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79-521: The FAHL's membership changed in each of its six seasons of operation. During the FAHL's inaugural 1904 season, the Montreal Le National became the first francophone ice hockey team to play in a league with anglophone clubs. The 1906-07 season ended early due to an on-ice death, and the 1907 schedule was suspended mid-season. The FAHL was a professional league for its last two years and

158-637: A roller skating rink, and ice rink facilities were at a shortage. This changed with the opening of the Rideau Skating Rink in February 1889. One of the principal organizers in the restarting of the team was Ottawa Journal publisher P. D. Ross , who also played on the team. Returning as captain was Frank Jenkins, and the other players were Halder Kirby, Jack Kerr, Nelson Porter, Ross, George Young, Weldy Young , Thomas D. Green, William O'Dell, Tom Gallagher, Albert Low and Henry Ami. In 1889,

237-663: A banquet. After this, the players took the Cup and attempted to drop-kick it over the Rideau Canal . The stunt was unsuccessful, as the Cup landed on the frozen ice and had to be retrieved the next day. Considering the lopsided score of the series, historians such as Paul Kitchen question why Dawson City was even granted a chance at the Cup. Dawson City had won no championships and did not belong to any recognized senior league. While team official Weldy Young knew Stanley Cup trustee P. D. Ross personally through their joint connection with

316-799: A challenge between Ottawa and the CAHL champion, but the CAHL refused to consider it. The next season, Ottawa joined the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), winning the league championship. The club was only in the FAHL for one season, and the Montreal Wanderers became their new rival. For the 1906 season, Ottawa, the Wanderers and several of the CAHL teams, formed the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), unifying

395-464: A competing Ottawa Senators professional team in the Federal League, and Tommy Phillips, who joined Edmonton. The club picked up Bruce Stuart from the Wanderers, Fred Lake from Winnipeg and Dubby Kerr from Toronto. This lineup had a successful season, winning 10 out of 12 games. Walsh led all scorers with 38 goals in 12 games, while Stuart had 22 and Kerr had 20. The season was clinched with

474-553: A game against the Wanderers on January 11, which Ottawa won 12–2. However, Ottawa started the season with two losses out of three games and ended in second place behind the Wanderers again. Walsh tied for the scoring lead with 28 goals in 9 games (including seven in one match), while Phillips was close behind at 26 goals in 10 games. In 1908–09, the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association became completely professional and changed its name to

553-493: A huge welcome at the train station, had a welcoming dinner, and used the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Association's rooms for the duration of their stay. Young did not arrive in time to play for Dawson. The first game was close at the halfway point, Ottawa leading Dawson three to one. In the second half, the play became violent. Norman Watt of Dawson tripped Ottawa's Art Moore , who retaliated with

632-780: A permanent schism between Ottawa area teams competing in the Ottawa City Hockey League (OCHL) and the Ontario Hockey Association. Ottawa and area teams remain unaffiliated with the OHA; the official association under Hockey Canada is Hockey Eastern Ontario . It was at a dinner to honour the 1892 OHA champions at the Russell Hotel that the Governor General, Lord Stanley , announced his new Dominion Challenge Trophy, now known as

711-642: A replay of the game to be held in Montreal, which Ottawa refused. The series was cancelled, with Ottawa retained the Stanley Cup. championship. Ottawa then joined FAHL in the offseason.. After the season, the Wanderers travelled to Michigan to play the Portage Lakes Hockey Club pro club. The Wanderers lost to Portage Lakes 8-4 and 9-2 in a series dubbed the "World Championship" locally. The Wanderers next travelled to Pittsburgh to play

790-461: A stick to the mouth of Watt. Watt promptly knocked Moore out, hitting him on the head with his stick. The game ended 9–2 for Ottawa. The game left a poor taste in the mouth for the Yukoners, who complained that several goals were offside . After the game, Watt was quoted as saying "[Frank] McGee doesn't look like too much", as he had only scored once in the first game. McGee scored four goals in

869-530: A win against the Wanderers on March 3 in Ottawa, 8–3, as Ottawa won the league and Stanley Cup. Notable players of this time period include future Hall of Famers Percy LeSueur in goal, Dubby Kerr, Tommy Phillips, Harvey Pulford, Alf Smith, Bruce Stuart, Fred 'Cyclone' Taylor and Marty Walsh. The 1909–10 hockey season saw major changes in the hockey world, as the ECHA organization split and created two organizations,

