List of Stanley Cup Challenge Games

__NOTOC__This is a list of Stanley Cup Challenge Games from 1894 to 1914. During this period, the Stanley Cup was a "challenge trophy"; the champions held onto the Cup until they either lost their league title to another club, or a champion from another league issued a formal challenge and subsequently defeated the reigning Cup champion in a special game or series. The playoff format for each challenge varied depending on what the two competing clubs agreed to.

Prior to 1912, challenges could take place at any time, given the appropriate rink conditions, and it was common for teams to defend the Cup numerous times during the year. In 1912, the Cup's trustees declared that the Cup was only to be defended at the end of the champion team's regular season.

Also during this era, all of the leagues that played for the trophy had no annual formal playoff system to decide their own respective championships; whoever finished in first place after the regular season won the league title. Thus, a few league championship games or series were held just to break first place ties and determine who would keep the Cup. These league title games have historically been listed along with the regular inter-league Cup challenges.

eason-by-Season Summary

This table lists all the champions of the Stanley Cup per hockey season, (which does not have official dates as rinks were natural ice, so the season roughly corresponds to winter) for the 'challenge era.' The leagues typically started close to the beginning of the calendar year and ended in early March.

Later in the year, the Cup trustees accepted a challenge from the squad from Osgoode Hall, the champions of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). However, the series was eventually cancelled because of the lack of ice.

1894–95

On March 8, 1895, the Montreal Victorias won the 1895 AHAC title and thus the Stanley Cup, after finishing the season with a 6–2 record. However, a challenge game was scheduled earlier for the next day between the previous year's champion Montreal HC and the squad from Queen's University, which was then part of the OHA. Thus, it was decided that if the Montreal HC won the challenge match, the Victorias would become the Stanley Cup champions. The Montreal HC would eventually win the game, 5–1, and their crosstown rivals were crowned the champions.

1897–98

Another 7–1 record earned the Montreal Victorias the 1897 AHAC title, and the team subsequently received a challenge from the Ottawa Capitals, champions of the Central Canada Hockey Association (CCHA). It was originally scheduled as the first best-of-three challenge, but the series ended after the first game because the Victorias clearly was the superior team with a 15–2 victory.

1899–1900

The MHA's Winnipeg Victorias issued another challenge for the Cup. This time, a best-of-three series was played against the defending champion Montreal Shamrocks. Winnipeg won the first game, 4–3, but Montreal prevailed in the next two games, 3–2 and 5–4.

1901–02

In January 1902, the OHA's Toronto Wellingtons challenged the Winnipeg Victorias for the Cup in a best-of-three series, but Winnipeg swept Toronto in two games with identical 5–3 scores.

In March, the 1903 CAHL season ended with the Montreal Victorias and the Ottawa Senators, aka "Silver Seven" tied for first place with identical 6–2 records. To determine the CAHL champion, and thus succeed the Montreal HC as the Cup champion, a two-game total goals series was held between the two teams. Game 1 was held in Montreal but ended in a 1–1 tie. Game 2 was played in Ottawa, with the Silver Seven dominating the Victorias, 8–0. The Senators thus won the Cup by winning the CAHL.

As the new CAHL and Cup champions, the Senators 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 the Senators swept the series with scores of 6–2 and 4–2.

In early March, the Montreal Wanderers of the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) challenged the Senators for the Cup. But in Game 1 at Montreal, the match was tied, 5–5, at the end of regulation and the Wanderers refused to play overtime with the current referee. The Cup trustees ordered the series to restart with both games played in Ottawa. However, Montreal refused unless the first game was replayed at home. As a result, the Wanderers were disqualified and thus the Silver Seven was automatically awarded the Cup.

Ottawa eventually won the 1905 FAHL title by finishing in first place with a 7–1 record. Then in March, the Rat Portage Thistles issued another challenge to the Senators. Although the Thistles crushed Ottawa in Game 1, 9–3, McGee did not play. However, he returned to lead the Senators to 4–2 and 5–4 victories in games 2 and 3, respectively.

The 1906 ECAHA season ended a few days later after the Smiths Falls - Senators series, with both Ottawa and the Montreal Wanderers tied for first place with identical 9–1 records. It was decided to hold a two-game total goals series to determine the league champion, and thus who would keep the Cup. Game 1 was played in Montreal where the Wanderers promptly crushed the Senators, 9–1. Needing at least an eight-goal victory in Game 2, the newly signed LeSueur was named Ottawa's starting goalie, and the Senators jumped to a 9–1 lead. But with under 5 minutes to go, Montreal's Lester Patrick scored twice to help the Wanderers win the total-goals series, 12–10.

