# 1902 CAHL season

The 1902 Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) season was the fourth season of the league. Teams played an eight-game schedule. The Montreal HC were the league champion with a record of six wins and two losses. After the season, Montreal HC challenged the Winnipeg Victorias for the Stanley Cup title and were victorious.

## League business
### Executive

* George R. James, Montreal (President)
* A. D. Scott, Quebec (1st vice-president)
* N. Charles Sparks, Ottawa ( 2nd vice-president)
* Harry Trihey, Shamrocks(Secretary-Treasurer)
New fines were added for being more than 15 minutes late for a game and forfeiting.
The clubs demanded an increase in gate receipts share from 33% to 40% and a higher number of free tickets from the Montreal Arena owners, but settled for the increase in tickets only.
Source: Coleman, p. 68

## Season

The Shamrocks team, which had won the Stanley Cup only two seasons prior, was completely new. While Fred Scanlan went to Winnipeg, Harry Trihey, Arthur Farrell, Frank Wall, Frank Tansey, James McKenna and Jack Brannen all retired from competitive ice hockey. The team sank to the bottom of the standings.

### Highlights

Montreal would win the league led by their big line of Archie Hooper, Jack Marshall, Jimmy Gardner and Charlie Liffiton. The players would earn their nickname of the 'Little Men of Iron', winning the Stanley Cup in a challenge with Winnipeg. Hooper would score nine goals against the Shamrocks on January 5, on his way to winning the scoring title.

### Final standing

| Team | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals For | Goals Against |
| Montreal Hockey Club | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 15 |
| Ottawa Hockey Club | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 35 | 15 |
| Montreal Victorias | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 25 |
| Quebec Hockey Club | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 34 |
| Montreal Shamrocks | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 62 |

## Stanley Cup challenges
### Winnipeg vs. Montreal

After the Montreal HC won the 1902 CAHL title in March, they promptly sent a challenge to the Winnipeg Victorias. In game one of the best-of-three series, Winnipeg shut out Montreal, 1–0. However, Montreal shut out Winnipeg in game two, 5–0, and then held on to a 2–1 victory in game three. With the victory, the Montreal club won the Cup for the first time since 1894.
Jack Marshall of Montreal, who had played for the Winnipeg team in the previous year, faced his old team and scored three goals, including the series clincher. Archie Hooper also scored three for Montreal.
| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location |
| March 13, 1902 | Winnipeg Victorias | 1–0 | Montreal HC | Winnipeg Auditorium |
| March 15, 1902 | Montreal HC | 5–0 | Winnipeg Victorias | Winnipeg Auditorium |
| March 17, 1902 | Montreal HC | 2–1 | Winnipeg Victorias | Winnipeg Auditorium |
| Montreal wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1 |||||
March 13 :
| Montreal | at | Winnipeg | 1 |
| Billy Nicholson | G | Art Brown | |
| Tom Hodge | P | Rod Flett | |
| Dickie Boon, Capt | CP | Magnus Flett | |
| Archie Hooper | RO | Fred Cadham | |
| Jack Marshall | C | Burke Wood | |
| Charles Liffiton | RW | Tony Gingras | 1 |
| Jimmy Gardner | LW | Fred Scanlan | |
| Billy Bellingham | Spare | Dan Bain, Capt. | |
| Roland Elliot | Spare | Charles Johnston | |
| George Smith | Spare | | |
| Referee- W. MacFarlane |||||
March 15 :
| Montreal | 5 | at | Winnipeg |
| Billy Nicholson | | G | Art Brown |
| Billy Bellingham | | P | Rod Flett |
| Dickie Boon, Capt | | CP | Magnus Flett |
| Archie Hooper | 2 | RO | Fred Cadham |
| Jack Marshall | 2 | C | Burke Wood |
| Charles Liffiton | 1 | RW | Tony Gingras |
| Jimmy Gardner | | LW | Fred Scanlan |
| George Smith | | Spare | Dan Bain, Capt. |
| Roland Elliot | | Spare | Charles Johnston |
| Referee- W. MacFarlane |||||
March 17 :
| Montreal | 2 | at | Winnipeg | 1 |
| Billy Nicholson | | G | Art Brown | |
| Billy Bellingham | | P | Red Flett | |
| Dickie Boon | | CP | Magnus Flett | |
| Archie Hooper | 1 | RO | Fred Cadham | |
| Jack Marshall | 1 | C | Burke Wood | |
| Charles Liffiton | | RW | Tony Gingras | 1 |
| Jimmy Gardner | | LW | Fred Scanlan | |
| George Smith | | Spare | Dan Bain, Capt. | |
| Roland Elliot | | Spare | Charles Johnston | |
| Referee- W. MacFarlane |||||