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948-559: The 1883 Montreal Winter Carnival , Halder Kirby , Jack Kerr and Frank Jenkins met and founded the club. Being the first organized ice hockey club in Ottawa, and also the first in Ontario , the club had no other clubs to play that season. The only activities that winter were practices at the "Royal Rink" starting on March 5, 1883, as recorded in the Ottawa Daily Citizen : " The Ottawa Hockey Club had its first contest on

1027-473: The Arena. " Thirty-six penalties were called. Leahy was injured and replaced by Mallan. James Strachan, president of the Wanderers was quoted as saying that the Wanderers would not go to Ottawa and play with Dr. Kearns as referee. Ottawa took a 2–0 lead, before the Wanderers scored five in a row. The Ottawas came back with three, the final goal by Frank McGee. Source: Montreal Gazette The Wanderers demanded

1106-580: The Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL), shutting out the Capitals. The club won the CAHL 1901 season title, its first league championship since winning the OHA in 1893. It wished to challenge the Stanley Cup champion Winnipeg Victorias at first but chose not to after deliberating for a week after the season, although it also had the option to challenge in the 1902 season. According to hockey historian Charles L. Coleman, it

1185-666: The Pittsburgh Victorias . Pittsburgh won 4-2, and 6-4. Ottawa Senators (original) Split in 1934: Senior Senators (amateur/semi-pro): St. Louis Eagles (pro): The Ottawa Senators were an ice hockey team based in Ottawa , which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League (NHL) and played in

1264-524: The Stanley Cup , for the Canadian champions. Former player and president of the club, P. D. Ross, was selected by Stanley to be a trustee of the Cup. Ottawa HC did not win a game in its return to AHAC challenge play in 1890–91 , but in the next season of AHAC play in 1891–92 the club won the league championship, and held it for most of the season, from January 10 until March 7, 1892. The club took

1343-514: The Yukon Territory in 1905. Organized by Joe Boyle, a Toronto-born prospector, who had struck it rich in the Yukon gold rush of 1898, The Dawson City Nuggets had Lorne Hanna, who had played for Brandon against Ottawa in a 1904 challenge and two former elite hockey players: Weldy Young, who had played for Ottawa in the 1890s, and D. R. McLennan, who had played for Queen's College against

1422-419: The "Marlboroughs got off very easily. When Winnipeg Rowing Club played here, most of their players were carried off on stretchers." The Silver Seven participated in perhaps the most famous (described as "the most storied of all Stanley Cup challenges", "a fantastic legend in Cup history", and "one of the most memorable feats in Canadian sporting history" ) Stanley Cup challenge of all, that of Dawson City of

1501-594: The 'away' team, Ottawa was given a bye to the final game. On March 23, 1894, at the Victoria Rink , Ottawa and Montreal HC played for the championship. Ottawa scored the first goal, but Montreal would score the next three to win the game 3–1. Ottawa captain Weldy Young fainted from exhaustion at the end of the game. For the period of 1894 to 1900, the club did not win the league championship, finishing as high as second several times, and fifth (last) once. For

1580-566: The 1891 to 1893 Ontario championships. Ottawa HC played in the first season during which the Stanley Cup was challenged in 1893, and first won the Cup in 1903, holding the championship until 1906 (the Silver Seven years). The club repeated its success in the 1920s, winning the Stanley Cup in 1920, 1921, 1923 and 1927 (the Super Six years). In total, the club won the Stanley Cup 11 times, including challenges during two years it did not win

1659-455: The 1896–97 season, the Ottawa club unveiled the first use of the 'barber-pole' style sweaters of horizontal bars of black, red and white. This basic style would be used by the club until 1954 except for the 1900 and 1901 seasons, when the team used a plain sweater with only the letter 'O' on the front. In 1898, the AHAC dissolved over the admission of the intermediate-level team Ottawa Capitals of

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1738-526: The 1904 season in a horseback riding accident. He was also the Ottawa Football Club's captain at the time. The funeral cortege was estimated at a half-mile in length, and it included Canadian prime minister Wilfrid Laurier . Until the 1906–07 season, the players were not paid to play hockey, as the team was abiding by the principles of amateur sports. Ottawa HC had an advantage in attracting top players to its squad. The players could work for

