1906 ECAHA season - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The inaugural 1906 Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association was a men's amateur, later professional ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with six clubs: four from the Canadian Amateur Hockey League and two from the Federal Amateur Hockey League, to bring...

(ECAHA) season lasted from January 3 until March 10. Teams played a ten game schedule. Ottawa HC

Ottawa Senators (original)

The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...

and Montreal Wanderers

Montreal Wanderers

The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...

would tie for the league championship with a record of 9–1, while the Montreal Shamrocks

Montreal Shamrocks

The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886, merging with the Montreal Crystals club in 1896. They won the Stanley Cup ice hockey championship in 1899 and 1900...

would not win a single game. The Senators and the Wanderers would play a two-game play-off to win the league championship, and the Stanley Cup holder. The Wanderers won the play-off 9–1,3–9 (12–10) on goals.

Executive

Initial:

Howard Wilson, Montreal (President)
G. P. Murphy, Ottawa (1st Vice-President)
Dr. Cameron (2nd Vice-President)
James Strachan, Wanderers (Secretary-Treasurer)

After December 20:

Howard Wilson, Montreal (President)
William Northey
William Northey
William M. Northey , was a builder in the National Hockey League.Born in Leeds, Quebec, Northey became secretary at the Montreal Hockey Club in 1893. He would help lead the team to two Stanley Cups. In 1909, he helped convince ice hockey executives to change two rules still in place today...

, Montreal Arena Corp. (Secretary-Treasurer)

Rule Changes

Teams must appoint game timers for each game,
a two referee system was adopted,
new Arena Trophy would be awarded to the regular season winner,
three-quarters vote would be needed to admit new teams,
if a team resigns, all of its played games would be considered cancelled,
$25 fine for delay of start of game, and
$50 charge to make a protest, non-refundable.

Regular season

The Ottawas played two Cup challenges during the regular season, defeating Queen's College of Kingston, the OHA champion, and defeating Smiths Falls, the FAHL champion.

Highlights

This season saw lots of new players. Wanderers brought in Lester Patrick, Ernie Johnson and Ernie Russell and Ottawa brought in Harry and Tommy Smith.

Fred Brophy, of Montreal HC, repeated his goal-scoring performance from the goaltender position in a game against Montreal Victorias on March 7.

Again, the league was high scoring, with Harry Smith scoring 31 goals in 8 games, Russell Bowie scoring 30 goals in 9 games, and Frank McGee scoring 28 goals in 7 games. Mr. Smith scored 6 in one game, 5 in another, topped by 8 against the Shamrocks on February 17. Mr. McGee would equal the 8 goals in a game feat against Montreal HC on March 3. Seven players scored at least 5 goals in a single game.

Final standing

Playoff qualifiers in bold.

Team	Games Played	Wins	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against
Ottawa Hockey Club Ottawa Senators (original) The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...	10	9	1	90	42
Montreal Wanderers Montreal Wanderers The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...	10	9	1	74	38
Montreal Victorias Montreal Victorias The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. The club played at its own rink, the Victoria Skating...	10	6	4	76	73
Quebec Hockey Club Quebec Bulldogs The Quebec Bulldogs were a men's senior-level ice hockey team officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club, later as the Quebec Athletic Club. Their recorded play goes back as far as the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1889, although the Quebec Hockey Club is known to have played since 1880...	10	3	7	57	70
Montreal Hockey Club Montreal Hockey Club The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team is notable for winning the first Stanley Cup in 1893, and in a...	10	3	7	49	63
Montreal Shamrocks Montreal Shamrocks The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886, merging with the Montreal Crystals club in 1896. They won the Stanley Cup ice hockey championship in 1899 and 1900...	10	0	10	30	90

Results

Month	Day	Visitor	Score	Home	Score
Jan.	3	Montreal	9	Shamrocks	3
	6	Quebec	3	Ottawa	6
	6	Wanderers	11	Victorias	5
	10	Victorias	9	Shamrocks	7
	13	Quebec	10	Victorias	11 (overtime)
	13	Wanderers	4	Ottawa	8
	17	Shamrocks	2	Wanderers	3 (overtime)
	20	Wanderers	6	Quebec	5
	20	Ottawa	4	Montreal	1
	24	Victorias	11	Shamrocks	2
	27	Quebec	3	Shamrocks	1
	27	Victorias	6	Ottawa	11
	31	Wanderers	6	Montreal	2
Feb.	3	Victorias	6	Quebec	2
	3	Ottawa	3	Wanderers	5
	7	Montreal	4	Shamrocks	1
	10	Shamrocks	8	Quebec	14
	10	Ottawa	10	Victorias	4
	14	Wanderers	6	Montreal	2
	17	Shamrocks	2	Ottawa	13
	17	Quebec	7	Montreal	6 15'20" overtime
	21	Wanderers	9	Victorias	4
	25	Ottawa	9	Shamrocks	3
	25	Montreal	5	Quebec	2
	28	Victorias	6	Montreal	5
Mar.	3	Montreal	9	Ottawa	14
	3	Quebec	6	Wanderers	9
	7	Montreal	6	Victorias	14
	10	Ottawa	12	Quebec	5
	10	Wanderers	15	Shamrocks	1

