1907 ECAHA season

The 1907 Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) season lasted from January 3 until March 10. Teams played a ten game schedule. The Montreal Wanderers won the league championship going undefeated, with their only loss of the season coming in a Stanley Cup challenge series with Kenora.
==League business==
 ===Executive===
* Fred McRobie (President)
* Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Ottawa (1st Vice-President)
* Gordon Blair, Quebec (2nd Vice-President)
* Emmett Quinn, Shamrocks (Secretary-Treasurer)
Nationals and Grand Trunk applied for franchises but did not get three-fourths approval.
===Rule changes===
* Teams could have professionals as well as amateurs
* After a puck strikes a goalie, the rebound could now be played by the defending team without it being called offside
* A player injured in the first half can sit for ten minutes and the other team has to take off a player.
==Regular season==
Frank McGee of Ottawa retired to pursue his government career. Prior to the season, Ottawa travelled to Winnipeg for a series of exhibition games against Manitoba league teams including the Kenora Thistles, who then came east to play a challenge in Montreal.
===Highlights===
A major battle took place for the game between the Senators and Wanderers on January 12. Stick work was the order of the day as Charles Spittal of Ottawa knocked Cecil Blachford in the head, Alf Smith hit Hod Stuart in the head and Harry Smith broke Ernie Johnson's nose. The Wanderers would still win, 4–2.
After the game, a special league meeting was called to hand out discipline, with Victorias and Wanderers wanting Spittal and Alf Smith suspended for the season. The players were not suspended, leading the league president Mr. McRobie to resign, leaving Darcy McGee to take over as president.
On the next visit of the Ottawa team to Montreal, to play the Victorias, the three Ottawa players were arrested by Montreal police. Eventually Alf Smith and Spittal were fined $20 for their actions and Harry Smith was found not guilty.
The scoring championship was close, with Ernie Russell of the Wanderers placing first with 42 goals in 9 games, and Russell Bowie scoring 38 in 10 games.
===Final standings===
Team 	Games Played	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals For	Goals Against
Montreal Wanderers 	10 	10 	0 	0 	105 	39
Ottawa Hockey Club 	10 	7 	3 	0 	76 	54
Montreal Victorias 	10 	6 	4 	0 	101 	70
Montreal Hockey Club	10 	3 	7 	0 	58 	83
Quebec Hockey Club 	10 	2 	8 	0 	62 	88
Montreal Shamrocks 	10 	2 	8 	0 	52 	120
===Results===
Month	Day	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Score
Jan. 	2 	Wanderers	6 	Victorias	5 (10' overtime)
Jan. 	5 	Montreal 	5 	Shamrocks	3
Jan. 	5 	Quebec 	1 	Ottawa 	6
Jan. 	9 	Wanderers	6 	Montreal 	3
Jan. 	12 	Ottawa 	2 	Wanderers	4
Jan. 	12 	Victorias	10 	Quebec 	1
Jan. 	16 	Victorias	16 	Shamrocks	3
Jan. 	19 	Shamrocks	2 	Ottawa 	6
Jan. 	19 	Quebec 	8 	Montreal 	15
Jan. 	23 	Victorias	12 	Montreal 	6
Jan. 	26 	Ottawa 	12 	Victorias	10
Jan. 	26 	Wanderers	11 	Quebec 	3
Jan. 	30 	Shamrocks	5 	Montreal 	3
Feb. 	2 	Montreal 	2 	Ottawa 	5
Feb. 	2 	Quebec 	8 	Shamrocks	11
Feb. 	6 	Wanderers	5 	Victorias	2
Feb. 	9 	Ottawa 	5 	Quebec 	4 (2' overtime)
Feb. 	9 	Montreal 	3 	Wanderers	16
Feb. 	13 	Shamrocks	7 	Victorias	19
Feb. 	16 	Victorias	7 	Ottawa 	16
Feb. 	16 	Quebec 	5 	Wanderers	13
Feb. 	19 	Shamrocks	5 	Wanderers	18
Feb. 	23 	Ottawa 	12 	Shamrocks	6
Feb. 	23 	Montreal 	5 	Quebec 	9
Feb. 	27 	Montreal 	8 	Victorias	13
Mar. 	2 	Wanderers	10 	Ottawa 	6
Mar. 	2 	Quebec 	6 	Victorias	7
Mar. 	6 	Shamrocks	5 	Wanderers	16
Mar. 	9 	Ottawa 	6 	Montreal 	8
Mar. 	9 	Shamrocks	5 	Quebec 	17
===Goalkeeper averages===
Name 	Club 	GP	GA 	SO	Avg.
Riley Hern 	Wanderers	10	39 	 	3.9
Percy LeSueur 	Ottawa 	10	54 	 	5.4
Nathan Frye 	Victorias	10	70 	 	7.0
Charles Doddridge	Quebec 	4 	30 	 	7.5
White 	Montreal 	10	83 	 	8.3
Paddy Moran 	Quebec 	6 	58 	 	9.7
Currie 	Shamrocks	10	120	 	12.0
===Leading scorers===
Name 	Club 	GP	G
Russell, Ernie 	Wanderers	9 	42
Bowie, Russell 	Victorias	10	38
Russell, Blair 	Victorias	10	25
Smith, Harry 	Ottawa 	9 	21
Sargent, Grover	Montreal 	10	20
Hale, Chandler 	Victorias	7 	18
Smith, Alf 	Ottawa 	9 	17
Shore, Hamby 	Ottawa 	10	17
Johnson, Ernie 	Montreal 	10	15
Constantine 	Quebec 	7 	15
==Stanley Cup Challenges==
The 1907 season had two Stanley Cup champions, Montreal Wanderers and Kenora Thistles.