1817-456: The AHAC. Ottawa HC won the Ottawa and Ontario championships, and two games against AHAC opponents, but lost to the AHAC champion Montreal HC in its one challenge for the championship. The team was the OHA champion for that league's first three years. The first championship was played on March 7, 1891, at the Rideau rink and was won 5–0 by Ottawa over Toronto St. George's. The 1891 championship

1896-802: The Brockville entry. This was unacceptable to the Ottawa Victorias, which refused to play the Renfrew players, causing the league to suspend operations. The final season, 1909, saw the Renfrew Creamery Kings become a full member of the league. Ottawa's new entry, officially called the Senators , was organized by players who resigned from the ECHA's (and former FAHL) Ottawa "Senators/Silver Seven" HC. The league dissolved in 1909, with only Renfrew continuing professional play when

1975-460: The CAHL. Only the Cornwall team would be a member for the FAHL's entire six seasons of play. The league adopted the constitution of the CAHL, except that new teams could join on a majority vote, unlike the unanimity required by the CAHL; and that any players who played in another league would be permanently suspended from play in the FAHL. Games in Montreal would be played on week-nights – at

2054-654: The Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) and the National Hockey Association (NHA). The CHA was formed to 'freeze out' the Wanderers, whose ownership change led the team to move to a smaller arena. At the same time, millionaire businessman J. Ambrose O'Brien, who wanted his Renfrew Creamery Kings to challenge for the Stanley Cup, saw his Renfrew application to join the CHA rejected. Together with the Wanderers, O'Brien instead decided to form

2133-446: The Capitals on January 20. † Wanderers lock down League Championship. Just days after the FAHL regular season was finished, the reigning Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Hockey Club (HC) left the CAHL and joined the FAHL. The Wanderers, FAHL regular season champions, immediately played Ottawa HC for the combined Stanley Cup/FAHL championship. A two-game series between the Montreal Wanderers from FAHL and Ottawa Hockey Club from CAHL

2212-741: The Cup for the season. In 1950, Canadian sports editors selected the Ottawa HC/Senators as Canada's greatest team in the first half of the 20th century. The club was one of the first organized clubs in the early days of the sport of ice hockey, playing in the Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournaments in the early 1880s and founding the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada and the Ontario Hockey Association . Along with

2291-664: The Eastern Canada Hockey Association (ECHA). This led to the retirement of several stars, including Ottawa's Harvey Pulford and Montreal's Russell Bowie, who insisted on keeping their amateur status. The Montreal Victorias and Montreal HC founded the Interprovincial Amateur Hockey Union , leaving only Ottawa, Quebec, Montreal Wanderers and Montreal Shamrocks in the ECHA. It was another season of player turn-over for Ottawa. Besides Pulford, Ottawa lost Alf Smith, who formed

2370-605: The Hockey Club through the affiliation also became OAAA members. When the club began outside competition again in 1889–90, it was with new sweaters of white with black stripes and the OAAA red "triskelion" logo. It was during this period of affiliation with the OAAC, that the club would become known by the nickname "Generals", attributed to the club's insignia. The club is also referred to as the "Capitals" in literature, although there

2449-595: The Montagnard and Victoria rinks – to not conflict with the Saturday games of the CAHL. The inaugural 1904 season ended on February 24. Montreal Le National jumped to the CAHL, while the CAHL's Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Hockey Club (HC) jumped to the FAHL, immediately (March 2) defending the Stanley Cup and taking the one-week-old FAHL league championship away from the regular season champion Wanderers. The Ottawa HC would repeat as FAHL champion, and retain

Federal Amateur Hockey League - Misplaced Pages Continue

2528-468: The Montreal Victorias in an 1895 challenge . The remaining players were selected from other Dawson City clubs. Dawson City's challenge was accepted in the summer of 1904 by the Stanley Cup trustees and scheduled to start on Friday, January 13, 1905. The date of the challenge meant that Young had to travel separately to Ottawa, as he had to work in a federal election that December and would meet

2607-587: The NHA, and founded the Montreal Canadiens . In 1917, the NHA suspended its operation and its teams formed the National Hockey League . Ottawa was one of the founders of the CHA and one of the teams that had rejected Renfrew. However, after a few poorly attended games showed that fans had no interest in the league, Ottawa and the Montreal Shamrocks abandoned the CHA to join the NHA. Ottawa,

2686-574: The NHL from 1917 until 1934. The club, which was officially the Ottawa Hockey Club (Ottawa HC), was known by several nicknames, including the Generals in the 1890s, the Silver Seven from 1903 to 1907 and the Senators dating from 1908. Generally acknowledged by hockey historians as one of the greatest teams of the early days of the sport, the club won numerous championships, starting with