In March, Kenora would play and win the Manitoba Professional Hockey League(MPHL) playoffs against Brandon to successfully defend the Cup. In a best-of-three, Kenora won 2–0.

In March, the Wanderers won the 1907 ECAHA title by finishing the season undefeated with a 10–0 record. Montreal then requested a rematch with Kenora for the Cup. However, there were disagreements between both teams. The Wanderers did not want the Thistles to use their "ringers", Harry Westwick and Alf Smith from the Ottawa Senators. Kenora responded by refusing to play, citing the fact that Montreal used "ringers" in the earlier series. Eventually, the Wanderers withdrew their protest after the Thistles agreed to play the two-game total goals series in Winnipeg; Winnipeg Arena was much larger and thus guaranteed more ticket sales for the clubs to share. In the end, Montreal overcame Westwick and Smith as they compiled a combined score of 12–8 to win the series. Most of the Wanderers' margin-of-victory came in Game 1 as they defeated the Thistles, 7–2. Kenora won Game 2, 6–5, but the one-goal victory was not enough.

Montreal's greatest challenge happened two days later when they played a single-elimination game against the Toronto Trolley Leaguers. Toronto was the champion of the newly established Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL), and was the first all-professional team to compete for the Cup. However, the Wanderers prevailed, 6–4, with two late goals by Ernie Johnson and Bruce Stuart.

Soon after the Galt-Senators challenge series ended, the CHA folded because of financial difficulties, and Ottawa was admitted into the NHA. The Senators then played a two-game total goals series against the Edmonton Eskimos, but Gordie Roberts' 7 goals helped Ottawa to victories of 8–4 and 13–7.

Three days later, the Senators played the Port Arthur Bearcats of the Northern Ontario Hockey League (NOHL) in another one game final. Walsh scored 10 goals as Ottawa crushed Port Arthur, 14–4.

Later in the month, the Victoria Aristocrats of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) challenged Quebec. However, the Bulldogs refused to put the Cup on the line, so the two teams played a best-of-three exhibition series instead. In the first series ever between the champions of the two leagues, all of the games were played in Victoria, while the differing rules of the NHA and PCHA alternated between each contest. A major rule difference was the PCHA had seven-man rules while the NHA had six. With Game 1 played under PCHA rules, the Aristocrats recorded a 7–5 victory. Under NHA rules in Games 2, Quebec won 6–3. But in Game 3, and under seven-man hockey, Victoria won the exhibition series with a 6–1 victory.

1913–14

At the end of the 1913–14 NHA season, the Toronto Blueshirts and the Montreal Canadiens were tied for first place with identical 13–7 records. To determine the NHA title and the new Cup champions, both teams played a two-game total goals series. Each team recorded shutouts on its home ice: Montreal won Game 1, 2–0, but Toronto came back to win Game 2, 6–0. However, the Blueshirts won the series, 6 goals to 2. Game 2 in Toronto was the first Stanley Cup playoff game ever played on artificial ice.

Later in the month, Toronto and the PCHA's Victoria Aristocrats played a best-of-five series for the Cup. However, Victoria neglected to file the formal proper challenge with the Cup trustees. Because of this, the trustees did not view the series as legitimate. As it turned out, the Blueshirts swept the series to successfully defend the Cup with scores of 5–2, 6–5 in overtime, and 2–1. The controversy would later set up an agreement between the NHA, the PCHA, and the Cup trustees in which the two leagues' respective champions would face each other for the Cup.

ee also

* List of pre-NHL seasons
* List of Stanley Cup champions

References

*cite web | url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SilverwareTrophyWinners.jsp?tro=STC | title=Stanley Cup Winners | publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame | accessdate=2006-06-25
*cite book | last=Podnieks | first=Andrew | coauthors=Hockey Hall of Fame | title=Lord Stanley's Cup | year=2004 | publisher=Triumph Books| id=ISBN 1–55168–261–3
*cite book | last=Diamond | first=Dan | coauthors=Eric Zweig, and James Duplacey | title=The Ultimate Prize: The Stanley Cup | year=2003 | publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing| id=ISBN 0–7407–3830–5
*cite book | editor=Dan Diamond (ed.) | title=The Official National Hockey League Stanley Cup Centennial Book | year=1992 | publisher=Firefly Books| id=ISBN 1–895565–15–4