1909 ECHA season

Last updated
1909 ECHA season
League Eastern Canada Hockey Association
Sport Ice hockey
DurationJanuary 2 – March 6, 1909
Number of teams4
1909
Champions Ottawa Hockey Club
Top scorer Marty Walsh (38 goals)
ECAHA seasons
  1907–08

The 1909 ECHA season was the fourth and final season of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association (ECHA). Teams played a twelve-game schedule. The Ottawa Hockey Club would win the league championship with a record of ten wins, two losses and take over the Stanley Cup.

Contents

League business

Executive

The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association league meeting was held November 4, 1908, and was a pivotal meeting in the evolution from amateur to professional ice hockey leagues. At the meeting the two last amateur, or at least partly amateur teams resigned over the signing of players from other teams. Montreal HC and Montreal Victorias left the league and later would continue as senior level men's teams playing for the Allan Cup. Unpaid players would no longer play with paid players.

The league would continue with four professional teams. The league name was changed to Eastern Canadian Hockey Association to reflect the change in status.

Regular season

The Wanderers', Cecil Blachford had retired and Bruce Stuart had moved to Ottawa. New additions included Joe Hall, Harry Smith, Jimmy Gardner and Steve Vair. The Wanderers would come close to their rivals, finishing second with nine wins and three losses.

Ottawa saw Harvey Pulford and Alf Smith retire, and Tom Phillips leave. Ottawa would replace these players with Edgar Dey, Billy Gilmour and Albert 'Dubby' Kerr from the Toronto Professionals. Alf Smith would organize the Ottawa Senators of the Federal Hockey League.

Shamrocks added Harry Hyland, and Quebec saw the start of the career of Joe Malone. [1]

Ottawa played an exhibition game prior to the season with the Toronto professionals on January 2 in Toronto. Toronto defeated Ottawa 5–4. [2] Dubby Kerr played in the game for Toronto, and signed with Ottawa a week later.

On January 25, Wanderers played an exhibition game in Cobalt, Ontario, versus the Cobalt Silver Kings, betting $500 on themselves to win, but lost 6–4. [3] [4] After the game Harry Smith would leave the Wanderers to join Haileybury of the Timiskaming League. [5]

Highlights

The rivalry between Ottawa and Wanderers continued, Wanderers winning the first on January 6 7–6 in overtime, with Harry Smith scoring four against his former team. Ottawa would win the next 5–4 in Ottawa, and defeat Montreal in Montreal 9–8 before 8000 fans. Ottawa would finish the series winning 8–3 in Ottawa to clinch the championship.

Marty Walsh of Ottawa would win the scoring championship with 38 goals. Ottawa would average nearly ten goals per game.

Final standing

Note GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against

TeamGPWLTGFGA
Ottawa HC 12102011763
Montreal Wanderers 129308261
Quebec HC 1239078106
Montreal Shamrocks 12210056103

Results

MonthDayVisitorScoreHomeScore
Jan.2Quebec HC8Shamrocks9
6Shamrocks4Quebec HC12
6Ottawa HC6Wanderers7 (OT 7'40")
9Quebec HC5Ottawa HC13
13Ottawa HC11Shamrocks3
13Wanderers7Quebec HC3
16Shamrocks7Ottawa HC9
16Quebec HC6Wanderers7
20Shamrocks5Wanderers7
23Ottawa HC18Quebec HC4
27Shamrocks1Wanderers5
30Wanderers4Ottawa HC5
30Quebec HC4Shamrocks8
Feb.6Ottawa9Wanderers8
6Shamrocks6Quebec HC9
10Shamrocks6Wanderers8
13Quebec HC6Ottawa HC14
17Wanderers12Shamrocks2
20Ottawa HC7Shamrocks3
20Wanderers7Quebec HC4
27Shamrocks2Ottawa HC11
27Quebec HC6Wanderers7
Mar.4Wanderers3Ottawa HC8
7Ottawa HC6Quebec HC11

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals scored

NameClubGPG
Marty Walsh Ottawa HC1238
Herb Jordan Quebec HC1229
Bruce Stuart Ottawa HC1122
Charles Power Quebec HC1222
Albert Kerr Ottawa HC920
Harry Hyland Shamrocks1118
Frank "Pud" Glass Wanderers1217
Steve Vair Wanderers712
Billy Gilmour Ottawa HC1111
Jimmy Gardner Wanderers1211