===Wanderers vs. New Glasgow===
The Wanderers played one Stanley Cup challenge before the season, defeating the New Glasgow Cubs in a two-game series 10–3, 7–2, December 27–29, 1906. This was the first series in which professional players played for the Stanley Cup, as the Wanderers and other teams in the ECAHA were starting to mix amateurs with pros in their squads.
Date 	Winning Team 	Score 	Losing Team 	Location
December 27, 1906 	Montreal Wanderers 	10–3 	New Glasgow Cubs 	Montreal Arena
December 29], 1906 	Montreal Wanderers 	7–2 	New Glasgow Cubs 	Montreal Arena
Montreal wins total goals series 17 goals to 5	Montreal wins total goals series 17 goals to 5	Montreal wins total goals series 17 goals to 5	Montreal wins total goals series 17 goals to 5	Montreal wins total goals series 17 goals to 5
===Wanderers vs. Kenora at Montreal===
The Wanderers played one Stanley Cup challenge during the season, losing to the Kenora Thistles 2–4, 6–8 on January 17–21. Aided by future Hockey Hall of Famers Tom Hooper, Tommy Phillips, and Art Ross, the Thistles came away with 4–2 and 8–6 victories for a combined score of 12–8 to win a two-game total goals series. A "ringer", Ross was a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings and was borrowed by Kenora for just the challenge games.
Date 	Winning Team 	Score 	Losing Team 	Location
January 17, 1907 	Kenora Thistles 	4–2 	Montreal Wanderers 	Montreal Arena
January 21, 1907 	Kenora Thistles 	8–6 	Montreal Wanderers 	Montreal Arena
Kenora wins total goals series 12 goals to 8	Kenora wins total goals series 12 goals to 8	Kenora wins total goals series 12 goals to 8	Kenora wins total goals series 12 goals to 8	Kenora wins total goals series 12 goals to 8
===Kenora vs. Brandon===
Kenora would play and win the Manitoba Professional Hockey League(MPHL) playoffs against Brandon to successfully defend the Cup, winning a best-of-three series 2–0. Kenora added for this series Alf Smith and Rat Westwick of Ottawa, whose season with the ECAHA was already over. At the time of this series, the acting Stanley Cup trustee William Foran had already declared Smith and Westwick ineligible for the challenge series. After the series was over, the Manitoba League registered their disapproval over Mr. Foran's decision to exclude the players.
Date 	Winning Team 	Score 	Losing Team 	Location
March 16, 1907 	Kenora Thistles 	8–6 	Brandon Wheat City 	Winnipeg Arena
March 18, 1907 	Kenora Thistles 	4–1 	Brandon Wheat City 	Winnipeg Arena
Kenora wins series 2–0	Kenora wins series 2–0	Kenora wins series 2–0	Kenora wins series 2–0	Kenora wins series 2–0
===Wanderers vs. Kenora at Winnipeg===
Kenora went ahead and added Alf Smith and Rat Westwick of Ottawa for the challenge, against the wishes of Mr. Foran. The series was supposed to start on March 21 in Kenora, but Montreal protested the use of Smith and Westwick and wanted to play in Winnipeg. Foran ruled that both players were ineligible. The clubs went ahead and started the series on March 23 in Winnipeg. Mr. Foran was notified by the press (inaccurately) that Montreal had dropped its protest and that the clubs intended to play anyway. Mr. Foran threatened to take the Cup back to Ottawa:
If the two clubs ignore the instructions of the cup trustees by mutually agreeing to play against Westwick and Smith when both were positively informed these men were ineligible to participate in the present cup matches, the series will be treated as void, and the cup will be taken charge of by the trustees. It will remain in their possession till the various hockey leagues can educate themselves up to a standard where decent sport will be the order of the day.”/blockquote>
The teams went ahead and played the series. However, Mr. Foran changed his mind after the Wanderers won the Cup, stating that the Wanderers could keep the Cup, because they had not rescinded their protest.
Date 	Winning Team 	Score 	Losing Team 	Location
March 23, 1907 	Montreal Wanderers 	7–2 	Kenora Thistles 	Winnipeg Arena
March 25, 1907 	Kenora Thistles 	6–5 	Montreal Wanderers 	Winnipeg Arena
Montreal wins total goals series 12 goals to 8	Montreal wins total goals series 12 goals to 8	Montreal wins total goals series 12 goals to 8	Montreal wins total goals series 12 goals to 8	Montreal wins total goals series 12 goals to 8
==Kenora Thistles January 1907 Stanley Cup champions==
==Montreal Wanderers March 1907 Stanley Cup champions==
==Regular Season Game Ads==
07ECAHAMontrealGameAd.jpg|Montreal
07ECAHAOttawaGameAd.jpg|Ottawa
07ECAHAQuebecGameAd.jpg|Quebec City
==Stanley Cup Game Ads==
06Dec27SCupMontrealGameAd.jpg|Dec. 27 @ Montreal
==See Also==
Category:1907 in hockey
Category:Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
Category:Stanley Cup Finals