1904–05 Ottawa Hockey Club season

1904–05 Ottawa Hockey Club
Stanley Cup champions
League 1st FAHL
1904–05 record 7–1–0
 Team information
General Manager Bob Shillington
Coach Alf Smith
Captain Harvey Pulford
Arena Dey's Arena
Team leaders
Goals Frank McGee (17)
Goals against average Dave Finnie (2.4)
<1903–04 1905–06>

The 1904–05 Ottawa Hockey Club season, the club's 20th season of play, lasted from January 7, 1905 until March 11, 1905. Ottawa won the league championship of the Federal Amateur Hockey League and successfully defended its Stanley Cup championship against all challengers.

Off-season

After resigning from the CAHL in January 1904, the Club made plans to join the FAHL. However, before the season started, the Club investigated returning to the CAHL and to helping create a merger of the FAHL with the CAHL. The teams of the CAHL were opposed to both initiatives and the Club played the season in the FAHL.[1]

Two personal tragedies occurred during the off-season. Jim McGee died in a horse-riding accident in May. The McGee family did not wish Frank to continue to play hockey with only one good eye but Frank chose to play the season. Harvey Pulford's wife Annis died giving birth to a son in December 1904.[2]

Bouse Hutton retired from ice hockey, continuing in lacrosse. Dave Finnie took his place.

Regular season

The Club won the league championship with a record of seven wins and one loss.

Highlights

Frank McGee would score five goals against the Montagnards on February 4.

Final standing

Team Games Played Wins Losses Ties Goals For Goals Against
Ottawa Hockey Club
8
7
1
0
60
19
Montreal Wanderers
8
6
2
0
44
27
Brockville
8
4
4
0
34
30
Cornwall HC
8
3
5
0
18
37
Montreal Montagnards
8
0
8
0
19
62

Results

Month Day Visitor Score Home Score
Jan. 7 Wanderers 3 Ottawa 9
23 Ottawa 3 Brockville 5
Feb. 1 Ottawa 7 Cornwall 2
4 Montagnards 4 Ottawa 14
8 Brockville 0 Ottawa 7
11 Ottawa 4 Wanderers 2
24 Cornwall 0 Ottawa 9
Mar. 3 Ottawa 7 Montagnards 3

Goalkeeper averages

Name Club GP GA SO Avg.
Finnie, Dave Ottawa 8 19 2 2.4

Scoring leaders

Name Club GP G
McGee, Frank Ottawa 6 17
Westwick, Harry Ottawa 8 15
Smith, Alf Ottawa 8 13
Shore, Hamby Ottawa 3 6

Stanley Cup challenges

Ottawa vs. Dawson City

The first interest in a challenge from Dawson City was indicated in a letter from Weldy Young to the Ottawa Citizen, in 1900. The Stanley Cup trustees received a letter from G. T. Kirkson and C. Shannon of Dawson on June 7, 1901, challenging the then-champion Winnipeg Victorias. After P. D. Ross wrote back to Dawson, nothing further was heard from the Dawson club until September 9, 1904, when Ross received a challenge from Young for a Dawson City All-Star team to challenge the Silver Seven. Ross authorized the challenge in December 1904.[3]

In January 1905, the Dawson City Nuggets travelled 4,000 miles (6,400 km) from the Yukon to Ottawa for a best-of-three Cup challenge series. The Nuggets actually left Dawson City on December 19, 1904 and travelled on a month-long journey by dog sled (Dawson to Whitehorse), ship (Skagway to Vancouver), and train (Whitehorse to Skagway, and Vancouver to Ottawa). They were no match for the Silver Seven. Ottawa defeated them in the first game, 9–2. Numerous Stanley Cup records were then set in game two, including Frank McGee's 14 goals, which included eight consecutive goals scored in less than nine minutes,[4] and a 23–2 rout, the largest margin of victory for any challenge game or Stanley Cup Final game to date.

Several players playing for Dawson were from the Ottawa area. Jim Johnstone was from Ottawa. Norman Watt was from Aylmer, Quebec. Randy McLennan was from Glengarry County, Ontario[5] and had played in a Stanley Cup challenge for Queen's University of Kingston, Ontario. Another player had Stanley Cup challenge experience: Lorne Hanna, "formerly of the Yukon", had played for Brandon Wheat Cities in their 1904 challenge of Ottawa.[6]

Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location
January 13, 1905Ottawa Senators9–2Dawson City NuggetsDey's Arena
January 16, 1905Ottawa Senators23–2Dawson City Nuggets
Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0

Game One

Dawson at Ottawa, January 13, 1905
Ottawa 9 P Dawson 2
Dave Finnie G A. Forrest
Arthur "Bones" Allen P Jim Johnstone
Arthur Moore CP Lorne HannaA
Harry Westwick 2 R Randy McLennan 1
Frank McGee 1 C Hector Smith
Alf Smith 4 RW George Kennedy 1
Frank White 2 LW Norman Watt
Referee – Harlow Stiles, CornwallB

A. ^ Coleman lists spelling as Lorne Hanna, other spellings include Hannay (Reddick's spelling) and Hanney(in The Globe article)
B. ^ Coleman lists E. Butterworth as referee. However, Boyle is recorded as complaining about Stiles missing off-side calls.