Goaltending averages

Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average

NameClubGPGASOGAA
Riley Hern Wanderers12615.1
Percy LeSueur Ottawa HC12635.3
Bill Baker Shamrocks121038.6
Paddy Moran Quebec HC121068.8

Stanley Cup challenges

Montreal vs. Edmonton

Prior to the season, Wanderers would play a challenge against the Edmonton Hockey Club, champions of the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association. Despite all players except for one being a 'ringer' for Edmonton, Montreal would defeat them December 28–30, 1908, in Montreal. In game one, Harry Smith scored 5 goals as he led the Wanderers to a 7–3 victory. The Edmontons won game two, 7–6, but Montreal took the two-game total goals series, 13–10.

DateWinning TeamScoreLosing TeamLocation
December 28, 1908Montreal Wanderers7–3Edmonton HC Montreal Arena
December 30, 1908Edmonton HC7–6Montreal Wanderers
Montreal wins total goals series 13 goals to 10
Edmonton HC3Montreal Wanderers7
December 28, 1908
Bert Lindsay GWilliam "Riley" Hern
Lester Patrick PArt Ross
Didier Pitre CPWalter Smaill
Fred Whitcroft 1RHarry Smith5
Steve Vair 1CFrank "Pud' Glass Capt2
Harold McNamara RWErnie "Moose" Johnson
Tommy Phillips 1LWJimmy Gardner
Referees – Frank Patrick & Russell Bowie
Edmonton HC7Montreal Wanderers6
December 30, 1908
Bert LindsayGWilliam "Riley" Hern
Lester Patrick 1PArt Ross
Didier Pitre CPWalter Smaill1
Fred Whitcroft1RHarry Smith1
Harold Deeton3CFrank "Pud' Glasss Capt3
Jack "Hay" Millar 2RWErnie "Moose" Johnson1
Steve Vair1LWJimmy Gardner
Referees – Frank Patrick & Russell Bowie

Source: Coleman [6]

After the challenge, Edmonton would play an exhibition game in Ottawa on January 2, defeating the Ottawa Senators (of the FHL) 4–2. [7] Ottawa played the Toronto Pros the same day in Toronto, losing 5–4. [8] Lindsay, Pitre and Vair, having played with Edmonton for the challenge, would sign after the exhibition game with Renfrew of the Federal League. The players would help Renfrew to the FHL championship.

After the season, Ottawa took over the Cup, but a series against the Winnipeg Shamrocks could not be arranged and no challenge was played. (The Shamrocks would fold before the next season and never played a challenge series.) Challenges from Renfrew of the Federal Hockey League and Cobalt of the Timiskaming League were disallowed when the Stanley Cup trustees ruled that the players on Renfrew and Cobalt were ineligible, having joined their teams after January 2.

Post-season exhibition

Ottawa and the Montreal Wanderers played a two-game series at the St. Nicholas Rink in New York on March 12 and March 13. Ottawa won the first game 6–4, and the second game was tied 8–8.

Stanley Cup engraving

1909 Ottawa Hockey Club
Players
Forwards
Albert "Dubbie" Kerr (left winger)
Billy Gilmour (right winger-rover)
Bruce Stuart(rover – Captain) (center)
Marty Walsh (center)
Defencemen
Fred Lake(point)
Fred "Cyclone" Taylor (cover point)
Edgar Dey Jr.(cover point-right wing-rover)
Horace Merrill (did not play-on team picture)
Goaltender
Percy LeSueur

non-players =

all-notes =

engraving-notes =

See also

References

Notes

  1. Coleman 1964 , p. 167
  2. "Ottawa Not Invincible". The Globe. January 4, 1909. p. 7.
  3. "Big Doings at Cobalt". The Globe. January 28, 1909. p. 9.
  4. "Enthusiastic Rufus Ryan". The Globe. January 29, 1909. p. 9.
  5. "Smith at Haileybury". The Globe. January 29, 1909. p. 9.
  6. Coleman, p. 174
  7. "Edmonton Gagne a Ottawa". La Patrie. January 4, 1909. p. 2.
  8. "Les Ottawa Sont Surpris". La Patrie. January 4, 1909. p. 2.
  9. [Podnieks]

Bibliography

Preceded by Ottawa HC
Stanley Cup Champions

1909
Succeeded by
Preceded by ECAHA seasons
1909
Succeeded by