For a three-year period in the early twentieth century, the Aberdeen Pavilion in Lansdowne was the heart of hockey in Canada. The Ottawa Silver Seven dominated the league during the years 1903, 1904, and 1905 for a number of reasons. For one, the Silver Seven quit the Canadian Amateur Hockey League in 1903 in favour of the new Federal Amateur Hockey League, where their main opponents were the Montreal Wanderers; Ottawa had already been the defenders of the Stanley Cup, and so the Cup followed them into the new league.[1] This split had been brought about by the growing tensions between the fanatically amateur heads of the League and the Silver Seven, who, as author (and former Prime Minister of Canada) Stephen J. Harper writes, were known as “a gang not merely suspected of accepting pay, but employing dirty play as part of a deliberate strategy of winning at all costs.”[2] As non-scandalous as those charges may appear today, at the time it was a greater concern; the split allowed the rapidly declining CAHL to continue with its enforced amateurism (including banning baseball and lacrosse players, both known hotbeds of professionalism, from playing in the league at varying points) while the FAHL could move in a more professional direction.[3] Indeed, the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), the successor to the FAHL, dropped the word amateur from its name in 1909 after the final amateur teams quit the league.[4]

But much of this was in the future in 1903; at the time the Silver Seven were simply dominant in the amateur leagues. The main reason for this was their best player, Frank McGee (apparently nicknamed “One-Eyed”, due to having lost sight in his left eye), who was repeatedly the key ingredient in their victories. In a rather one-sided victory over Dawson City, who had travelled all the way to Ottawa from the Yukon, McGee scored 14 out of 23 goals, setting a record which still stands for the most goals scored by one player in a Stanley Cup match.[5] Even before this stunning performance, McGee had repeatedly scored five goals and over against Winnipeg, Brandon, and Montreal.[6] Tragically, McGee was subsequently killed on September 16, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme in the First World War; the one-hundredth anniversary of his death will occur later this year.[7] The strength of Ottawa ensured plenty of spectators for their games; in 1907, matches between the Silver Seven and their archrivals, the Montreal Wanderers, could apparently be expected to draw as many as 7000 spectators, doubtlessly cramming the Aberdeen Pavilion to its limit.[8] It wasn’t just the regular citizens of Ottawa who attended, either; the Governor General could often be found in attendance and, proving that his non-partisan role did not extend to hockey, in 1906 personally congratulated an Ottawa player for his role in defeating Montreal (though Montreal still took the 1906 cup, having beaten Ottawa in the previous game).[9]

Lansdowne Park, far from merely being the home of an annual Exhibition, was briefly the home of hockey royalty. The Senators, who have not won the Stanley Cup since 1927, have certainly declined since the days of the Silver Seven; then again, their opponents have multiplied as well. Next time you visit Aberdeen Pavilion, think of Frank McGee and the Ottawa Silver Seven, who dedicated their lives to the game and to the city.

References:

1 Harper, Stephen J. A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey. Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada, 2013. 44.

2 Harper, Stephen J. A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey. Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada, 2013. 39.

3 Harper, Stephen J. A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey. Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada, 2013. 66.

4 Coleman, Charles L. The Trail of the Stanley Cup. Vol. 1: 1893-1926. Sherbrooke, QC: Sherbrooke Daily Record Company Limited, 1964. 166.

5 Coleman, Charles L. The Trail of the Stanley Cup. Vol. 1: 1893-1926. Sherbrooke, QC: Sherbrooke Daily Record Company Limited, 1964. 114.

6 Coleman, Charles L. The Trail of the Stanley Cup. Vol. 1: 1893-1926. Sherbrooke, QC: Sherbrooke Daily Record Company Limited, 1964. 98.

7 “Lest We Forget: Remembering ‘One-Eyed’ Frank McGee.” The Sports Network. November 11, 2014.

http://www.tsn.ca/lest-we-forget-remembering-one-eyed-frank-mcgee-1.132340

8 Harper, Stephen J. A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey. Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada, 2013. 121.

9 Coleman, Charles L. The Trail of the Stanley Cup. Vol. 1: 1893-1926. Sherbrooke, QC: Sherbrooke Daily Record Company Limited, 1964. 130.

Images:

Featured Image: Harper, Stephen J. A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey. Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada, 2013. 45.

Edey: Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

McGee: Coleman, Charles L. The Trail of the Stanley Cup. Vol. 1: 1893-1926. Sherbrooke, QC: Sherbrooke Daily Record Company Limited, 1964. 107.