2765-725: The Ottawa Rowing Club, and had not forgotten it. The Ottawas were the dominant team for three years: The end of the streak came in March 1906. Ottawa and the Montreal Wanderers tied for the ECAHA league lead in 1906, forcing a playoff series for the league championship and the Cup. Montreal won the first game in Montreal by a score of 9–1. In the return match, Ottawa replaced their goaltender Billy Hague and used goaltender Percy LeSueur , formerly of Smiths Falls. In

2844-469: The Ottawas. Alf Smith was also the coach. Other players of the 'Seven' included Angus "Bones" Allen , Dave Finnie , Arthur Fraser, Horace Gaul , Dave Gilmour , Suddy Gilmour , Jim McGee , Art Moore, Percy Sims, Hamby Shore , Charles Spittal , Fred White and Frank Wood. The club was able to continue the streak despite the death of one of its members. Jim McGee, Frank McGee's brother, died after

2923-575: The Senators as an amateur, and later semi-professional, team in Quebec senior men's leagues until 1954. The " Senior Senators " would win two Allan Cup titles: in 1943, and 1949. When the current Ottawa Senators debuted in 1992, they adopted the original team's black, red and white color scheme and nickname. The Ottawa Hockey Club (Ottawa HC) was founded by a small group of like-minded hockey enthusiasts. A month after witnessing games of hockey at

3002-463: The Stanley Cup, in the 1904-05 season, before moving (with the Cup) to the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA, later ECHA) for the 1905-06 season. The 1906-07 season ended early following the death of Owen McCourt of Cornwall, after an on-ice brawl in a game on March 6, 1907 between Cornwall and the Ottawa Victorias. This led to criminal charges of manslaughter against Charles Masson of

3081-492: The Toronto Globe : The style of hockey seems to be the only one known and people consider it quite proper and legitimate for a team to endeavor to incapacitate their opponents rather than to excel them in skill and speed ... slashing, tripping, the severest kind of cross-checking and a systematic method of hammering Marlboroughs on hand and wrists are the most effective points in Ottawa's style. According to one player,

3160-477: The Victorias' Russell Bowie , who scored seven goals in one game and six in another, and McGee, whose top performance saw him score five goals in a game. The two clubs faced off in a two-game total goals series to decide the league championship and Stanley Cup. The first game, played in Montreal on slushy ice that made it a desperate struggle to score, ended 1–1. The return match in Ottawa, witnessed by 3,000 fans,

3239-484: The Victorias, who was acquitted when witnesses at the trial stated that other Ottawa hockey players had hit McCourt in the head prior to Masson's blow. Sources: A few of the players involved in the March 6, 1907 game: The 1908 season saw the Federal League return with only three teams, all professional. Brockville, unable to field a competitive team, hired the Renfrew Creamery Kings club to play as

Federal Amateur Hockey League - Misplaced Pages Continue

3318-426: The Wanderers, the Capitals, Cornwall and Le National. Three of the four teams had been rejected for membership by the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL), while the fourth – the Montreal Wanderers – was composed of disillusioned players from two Montreal-based CAHL teams. Montreal Le National , a francophone athletic organization, which also operated a lacrosse club, had operated an intermediate team in

3397-662: The Wanderers; they won the return match in Ottawa in March and went undefeated for the season, leaving Ottawa in second place. However, it may have affected the Wanderers in another way: they lost the Stanley Cup a week after the donnybrook in a Stanley Cup challenge series to the Kenora Thistles . The 1907–08 season was a season of change for Ottawa. Harry Smith and Hamby Shore left to join Winnipeg. Ottawa hired several free agents, including Marty Walsh , Tommy Phillips and Fred 'The Listowel Whirlwind' Taylor . Taylor

3476-416: The championship from Montreal HC, who were previously undefeated, and won five straight games before Montreal won the championship back by a 1–0 score in the last challenge of the season. Montreal's win in the final challenge was their only win of the season and their only one in four games against Ottawa. Lord Stanley, who often attended Ottawa HC games, felt the loss of the title after holding it all season

