatchford  1 Harry Pulford, Capt    1  Spare  Dickie Boon, Capt. 1 '''Referee''' – Dr. Kearns'''Umpires''' – Stevens, Baskerville'''Source:''' ''Montreal Gazette''The Wanderers demanded a replay of the game to be held in Montreal, which Ottawa refused. The series was cancelled, with Ottawa claiming the FAHL championship.=== Brandon vs. Ottawa ===To finish the season, Ottawa played a series with Brandon Wheat City, champions of the Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association. Ottawa would win the two-game series 6–3, 9–3 (15–6), held in Ottawa on March 9–11.Brandon wanted to add Clint Bennest and Joe Hall of Winnipeg for the series, but the Cup trustees disallowed the additions as the players had already played for Winnipeg in a challenge against Ottawa. Lester Patrick, in a foreshadowing of the 1928 Stanley Cup Finals, took over for a few minutes when goaltender Dugald Morrison was penalized in game one. Date Winning Team Score Losing Team LocationMarch 9, 1904 Ottawa HC 6–3 Brandon Wheat City Aberdeen Pavilion, OttawaMarch 11, 1904 Ottawa HC 9–3 Brandon Wheat CityOttawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0+ March 9, 1904 Ottawa (6) Brandon (3) Player G Pos Player G Bouse Hutton       G  Duchie Morrison   Harvey Pulford     P  Lester Patrick   Jim McGee     1  CP  Lorne Hanna  2 Harry Westwick     R  Greoge Smith   Frank McGee     4   C  Jackie Brodie  1 Alf Smith  1   RW  L. Laidlaw   Suddy Gilmore         LW  H. Bright   '''Referee''' – Fred Chittick'''Umpires''' – Senator Watson, A. G. Pittaway'''Source:''' ''Ottawa Journal''+ March 11, 1904 Ottawa (9) Brandon (3) Player G Pos Player G Bouse Hutton       G  Dutchie Morrison   Harvey Pulford     P  Lester Patrick   Jim McGee        CP  Lorne Hanna   Harry Westwick  1  R  George Smith  1 Frank McGee     3   C  Jackie Brodie  1 Alf Smith     4 RW  L. Laidlaw  1  Suddy Gilmore    1  LW  H. Bright   '''Referee''' – Fred Chittick'''Umpires''' – William Foran, Senator Watson'''Source:''' ''Ottawa Journal''* Spare - Brandon - Robert Cross (Captain), William Hopper, S.G Lowe, H. Breton, F. Wheelan* Spares - Ottawa - Billy Gilmore - RW, Arthur Moore - D* Spares - Ottawa - Billy Gilmore - RW, Arthur Moore - D. Colleman Page 98-99. * Refeeree F. Chittick - Umpirers Senator Watson, William Foran
Ottawa Hockey Club 1904 Stanley Cup champions
See also * 1904 CAHL season* List of Stanley Cup champions
References * * * * * ;Notes