Goalkeeper Averages

Name	Club	GP	GA	Avg.
Menard, Henri	Wanderers	10	38	3.8
Hague, Billy Billy Hague William "Billy" Robert Hague was a professional ice hockey goaltender. He won the Stanley Cup with the Ottawa Hockey Club in 1905. He played in three other Stanley Cup challenges during his career....	Ottawa	10	42	4.2
Brophy, Fred	Montreal	10	63	6.3
Frye, Nathan	Victorias	8	52	6.5
Moran, Paddy	Quebec	10	70	7.0
Kenny	Shamrocks	8	64	8.0
Waugh, Oswald	Victorias	2	21	10.5
Brennan, Jack	Shamrocks	2	26	13.0

Leading scorers

Name	Club	GP	G
Smith, Harry Harry Smith (ice hockey) Harold Henry "Harry" Smith was a professional Canadian ice hockey player who played 98 games in various professional and amateur leagues, including the National Hockey Association and Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association...	Ottawa	8	31
Bowie, Russell Russell Bowie Russell G. "Russ, Dubbie" Bowie was a Canadian ice hockey player generally regarded as one of the best players of the pre-NHL era of the sport...	Victorias	9	30
McGee, Frank	Ottawa	7	28
Power, Joe Joe Power Joe Ignatius Power was a Canadian politician and ice hockey player, playing the left wing position for the Quebec Bulldogs from 1902 to 1911...	Quebec	10	21
Russell, Ernie Ernie Russell Ernest Russell was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the Montreal HC and Montreal Wanderers....	Wanderers	6	21
Smaill, Walter Walter Smaill Walter Smaill was a professional ice hockey player who played 137 games in various professional and amateur leagues, including the National Hockey Association, Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association, and Pacific Coast Hockey Association.-Playing career:Amongst the teams he for played with were...	Montreal	10	17
Patrick, Lester Lester Patrick Curtis Lester "The Silver Fox" Patrick born in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, was a professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association , and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League...	Wanderers	9	17
Jordan, Herb Herb Jordan Herb Arthur Jordan was an amateur, and later professional ice hockey player, most notably for the Quebec Bulldogs and the Renfrew Millionaires.-Playing career:...	Quebec	8	16
Smith, Alf Alf Smith Alfred Edward Smith was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators, and Kenora Thistles. He had two brothers who played senior-level hockey Harry Smith and Tommy Smith...	Ottawa	10	13
Johnson, Ernie	Montreal	10	12

Stanley Cup Challenges

The Ottawas played two Cup challenges during the regular season, defeating Queen's College of Kingston, the OHA champion, and defeating Smiths Falls, the FAHL champion.

Queen's vs. Ottawa

Date	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Location
February 27, 1906	Ottawa	16–7	Queen's University	Dey's Arena Dey's Arena Dey's Arena, also known as Dey Brothers Rink, Dey's Skating Rink and The Arena, were a series of ice rinks and arenas located in Ottawa, Ontario, that hold importance in the early development of the organized sport of ice hockey in Canada...
February 28, 1906	Ottawa	12–7	Queen's University
Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0

The lopsided score of game 1 gave indications that the series would be quickly over. One interesting emergance was that of Marty Walsh

Marty Walsh

Martin J. Walsh was a Canadian amateur, later professional, ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators, winning three Stanley Cups in 1909, 1910 and 1911 and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame...

. Walsh would help hold Ottawa to a 5-3 lead scoring 2 goals. Unfortuneatly in the games second half Ottawa broke away after the score was made 5-4 with 9 unanswered goals. Ottawa would win game 1 16-7. The game featured many multiple goal scorers; Westwick, McGee, A. Smith and H Smith would all score 4 goals for the Senators, and Richardson, Dobbson, and Walsh would each score 2 for Queen's.

Smiths Falls vs. Ottawa

Date	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Location
March 6, 1906	Ottawa	6–5	Smiths Falls	Dey's Arena Dey's Arena Dey's Arena, also known as Dey Brothers Rink, Dey's Skating Rink and The Arena, were a series of ice rinks and arenas located in Ottawa, Ontario, that hold importance in the early development of the organized sport of ice hockey in Canada...
March 8, 1906	Ottawa	8–2	Smiths Falls
Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2 games to 0

ECAHA Playoff

As the season produced a tie for the season championship, the defending champion Ottawas and Wanderers played a two-game playoff, with the winner being awarded the Stanley Cup. The series took place on March 14 in Montreal and March 17 in Ottawa. The Wanderers would win the series 9–1, 3–9 (12–10) in dramatic fashion..

