Team: Hockey
Stanley Cup Champions
Year Inducted: Legacy

For four years, hockey in the early 20th century for Ottawa fans was a time for celebration. Despite playing in three different amateur leagues and even once being an independent team, the Ottawa Hockey Club managed to lay claim to the Stanley Cup in four straight seasons.

The dynasty began in March, 1903, when co-regular-season champions, Ottawa and the Montreal Victorias met in a home-and-away, two-game, total-goal Stanley Cup challenge. Both teams played on questionable ice surfaces as the opener ended 1-1. Ottawa won the second game 8-0 before 3,000 home fans to earn its first Stanley Cup. Less than a week later, Ottawa defeated Rat Portage Thistles in a two-game, total-goal challenge series 6-2 and 4-2 to defend their Cup.

Team executive Bob Shillington, a mining investor and Ottawa druggist, rewarded each Ottawa player with a silver nugget, rather than money, to allow the players to keep their amateur status. One of the players said the team should be called the Silver Seven. Back then, a team could ice seven players for each shift _ three forwards, two defence, one goalie and one rover. And so, the Silver Seven were born.

The Silver Seven, who had future hall-of-fame players Frank McGee, Billy Gilmour, Percy LeSueur, Harvey Pulford, Alf Smith, Bouse Hutton and Harry Westwick, were a dominant team with their offence and rough and tough style of play.

The Silver Seven was successful in four Stanley Cup challenges in 1904, turning back Winnipeg Rowing Club, Toronto Marlboroughs, Montreal Wanderers and Brandon. In 1905, the Dawson City Nuggets travelled 24 days to reach Ottawa and were blitzed by the Silver Seven 9-2 and 23-2 as McGee, the youngest player on the team and blind in one eye, scored 14 goals in the second game. The Silver Seven almost lost the Stanley Cup to Rat Portage Thistles, but rallied to win the best-of-three challenge series 4-2 and 5-4, after losing the opener 9-3.

After a pair of two-game, total-goal decisions over Queen’s University and Smiths Falls in 1906, the Silver Seven’s Stanley Cup streak came to an end with a 12-10 two-game, total-goal loss to the Montreal Wanderers.