3555-429: The club in Ottawa. To get to Ottawa, several thousand miles away, the club had to get to Whitehorse by overland sleigh, catch a train from there to Skagway, Alaska , then catch a steamer to Vancouver , B.C. and a train from there to Ottawa. On December 18, 1904, several players set out by dog sled and the rest left the next day by bicycle for a 330-mile trek to Whitehorse. At first the team made good progress, but

3634-637: The club played only one match against an outside club, an exhibition at the Rideau rink against the Montreal HC 'second' team. In November 1889, the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Club (OAAC) was opened at the corner of today's Elgin and Laurier Streets on the site of today's Lord Elgin Hotel . The Club building would also be the Hockey Club's headquarters. The OAAC was affiliated with the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Association (OAAA), and

3713-436: The club, it may have been the political connections that Joe Boyle had with the government Interior Minister of the time, Clifford Sifton , that got Dawson City the series. Future Ottawa Senators owner Frank Ahearn later stated that Weldy Young had asked Ahearn to ask the Ottawa players to "not rub it in" as Dawson City did not expect to win. Ahearn mentioned this to McGee, who had had a row with Boyle when both were members of

3792-461: The defending Stanley Cup champion and Wanderers' rival, was readily accepted by the NHA. This enabled Ottawa to continue the rivalry with the Wanderers and take in the gate revenues those games provided. The Wanderers won the championship in 1910, and Ottawa won in 1911 and 1915. It is during the NHA period that the nickname "Ottawa Senators" came into common usage. Although there had been a competing Senators club in 1909, and there had been mention of

3871-526: The first half of the second match and 10 in the second half, leading Ottawa to a 23–2 score; his 14 goals remains a record for a single game of major senior hockey. Eight of those 14 goals were scored consecutively in a span of less than nine minutes. Despite this high score, the newspapers claimed that Albert Forrest, the Dawson City goalie, had played a "really fine game", otherwise the score "might have been doubled". Ottawa celebrated by hosting Dawson at

3950-502: The first president of the league. The league did not have a set schedule, and instead games were played in "challenge series", whereby a team held the championship and entertained challengers until the end of the season, a format the league employed until 1893. Under the format, Ottawa lost the one challenge it played in that first 1887 season to the Montreal Victorias. After that season, Ottawa HC became inactive. The Royal Rink, which had been their primary facility, had been converted to

4029-435: The fourth – the Montreal Wanderers – was a new team composed of disillusioned players from two Montreal-based CAHL teams. In their first season as a franchise, the Wanderers would dominate the regular season, going undefeated. Due to an unusual twist, the Wanderers would have to share the league championship with the Ottawa Hockey Club (HC) of the CAHL ( see below ). Jack Marshall of Wanderers would score six goals against

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4108-467: The game had been called at midnight, with a tied score. The league demanded that the game be replayed. The club agreed to play only if the game mattered in the standings. The impasse led to Ottawa leaving the league. For the rest of that winter, the club played only in Cup challenge series. Quebec went on to win the championship of the league and demanded the Stanley Cup, but the Cup's trustees ruled that Ottawa still retained it. The trustees offered to arrange

4187-580: The government, and the work allowed the players to play for the team. Meanwhile, in the United States, the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) was paying players. In response to this, the ECAHA, while still having several purely amateur teams, started to allow professional players. The top teams could, therefore, compete for the top players and the gate attractions that they were. The only restriction

4266-458: The ice at the Royal Rink last night. There was good play made on both sides. " The club first participated competitively at the 1884 Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournament (considered the Canadian championship at the time) wearing red and black uniforms. Future Ottawa mayor Nelson Porter is recorded as the scorer of the club's first-ever goal, at the 1884 Carnival. Frank Jenkins

4345-419: The name caught on right there." (At the time, hockey teams iced seven men—a goaltender, three forwards, two defencemen and a rover ). The Silver Seven moved between three leagues during this time, and for a time were independent of any league. In February 1904, during the CAHL season, Ottawa resigned from the league in a dispute over the replaying of a game. The team had arrived late for a game in Montreal and

4424-444: The one game margin in the standings that led to Lord Stanley awarding the initial Cup to Montreal HC. In 1893–1894 , Ottawa HC finished in a four-way tie for first in the AHAC standings. A playoff was arranged in Montreal for the championship between Ottawa, Montreal HC and Montreal Victorias (the other first place club, Quebec, having dropped out of the playoff). These games would be the first Stanley Cup playoff games ever played. As

