1903 CAHL season

The 1903 Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) season was the fifth season of the league. Teams played an eight game schedule. Ottawa and Montreal Victorias tied for the league championship with records of six wins and two losses. Ottawa defeated the Victorias in a two-game playoff to win the season and their first Stanley Cup championship, the first of "Silver Seven" era.
==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 Hockey Leagues in the U.S., including Charlie Liffiton, Hod Stuart, Bruce Stuart, Eddie Hogan and George McCarron.
==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
==Playoffs==
Ottawa HC and Montreal Victorias played a two-game total-goals series.
 March 7
Ottawa HC 	1 	at 	Victorias 	1 	
John "Bouse" Hutton 	 	G 	Archie Lockerby 	 	
Harvey Pulford, Capt 	 	P 	Billy Strachan 	 	
Arthur Moore 	 	CP 	George Fairbank 	 	
Harry Westwick 	 	RO 	Russell Bowie, Capt 	 	
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 HC 	8 	
Archie Lockerby 	 	G 	John "Bouse" Hutton 	 	
Billy Strachan 	 	P 	Harvey Pulford, Capt 	 	
George Fairbank 	 	CP 	Arthur Moore 	 	
Bert Strachan 	 	RO 	Frank McGee 	3 	
Russell Bowie, Capt 	 	C 	Dave Gilmour 	2 	
Blair Russell 	 	LW 	Billy Gilmour 	1 	
Charles Allan 	 	RW 	Suddy Gilmour 	2 	
Referee – Percy Quinn	Referee – Percy Quinn	Referee – Percy Quinn	Referee – Percy Quinn	Referee – Percy 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 the game 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 HC===
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 HC 	6–2 	Rat Portage Thistles 	Dey's Arena
March 14, 1903 	Ottawa HC 	4–2 	Rat Portage Thistles 	Dey's Arena
Ottawa HC wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0	Ottawa HC wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0	Ottawa HC wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0	Ottawa HC wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0	Ottawa HC wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0
 March 12
Rat Portage 	2 	at 	Ottawa HC 	6 	
Fred Dulmage 	 	G 	John "Bouse" Hutton 	 	
Mat Brown 	 	P 	Harvey Pulford, Capt 	 	
Tom Hooper, Capt 	 	CP 	Arthur Moore 	 	
Si Griffis 	 	RO 	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 HC 	4 	
Fred Dulmage 	 	G 	John "Bouse" Hutton 	 	
Mat Brown 	 	P 	Harvey Pulford, Capt 	 	
Tom Hooper, Capt 	 	CP 	Dave Gilmour 	1 	
Si Griffis 	 	RO 	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.
==Schedule and 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 	Montreal 	9 	Quebec 	3
Feb. 	7 	Ottawa 	7 	Victorias	6
Feb. 	11 	Victorias	7 	Shamrocks	3
Feb. 	14 	Quebec 	3 	Ottawa 	10
Feb. 	14 	Montreal 	6 	Shamrocks	1
Feb. 	21 	Ottawa 	3 	Montreal 	1
Feb. 	21 	Shamrocks	4 	Quebec 	5
Feb. 	25 	Montreal 	2 	Victorias	3
Feb. 	28 	Quebec 	1 	Victorias	3
† Postponed and not played.
==Player statistics==
===Goaltending averages===
Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average
Name 	Club 	GP	GA	SO	GAA
Archie Lockerby 	Victorias	3 	6 	 	2.0
Billy Nicholson 	Montreal 	7 	19	1 	2.7
Bouse Hutton 	Ottawa 	8 	26	2 	3.3
Jim Nichol 	Victorias	5 	27	 	5.4
Paddy Moran 	Quebec 	7 	46	 	6.6
Patrick O'Reilly	Shamrocks	8 	56	 	7.0
===Scoring leaders===
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals scored
Name 	Club 	GP	G
Russell Bowie	Victorias	7 	22
Frank McGee 	Ottawa 	6 	14
Herb Jordan 	Quebec 	7 	12
Billy Gilmour	Ottawa 	7 	10
Archie Hooper	Montreal 	6 	9
Jack Marshall	Montreal 	7 	8
Blair Russell	Victorias	8 	7
Dave Gilmour 	Ottawa 	4 	7
Suddy Gilmour	Ottawa 	7 	7
Harry Bright 	Shamrocks	8 	7
==References==
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1903
Category:1903 in ice hockey