1906–07 MPHL season
# 1906–07 MPHL season

The 1906–07 Manitoba Professional Hockey League (MPHL) season would see the 1906 MPHL champion Kenora Thistles challenge the Montreal Wanderers in a Stanley Cup challenge in January and win the MPHL championship, only to lose the Cup in a challenge in March.

## Regular season

The Winnipeg Hockey Club and Winnipeg Victorias left the league which now accepted professionals openly. The teams organized an amateur league.

Teams played ten games, except for Kenora, which played the Stanley Cup challenge. As a consequence, the standings were adjusted to account for the challenge.

After the Thistles won the Stanley Cup in Montreal, the team played exhibitions in Ottawa and Toronto. In the Ottawa game Billy McGimsie suffered a career-ending shoulder injury. At the time, it was not described as serious, only a "badly bruised and slightly dislocated shoulder". He played in the Thistles' next exhibition in Toronto on January 25. The team signed Fred Whitcroft to replace him. Kenora signed Alf Smith and Rat Westwick of Ottawa, whose season with the ECAHA was already over, for the final game of the season and the playoffs to play in place of future Hall of Famers Art Ross and Joe Hall who were back playing for Brandon.

All games :

| Team | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Brandon Wheat City | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| Portage la Prairie Plains | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| Kenora Thistles | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Winnipeg Strathconas | 10 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3 |

Adjusted :

| Team | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Brandon Wheat City | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Kenora Thistles | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Portage la Prairie | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Winnipeg Strathconas | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 |

Source: Zwieg, 2012

## Playoff

Kenora would play and win the MPHL playoff against Brandon to successfully defend the Cup, winning a best-of-three series 2–0. Hall and Ross played for Brandon in the series, while Smith, Westwick and Whitcroft played for the Thistles. At the time of the series, the acting Stanley Cup trustee William Foran had already declared Smith and Westwick ineligible for the challenge series. After the series was over, the Manitoba League registered their disapproval over Mr. Foran's decision to exclude the players.

| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| March 16, 1907 | Kenora Thistles | 8–6 | Brandon Wheat City | Winnipeg Auditorium |
| March 18, 1907 | Kenora Thistles | 4–1 | Brandon Wheat City | Winnipeg Auditorium |
| Kenora wins series 2–0 |||||

March 16, 1907 :

| Brandon Wheat City | vs | Kenora Thistles |
| - | - | - |
| Bobby Mercer | G | Eddie Geroux |
| Art Leader | P | Roxy Beaudro |
| Art Ross | CP | Si Griffis |
| George Smith | RO | Harry Westwick |
| Joe Hall Capt. | C | Fred Whitecroft |
| Walter Bellamy | RW | Alf Smith |
| Jack Fraser | LW | Tommy Phillips, Capt. |
| Art Serviss -RW | spare | Tom Hopper -RO/D |
| Roy Armstrong -D | spare | Russell Phillips -RW/LW |

March 18, 1907 :

| Brandon Wheat City | vs | Kenora Thistles |
| - | - | - |
| Bobby Mercer | G | Eddie Geroux |
| Art Leader | P | Roxy Beaudro |
| Art Ross | CP | Si Griffis |
| George Smith | RO | Harry Westwick |
| Joe Hall Capt. | C | Fred Whitecroft |
| Walter Bellamy | RW | Alf Smith |
| Jack Fraser | LW | Tommy Phillips, Capt. |
| Art Serviss -RW | spare | Tom Hopper -RO/D |
| Roy Armstrong -D | spare | Russell Phillips -RW/LW |

- Goal scorers in both games are unknown

## Stanley Cup challenges

As the Thistles were Manitoba champions for 1906, they were accepted as Stanley Cup challengers. However, the challenge did not take place until January 1907.

### Wanderers vs. Kenora at Montreal

The Thistles played the Montreal Wanderers in a Stanley Cup challenge during the season, defeating the Wanderers 4–2 and 8–6 on January 17–21. Aided by future Hockey Hall of Famers Tom Hooper, Tommy Phillips, and Art Ross, the Thistles came away with 4–2 and 8–6 victories for a combined score of 12–8 to win a two-game total goals series. A "ringer", Ross was a member of the Brandon Wheat City team and was signed by Kenora for just the challenge games. Brandon's Joe Hall also signed for the challenge games and returned to Brandon afterward.

| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| January 17, 1907 | Kenora Thistles | 4–2 | Montreal Wanderers | Montreal Arena |
| January 21, 1907 | Kenora Thistles | 8–6 | Montreal Wanderers | Montreal Arena |
| Kenora wins total goals series 12 goals to 8 |||||

January 17, 1907 :

| Montreal Wanderers | 2 | vs | Kenora Thistles | 4 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| William "Riley" Hern | | G | Eddie Geroux | |
| Billy Strachan | | P | Art Ross | |
| Hod Stuart | | CP | Si Griffis | |
| Lester Patrick, Capt. | 2 | RO | Tom Hooper | |
| Ernie Russell | | C | Billy McGimsie | |
| Frank "Pud" Glass | | RW | Roxy Beaudro | |
| Ernie "Moose" Johnson | | LW | Tommy Phillips, Capt. | 4 |
| Jack Marshall | 1 | sub | |
| Rod Kennedy | | spare | Joe Hall |
| Bill Chipcase | | spare | Russell Phillips |
| Referees Meldrun, Russell Bowie |||||

January 21, 1907 :

| Montreal Wanderers | 6 | vs | Kenora Thistles | 8 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| William "Riley" Hern | | G | Eddie Geroux | |
| Rod Kennedy | | P | Art Ross | |
| Hod Stuart | | CP | Si Griffis | |
| Lester Patrick, Capt | 3 | RO | Tom Hooper | 3 |
| Ernie Russell | 2 | C | