1903 CAHL season

The 1903 Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) season lasted from January 3 until February 28. Teams played an eight game schedule. Ottawa and Montreal Victorias tied for the league championship with records of six wins and two losses.
==League Business==
===Executive===
* Harry Trihey, Shamrocks (President)
* P. M. Butler, Ottawa (1st Vice-President)
* A. D. Scott, Quebec ( 2nd Vice-President)
* Fred McRobie, Montreal (Secretary-Treasurer)
It was decided that league champions would not play for the Stanley Cup until after the season. If a challenge was ordered by the Cup trustees Montreal would default the Cup. A challenge was ordered by the Trustees and Montreal eventually agreed to play Winnipeg in January during regular season play.
This season saw the loss of several players to the new International Hockey League in the U.S., including Charles Liffiton, Hod Stuart, Eddie Hogan.
==Season==
===Highlights===
This season saw several impressive rookies including Frank McGee and Art Moore for Ottawa.
The season would be a two team race between Montreal Victorias and Ottawa, splitting their matches between each other. The season ended in a tie, which necessitated a playoff, won by Ottawa to win their first Stanley Cup. At the other end of the standing, Shamrocks did not win any games.
===Final Standing===
Team 	Games Played	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals For	Goals Against
Ottawa Hockey Club 	8 	6 	2 	0 	47 	26
Montreal Victorias 	8 	6 	2 	0 	48 	33
Montreal Hockey Club	7 	4 	3 	0 	34 	19
Quebec Hockey Club 	7 	3 	4 	0 	30 	46
Montreal Shamrocks 	8 	0 	8 	0 	21 	56
===Results===
Month	Day	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Score
Jan. 	3 	Victorias	4 	Ottawa 	3
Jan. 	3 	Shamrocks	0 	Montreal 	10
Jan. 	10 	Ottawa 	6 	Shamrocks	1
Jan. 	10 	Victorias	11 	Quebec 	5
Jan. 	17 	Montreal 	1 	Ottawa 	7
Jan. 	17 	Quebec 	5 	Shamrocks	3
Jan. 	21 	Montreal 	5 	Victorias	2
Jan. 	24 	Ottawa 	6 	Quebec 	8
Jan. 	24 	Victorias	12 	Shamrocks	7
Jan. 	31†	Quebec 	 	Montreal 	
Feb. 	4 	Shamrocks	2 	Ottawa 	5
Feb. 	7 	Quebec 	7 	Montreal 	6
Feb. 	7 	Ottawa 	9 	Victorias	3
Feb. 	11 	Montreal 	7 	Quebec 	3
Feb. 	14 	Victorias	3 	Shamrocks	10
Feb. 	14 	Quebec 	6 	Ottawa 	1
Feb. 	21 	Montreal 	3 	Shamrocks	1
Feb. 	21 	Ottawa 	4 	Montreal 	5
Feb. 	25 	Montreal 	2 	Victorias	3
Feb. 	28 	Quebec 	1 	Victorias	3
† Postponed and not played.
===Goalkeeper Averages===
Name 	Club 	GP	GA	SO	Avg.
Lockerby, Archie 	Victorias	3 	6 	 	2.0
Nicholson, Billy 	Montreal 	7 	19	1 	2.7
Hutton, John Bouse	Ottawa 	8 	26	2 	3.3
Nichol, Jim 	Victorias	5 	27	 	5.4
Moran, Paddy 	Quebec 	7 	46	 	6.6
O'Reilly, P. 	Shamrocks	8 	56	 	7.0
===Scoring Leaders===
Name 	Club 	GP	G
Bowie, Russell	Victorias	7 	22
McGee, Frank 	Ottawa 	6 	14
Jordan, Herb 	Quebec 	7 	12
Gilmour, Billy	Ottawa 	7 	10
Hooper, Art 	Montreal 	6 	9
Marshall, Jack	Montreal 	7 	8
Russell, Blair	Victorias	8 	7
Gilmour, Dave 	Ottawa 	4 	7
Gilmour, Suddy	Ottawa 	7 	7
Bright, J. 	Shamrocks	8 	7
==Playoffs==
Ottawa and Victorias played a two-game total-goals series.
