1906 Stanley Cup

Lore & Background

Generally acknowledged by hockey historians as one of the greatest teams of the early days of the sport, the club won numerous championships, starting with the 1891 to 1893 Ontario championships. Ottawa HC played in the first season during which the Stanley Cup was challenged in 1893, and first won the Cup in 1903, holding the championship until 1906 (the Silver Seven years). The club repeated its success in the 1920s, winning the Stanley Cup in 1920, 1921, 1923 and 1927 (the Super Six years). In total, the club won the Stanley Cup 11 times, including challenges during two years it did not win the Cup for the season. In 1950, Canadian sports editors selected the Ottawa HC/Senators as Canada's greatest team in the first half of the 20th century.

In Their Own Story

The air in Kenora was biting cold, far colder than what the Ottawa boys were used to, but their breath misted with excitement rather than fear. As the puck dropped between Jack Marshall and a Kenora defender, the roar of the small, packed arena seemed to shake the snow from the rafters. Sam Loney weaved through the defenders like smoke, his stickhandling a blur of motion on the frozen pond. When Harry Smith finally buried the puck past the Thistles' goalie in the second game, the Ottawa bench erupted. It wasn't just a win; it was a coronation for a team that had traveled hundreds of miles to prove they were the best in the land.

Reader's Guide

The club was one of the first organized clubs in the early days of the sport of ice hockey, playing in the Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournaments in the early 1880s and founding the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada and the Ontario Hockey Association. Along with the rise of professionalism in ice hockey in the first decade of the 1900s, the club changed to a professional team and were founding members of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and its successor, the National Hockey League. The club competed in the NHL until the 1933–34 season. Due to financial difficulties, the NHL franchise relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, to become the St. Louis Eagles. The organization continued the Senators as an amateur, and later semi-professional, team in Quebec senior men's leagues until 1954. The 'Senior Senators' would win two Allan Cup titles: in 1943, and 1949.

Did You Know?

• The club first won the Stanley Cup in 1903, holding the championship until 1906.
• The club was known as the Silver Seven from 1903 to 1907.
• The club won the Stanley Cup in 1920, 1921, 1923 and 1927.
• In 1950, Canadian sports editors selected the Ottawa HC/Senators as Canada's greatest team in the first half of the 20th century.