The 1909 ECHA season was the fourth and final season of the

Eastern Canada Hockey Association The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) was a men's amateur – later professional – ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with the top clubs from two other leagues: four ...

(ECHA). Teams played a twelve-game schedule. The

Ottawa Hockey Club Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of ...

would win the league championship with a record of ten wins, two losses and take over the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

League business

Executive

* Joe Power, Quebec (President) * James Strachan, Wanderers (1st Vice-President) * J. Eveleigh, Montreal (2nd Vice-President) * Emmett Quinn, Quebec (Secretary-Treasurer) 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 Edgar Ernest Dey (April 30, 1883 – February 13, 1912) was an early amateur and professional ice hockey player and an athlete in canoeing. A member of the Dey family of Ottawa, known for canoe building, athletics and arena operation, he died in 1 ...

Billy Gilmour Billy Clifford Gilmour (born 11 June 2001) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Scotland national team. Gilmour spent three months at a young age with C ...

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. Ottawa played an exhibition game prior to the season with the Toronto professionals on January 2 in Toronto. Toronto defeated Ottawa 5–4. 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 Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 1,118 at the 2016 Census. In the early 1900s, the area was heavily mined for silver; the silver ore also contained cobalt. By 1910, the community was the fourth h ...

, versus the Cobalt Silver Kings, betting $500 on themselves to win, but lost 6–4. After the game Harry Smith would leave the Wanderers to join Haileybury of the Timiskaming League.

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

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 Ringer(s) may refer to: Sports and games * Ringer, in sports idiom, an impostor, especially one whose pretense is intended to gain an advantage in a competition * Road course ringer, a non-NASCAR driver hired to race at a road course * A game p ...

' 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. * Spares Edmonton: Bert Boulton, Harold Deeton, Jack “Hay” Miller * Spares Montreal: Ernie Liffton, Ernie Russell. * Spares Edmonton: Hugh Boulton, Howard McNamara, Tommy Smith. * Spares Montreal: Ernie Liffiton, Ernie Russell. Source: Coleman After the challenge, Edmonton would play an exhibition game in Ottawa on January 2, defeating the Ottawa Senators (of the FHL) 4–2. Ottawa played the Toronto Pros the same day in Toronto, losing 5–4. 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.) 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 New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

on March 12 and March 13. Ottawa won the first game 6–4, and the second game was tied 8–8.

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Goaltending averages

Leading scorers

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1909 Stanley Cup was presented by the trophy's trustee William Foran. The following Ottawa Hockey Club players and staff were members of the Stanley Cup winning team. Ottawa hockey team, Stanley Cup holders, World Champions, 1909 (HS85-10-20618)

Ottawa hockey team, Stanley Cup holders, World Champions, 1909 (HS85-10-20618)

1909 Ottawa Hockey Club Senators

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books, 12, 48. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Echa Seasons ECHA Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association seasons