 March 7
Ottawa 	1 	at 	Victorias 	1 	
John Hutton 	 	G 	Archie Lockerby 	 	
Harvey Pulford 	 	P 	Billy Strachan 	 	
Arthur Moore 	 	CP 	George Fairbank 	1 	
Harry Westwick 	 	R 	Russell Bowie 	 	
Frank McGee 	 	C 	Bert Strachan 	1 	
Billy Gilmour 	 	RW 	Charles Allan 	 	
Suddy Gilmour 	1 	LW 	Blair Russell 	 	
Dave Gilmour 	 	C-Sub 	 	 	
Referee - Harry Trihey	Referee - Harry Trihey	Referee - Harry Trihey	Referee - Harry Trihey	Referee - Harry Trihey	
 March 10
Victorias 	0 	at 	Ottawa 	8 	
Archie Lockerby 	 	G 	John Hutton 	 	
Billy Strachan 	 	P 	Harvey Pulford 	 	
George Fairbank 	 	CP 	Arthur Moore 	 	
Bert Strachan 	 	R 	Frank McGee 	3 	
Russell Bowie 	 	C 	Dave Gilmour 	2 	
Blair Russell 	 	LW 	Billy Gilmour 	1 	
Charles Allan 	1 	RW 	Suddy Gilmour 	2 	
Referee - P. Quinn	Referee - P. Quinn	Referee - P. Quinn	Referee - P. Quinn	Referee - P. Quinn	
==Stanley Cup Challenges==
===Winnipeg vs. Montreal===
Another Montreal HC vs. Winnipeg Victorias best-of-three challenge series was held in early 1903. In game one, defending champion Montreal defeated Winnipeg, 8–1. game two was the first Stanley Cup challenge match to be replayed. Both teams skated to a 2–2 tie before the game had to be suspended at 27:00 of overtime because of a midnight curfew. It was then decided to discard the result and replay game two two days later. In the rescheduled contest, the Victorias won, 4–2, to even the series. However, Montreal won the decisive game three, 4–1, to retain the Cup.
Date 	Winning Team 	Score 	Losing Team 	Location
January 29, 1903 	Montreal HC 	8 – 1 	Winnipeg Victorias 	Montreal Arena
January 31, 1903 	Suspended at 27:00 of overtime due to curfew and the 2–2 tie was discarded	Suspended at 27:00 of overtime due to curfew and the 2–2 tie was discarded	Suspended at 27:00 of overtime due to curfew and the 2–2 tie was discarded	Montreal Arena
February 2, 1903 	Winnipeg Victorias 	4 – 2 	Montreal HC 	Montreal Arena
February 4, 1903 	Montreal HC 	4 – 1 	Winnipeg Victorias 	Montreal Arena
Montreal wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1	Montreal wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1 	Montreal wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1 	Montreal wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1 	Montreal wins best-of-three series 2 games to 1
===Rat Portage vs. Ottawa===
Ottawa defeated the Rat Portage Thistles 6–2, 4–2 (10–4) in a two-game, total goals series in Ottawa, March 12–14, 1903.
As the new CAHL and Cup champions, the Ottawas accepted a challenge from the Rat Portage Thistles of the Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association (MNWHA). Entering the best-of-three challenge series, the Thistles were younger and quicker than Ottawa; only one player on the Thistles was over the age of 20. However, poor soft ice conditions in Ottawa played a major factor as Ottawa swept the series with scores of 6–2 and 4–2.
Date 	Winning Team 	Score 	Losing Team 	Location
March 12, 1903 	Ottawa 	6 – 2 	Rat Portage Thistles 	Dey's Arena
March 14, 1903 	Ottawa 	4 – 2 	Rat Portage Thistles 	Dey's Arena
Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0	Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0	Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0	Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0	Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0
 March 12
Rat Portage 	2 	at 	Ottawa 	6 	
Rutherford 	 	G 	John Hutton 	 	
Mat Brown 	 	P 	Harvy Pulford 	 	
Tom Hooper 	 	CP 	Arthur Moore 	 	
Si Griffis 	 	R 	Dave Gilmour 	1 	
Billy McGimsie 	2 	C 	Frank McGee 	2 	
Bill Martin 	 	LW 	Billy Gilmour 	3 	
Roxy Beaudro 	 	RW 	Suddy Gilmour 	 	
Referee- Harry Trihey	Referee- Harry Trihey	Referee- Harry Trihey	Referee- Harry Trihey	Referee- Harry Trihey	
 March 14
Rat Portage 	2 	at 	Ottawa 	4 	
Rutherford 	 	G 	John Hutton 	 	
Mat Brown 	 	P 	Harvey Pulford 	 	
Tom Hooper 	 	CP 	Dave Gilmour 	1 	
Si Griffis 	 	R 	Frank McGee 	2 	
Billy McGimsie 	1 	C 	Percy Sims 	1 	
Bill Martin 	 	RW 	Billy Gilmour 	 	
Roxy Beaudro 	1 	LW 	Suddy Gilmour 	 	
Referee- Chauncy Kirby	Referee- Chauncy Kirby	Referee- Chauncy Kirby	Referee- Chauncy Kirby	Referee- Chauncy Kirby	
For their win, the Ottawa players would each receive a silver nugget. From that point on the team would also be known as the Silver Seven.
==Montreal H.C. February 1903 Stanley Cup champions==
==Ottawa Hockey Club March 1903 Stanley Cup champions==
==Team Photos==
03Ottawa.jpg|Champion Ottawa Hockey Club
02MAAA.jpg
==Game Ads==
03CAHLMontrealGameAd.jpg|Montreal
03CAHLQuebecGameAd.jpg|Quebec City
==See Also==
* List of Stanley Cup champions
==References==
*
* 
Category:1903 in ice hockey
Category:Stanley Cup Finals
Category:1903 in Canadian ice hockey by league