Game one
Ottawa was installed as 2–1 betting favourites, but the Wanderers upset the bookies. In the first game in Montreal, the Wanderers dominated Ottawa, as Ernie Russell

Ernie Russell

Ernest Russell was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the Montreal HC and Montreal Wanderers....

got four goals, Frank Glass got three and Moose Johnson

Moose Johnson

Thomas Ernest "Ernie, Moose" Johnson was a Canadian ice hockey player whose professional career spanned from 1905 to 1931....

would get two for a 9–1 victory.

Game two

After the first game, the Ottawas would replace their goalie Billy Hague

Billy Hague

William "Billy" Robert Hague was a professional ice hockey goaltender. He won the Stanley Cup with the Ottawa Hockey Club in 1905. He played in three other Stanley Cup challenges during his career....

with the Smiths Falls goalie Percy LeSueur

Percy LeSueur

Sergeant Percy St. Helier LeSueur was a Canadian senior and professional ice hockey goaltender. He was a member of the Smiths Falls Seniors for three years, with whom his performance in a 1906 Stanley Cup challenge series attracted the attention of his opponents, the Ottawa Silver Seven...

in to play his first game for the club. Despite being down by eight goals, interest in Ottawa for the return match was high. Rush seats on sale the day of the game produced a throng that caused the ticket seller's glass to break. The venue, Dey's Arena

Dey's Arena

Dey's Arena, also known as Dey Brothers Rink, Dey's Skating Rink and The Arena, were a series of ice rinks and arenas located in Ottawa, Ontario, that hold importance in the early development of the organized sport of ice hockey in Canada...

, was modified to hold more spectators, including setting up temporary bleachers, removing the grandstand which had been used as a press box, and the installation of a press box attached to the rafters. Over 5,400 would attend the game and the top $2 tickets were being sold for $10. Betting interest was high, including one $12,000 bet.

After twelve minutes, the first goal was scored by the Wanderers' Moose Johnson to increase the goal lead to nine. Ottawa's Frank McGee, Harry Smith

Harry Smith (ice hockey)

Harold Henry "Harry" Smith was a professional Canadian ice hockey player who played 98 games in various professional and amateur leagues, including the National Hockey Association and Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association...

, and McGee again scored before half-time, cutting the deficit to 10–4. Harry Smith would score to open the second half, followed by Rat Westwick

Rat Westwick

Harry "Rat" Westwick was a Canadian athlete in ice hockey and lacrosse. Westwick, nicknamed the Rat by a journalist, is most noted for his play with the Ottawa Hockey Club, nicknamed the Silver Seven during his day which won and defended the Stanley Cup from 1903 until 1906...

. Then Westwick scored again to make it 10-7 before Harry Smith scored three straight goals to make the score 9–1, evening the series with ten minutes to play to tie the series, causing a five-minute standing ovation. With seven minutes to play Smith was sent off for the rest of the game and Lester Patrick

Lester Patrick

Curtis Lester "The Silver Fox" Patrick born in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, was a professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association , and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League...

would score with ninety seconds to play to put the Wanderers back in the lead. Patrick would ice the game with a goal with a few seconds to play. The Silver Seven reign was over.

The Toronto Globe called it the "greatest game of hockey ever played on Canadian ice, or any other." The Sporting News would later dub it the "Greatest Hockey Game in History." Moose Johnson would end up with the Governor-General's top hat. It had been knocked of the Earl Grey's head, and a fan had snatched it up, giving it to Johnson later in the dressing room.

Date	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Location
March 14, 1906	Montreal Wanderers	9–1	Ottawa	Montreal Arena Montreal Arena The Montreal Arena, also known as Westmount Arena, was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the corner of St. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue. It was likely one of the first arenas designed expressly for hockey, opening in 1898...
March 17, 1906	Ottawa	9–3	Montreal Wanderers	Dey's Arena Dey's Arena Dey's Arena, also known as Dey Brothers Rink, Dey's Skating Rink and The Arena, were a series of ice rinks and arenas located in Ottawa, Ontario, that hold importance in the early development of the organized sport of ice hockey in Canada...
Montreal wins total goals series 12 goals to 10

Because of the need for the play-off, no challenges were made against western teams until the following winter. Ottawa had won Stanley Cup challenges that season, which meant that the 1906 season would have two Stanley Cup holders: Ottawa until March, and Montreal Wanderers for the balance of the year.