4503-551: The return match in Ottawa, Ottawa overcame the eight-goal deficit, getting a 9–1 lead to tie the series by the midway point of the second half. Harry Smith then scored to put Ottawa ahead, only to have the goal ruled offside. It was then that Lester Patrick of the Wanderers took it upon himself, scoring two goals to win the series 12–10. This was Frank McGee's last game and he scored two goals. Besides McGee, future Hall of Fame players Billy Gilmour , Percy LeSueur, Harvey Pulford, Alf Smith, Bouse Hutton and Harry Westwick played for

4582-636: The rise of professionalism in ice hockey in the first decade of the 1900s, the club changed to a professional team and were founding members of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and its successor, the National Hockey League. The club competed in the NHL until the 1933–34 season . Due to financial difficulties, the NHL franchise relocated to St. Louis, Missouri , to become the St. Louis Eagles . The organization continued

4661-413: The rival Capital Amateur Association to the AHAC by a vote of the league executive. The Capitals had won the intermediate championship of the AHAC and were eligible to join the senior ranks. After they were outvoted by the intermediate-level teams of AHAC which wanted to promote the Capitals to the senior-level, the senior-level Ottawa, Montreal HC, Montreal Victorias and Quebec clubs left the AHAC and formed

4740-406: The season, partially paid for by Ottawa sportsmen. Ottawa moved into their new arena, simply dubbed The Arena , with seating for 4,500 and standing room for 2,500. With the free-agent signings and the new arena, Ottawa started selling season-tickets, the first of their kind, $ 3.75 for five games, eventually selling 2,400. The capacity was topped with a crowd of 7,100 in the home opener, attending

4819-408: The team joined the National Hockey Association . † Stanley Cup winner 1904 FAHL season The inaugural 1904 Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) season lasted from January 6 until February 24. Four teams played a six game schedule. The FAHL had been formed on December 5, 1903. Three of the four teams had been rejected for membership by the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL), while

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4898-495: The team. When the steamer reached Vancouver, the area was too fogged in to dock, and the steamer docked in Seattle . The team then caught a train to Vancouver. The team left Vancouver on January 6, 1905, arriving in Ottawa on January 11. Despite the difficult journey, the Ottawas refused to change the date of the first game, only two days away. Ottawa arranged hospitable accommodations for the Dawson City team. The Yukoners received

4977-560: The temple with his stick, laying him out like a corpse" and Harry Smith cracked his stick across Ernie Johnson's face, breaking Johnson's nose. Discipline was first attempted by the league at a meeting on January 18, in which the Victorias proposed suspending Spittal and Alf Smith for the season, but this was voted down and the president of the league resigned. The police arrested Spittal, Alf and Harry Smith on their next visit to Montreal, leading to $ 20 fines for Spittal and Alf Smith and an acquittal for Harry Smith. The tactics did not work on

5056-546: The top teams into one league. The Silver Seven were well known for the number of injuries that they inflicted on other teams. In a Stanley Cup challenge game in 1904, the Ottawas injured seven of the nine Winnipeg players, and the Winnipeg Free Press called it the "bloodiest game in Ottawa." The next team to challenge the Ottawas, the Toronto Marlboroughs , were treated similarly. According to

5135-485: The tournament. The 1886 Montreal tournament was cancelled due to an outbreak of smallpox and the club would not play an outside match again until 1887. On December 8, 1886, the first championship league, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada was founded in Montreal. It was composed of several clubs from Montreal plus a Quebec City club and the Ottawa club. Ottawa's Thomas D. Green was named

5214-549: The weather turned warm enough to thaw the roads, forcing the players to walk several hundred miles. The team spent the nights in police sheds along the road. At Whitehorse, the weather turned bad, causing the trains not to run for three days and the Nuggets to miss their steamer in Skagway. The next one could not dock for three days due to the ice buildup. The club found the sea journey treacherous, and it caused seasickness amongst

5293-453: Was a rival Ottawa Capitals club organized by the Capital Amateur Athletics Association active at the time. In the 1889–90 season , Ottawa HC played two competitive games but this was to increase greatly the next season. The 1890–91 season saw the club play 14 games, playing in three leagues. Ottawa HC was a founding member of two new leagues, the Ottawa City Hockey League (OCHL) and the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and also rejoined

5372-517: Was an unsuitable way to determine the championship. In the letter announcing the Stanley Cup, Stanley suggested that the AHAC start a 'round-robin' type regular season format, which the AHAC implemented in the following season of 1892–93 . The key match-up in that season for Ottawa was a loss in the opening game of the season against the Montreal Victorias on January 7, 1893, as Ottawa split its season series with eventual winner Montreal HC, both teams otherwise winning all of their games. This loss provided