## Exhibitions

The Ottawa Hockey Club travelled to New York after the season for an exhibition series. Ottawa defeated the Hockey Club of New York 4–3 on March 21, 1902. Ottawa lost to the New York Athletic Club 6–3 on March 23. Both games were at the St. Nicholas Rink.

## Schedule and results

| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
| Jan. | 5 | Victorias | 4 | Ottawa | 5 |
| Jan. | 5 | Montreal | 14 | Shamrocks | 0 |
| Jan. | 11 | Ottawa | 1 | Shamrocks | 2 |
| Jan. | 11 | Victorias | 9 | Quebec | 5 |
| Jan. | 18 | Montreal | 4 | Ottawa | 2 |
| Jan. | 18 | Quebec | 6 | Shamrocks | 2 |
| Jan. | 22 | Victorias | 3 | Montreal | 2 |
| Jan. | 25 | Ottawa | 1 | Quebec | 2 |
| Jan. | 25 | Shamrocks | 2 | Victorias | 9 |
| Feb. | 1 | Quebec | 2 | Montreal | 3 |
| Feb. | 1 | Shamrocks | 0 | Ottawa | 12 |
| Feb. | 8 | Montreal | 7 | Quebec | 1 |
| Feb. | 8 | Ottawa | 3 | Victorias | 2 |
| Feb. | 12 | Victorias | 8 | Shamrocks | 2 |
| Feb. | 15 | Quebec | 0 | Ottawa | 8 |
| Feb. | 15 | Montreal | 5 | Shamrocks | 4 |
| Feb. | 22 | Ottawa | 3 | Montreal | 1 |
| Feb. | 22 | Shamrocks | 3 | Quebec | 7 |
| Feb. | 26 (†) | Montreal | 3 | Victorias | 0 |
| Mar. | 1 | Quebec | 3 | Victorias | 1 |
† Montreal HC clinches league championship.

## Player statistics
### Goaltending averages

Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average
| Name | Club | GP | GA | SO | GAA |
| Billy Nicholson | Montreal | 8 | 15 | 2 | 1.7 |
| Bouse Hutton | Ottawa | 8 | 15 | 2 | 1.7 |
| Archie Lockerby | Victorias | 6 | 15 | | 2.5 |
| Paddy Moran | Quebec | 8 | 34 | | 4.3 |
| Fred Munro | Victorias | 2 | 10 | | 5.0 |
| Patrick O'Reilly | Shamrocks | 8 | 62 | | 7.8 |

### Scoring leaders

| Name | Club | GP | G |
| Archie Hooper | Montreal | 8 | 17 |
| Russell Bowie | Victorias | 7 | 13 |
| Jack Marshall | Montreal | 8 | 11 |
| Rat Westwick | Ottawa | 8 | 11 |
| Bruce Stuart | Ottawa | 8 | 9 |
| Blair Russel | Victorias | 8 | 9 |
| Charlie Liffiton | Montreal | 8 | 8 |
| Harold Henry | Ottawa | 8 | 6 |
| Edward Stuart | Victorias | 6 | 6 |
| Percy Lemesurier | Quebec | 4 | 5 |

## Stanley Cup engraving
### Players
#### Centres

* Jack Marshall
* Archie Hooper (rover)

#### Wingers

* Cecil Blachford
* Jimmy Gardner
* Charles Liffiton
* George Smith(did not play-on team picture)

#### Defencemen

* Billy Bellingham (point)
* Dickie Boon (cover point-captain)
* Roland Elliot (point)
* Tom Hodge (point)

#### Goaltenders

* Billy Nicholson

### Coaching and administrative staff

* Harry L. Shaw (President), Clarence McKerrow (Manager-Coach)
* Allan Cameron Jr. (Vice President), Paul Lefebvre (Trainer)
* Harry Herbert Marsden (H. H. M.) Andrews (Director), Charles G. Chitty (Director), Harry C. Dewitt (Hon. Secretary/Treasurer).