Source: Coleman, pg. 112


According to The Globe:

The score was 9 to 2 but Ottawa might have increased its proportions had they set to work to run up a score on the men who had travelled 4,000 miles from the far north in quest of the trophy. During the first twenty minutes of play, the challenging team made a remarkably fine showing against the champions, but after that they gradually faded away and were never seriously in the running, indicating that the chief fault with the team is that they are not in condition to stand the test of a hard battle after their long trip of 23 days from the north. While defeated to-night, it is undoubtably the fact that the team will be a different proportion in the second game on Monday.[7]

Sources:

Game Two

Dawson at Ottawa, January 16, 1905
Ottawa 23 P Dawson 2
Dave Finnie G Albert Forrest
Harvey Pulford P Jim Johnstone
Arthur Moore CP Lorne Hanna
Harry Westwick 5 R Dave Fairburn
Frank McGee 14 C Hector Smith 2
Alf Smith 3 RW George Kennedy
Frank White 1 LW Norman Watt
Referee – E. Butterworth, Ottawa

Source: Coleman, pg. 112


After the second game, The Globe reported:

The visiting team was outclassed to-night quite as decisively as the score indicates. In fact had it not been for the fact of Forrest's presence in the Dawson goal the score against them might have been a great deal larger. Ottawa simply skated away from them at the whistle, and continued to pile up the goals with a merciless monotonous regularity which was farcical in the extreme.[8]

Sources:

After the series, Ottawa held a banquet for Dawson City at the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Association (OAAA) clubhouse. After the banquet the Stanley Cup was drop kicked into the frozen Rideau Canal. It was retrieved the next day.

Ottawa vs. Rat Portage

In March 1905, the Rat Portage Thistles issued another challenge to the Senators. McGee did not play in the first game and the Thistles crushed Ottawa, 9–3. However, he returned to lead the Senators to 4–2 and 5–4 victories in games two and three, respectively.

Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location
March 7, 1905Rat Portage Thistles9–3Ottawa SenatorsDey's Arena
March 9, 1905Ottawa Senators4–2Rat Portage Thistles
March 11, 1905Ottawa Senators5–4Rat Portage Thistles
Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1

Ottawa Hockey Club 1905 Stanley Cup champions

Seven men in hockey uniforms, four sitting in the front row, around the Stanley Cup trophy. Three stand in the back, with a man in a suit standing behind them.
Group picture of the 1905 Ottawa "Silver Seven", Stanley Cup champions

Roster

  Centres
  Wingers
  Defencemen
  Goaltenders


† Substitute/on team picture/dressed, but did not play &-Missing from the team picture.

  Coaching and administrative staff
  • G.P. Murphy(President), Robert Shillington(Manager)
  • Patrick Baskerville(Treasurer), Thomas D'Arcy McGee(Secretary)
  • Halder Kirby(Club Doctor), David Barred(Team Denist)
  • Llewellyn Bates, J.P. Dickson, Martin Rosenthal, Charles Sparks(Directors)
  • Pete Green(Trainer), Mac MacGilton (Ass't Trainer)

Stanley Cup engraving

Weldy Young, a former member of the Ottawa team in the 1890s, and the captain of the Dawson City team, engraved his name on the Cup with a pen knife. He had missed playing for Dawson as he was working in the federal election, although he did arrive in Ottawa during the series.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kitchen, pp. 127–128
  2. ↑ Kitchen, pp. 140–141
  3. ↑ Zweig 2012, p. 301.
  4. ↑ "History of McGee's Inn: Frank McGee, the hockey legend". McGee's Inn Bed & Breakfast – Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Website. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Kitchen, p. 142
  6. ↑ Reddick, Don. "Dawson City, Yukon · Friday, March 7, 1997:The Genesis of Dawson City's challenge". Klondike Sun. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  7. ↑ The Globe. January 14, 1905. p. 21.
  8. ↑ The Globe. January 17, 1905. p. 12.
  9. ↑ Shea and Wilson(2006), pg. 430
Preceded by
Ottawa Hockey Club
1904		 Ottawa Hockey Club
1905 Stanley Cup Champions
1905 		Succeeded by
Ottawa Hockey Club
1906