5451-461: Was arranged, for the Stanley Cup. The teams played the first game in Montreal to a tie of 5–5. Montreal refused to play overtime, demanding that the game be considered a no-contest and proposed that the series start over as a best two-of-three series. The Cup trustees demanded that the series continued as scheduled and the Wanderers abandoned the challenge. According to the Gazette , the game saw "the dirtiest game ever seen between two senior teams at

5530-448: Was due to the "lateness of the season". The Ottawa Journal openly supported the idea, stating that the players were 'racked' and would be at a serious disadvantage to travel to Winnipeg. Notable players of this period included Albert Morel and Fred Chittick in goal, leaders of the league several times in goaltending, and future Hall of Famers Harvey Pulford , Alf Smith , Harry Westwick and brothers Bruce Stuart and Hod Stuart . It

5609-427: Was during this period that the nickname Senators was first used; however, from 1903 to 1906, the team is better known as the Silver Seven. The first "dynasty" of the Ottawa HC was from 1903 until 1906, when the team was known as the "Silver Seven". The era started with the arrival of Frank McGee for the 1903 season and ended with his retirement after the 1906 season. Having lost an eye in local amateur hockey, he

5688-471: Was given a silver nugget by team executive Bob Shillington , an Ottawa druggist and mining investor. He gave them nuggets instead of money since the players were still technically amateurs and to give them money would have meant disqualification from the league. In a 1957 interview, Harry Westwick recalled that at the presentation "One of the players said 'We ought to call ourselves the Silver Seven.' and

5767-464: Was hired away from the IPHL for the 1907-08 season for a CA$ 1,000 (equivalent to $ 28,492 in 2023) salary and a guaranteed federal civil service job. He was an immediate sensation and earned the new nickname of 'Cyclone' for his fast skating and end-to-end rushes, the nickname attributed to the Canadian governor-general Earl Grey . Phillips was signed from Kenora to an even higher salary of $ 1,500 for

5846-524: Was known as the Federal Hockey League (FHL). The league dissolved with the formation of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The FAHL, through league member Ottawa Hockey Club , held the Stanley Cup for the 1904-05 season. The FAHL was formed December 5, 1903, at a meeting held at the Savoy hotel in Montreal. The first executive officers were: The first franchises were granted to

5925-409: Was on ice coated with an inch of water. The conditions did not hinder Ottawa, as they won 8–0, with McGee scoring three goals and the other five shared among the three Gilmour brothers, Dave (3), Suddy (1) and Bill (1), to win their first Cup. This started a period in which the team held the Stanley Cup and defeated all challengers until March 1906. For that Stanley Cup win, each of the team's players

6004-543: Was persuaded, despite the threat of permanent blindness, to join the Senators. The youngest player on the team and standing 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall, he went on to score 135 goals in 45 games. In the 1905 challenge against the Dawson City Nuggets , he scored 14 goals in a 23–2 win. He retired in 1906 at the age of 23. In the 1903 CAHL season , Ottawa and the Montreal Victorias both finished in first place with 6–2 records. The top scorers were

6083-405: Was that the status of each and every player had to be publicized. The period saw the rivalry between the Senators and the Wanderers continue, and at times it was brutally contested. On January 12, 1907, a full-scale "donnybrook" took place between the two teams at a game in Montreal. Charles Spittal of Ottawa was described as "attempting to split Blachford's skull", Alf Smith hit Hod Stuart "across

6162-589: Was the first captain of the team; he later became the president of the hockey club in 1891 and of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHA or AHAC) in 1892. For the 1885 season, the club adopted gold and blue as its colours and returned to the Montreal tournament. Ottawa earned its first-ever victory at the tournament over the Montreal Victorias , but lost its final match to the Montreal Hockey Club (Montreal HC) to place second in

6241-541: Was the only OHA final played in Ottawa, as Ottawa played the 1892 final in Toronto, defeating Osgoode Hall 4–2, and in 1893, the Toronto Granites defaulted by not appearing for the championship match scheduled for Ottawa. The club resigned from the OHA in February 1894 after the OHA refused the club's demand to have the 1894 final in Ottawa and ordered Ottawa HC to play the final in Toronto. The dispute caused

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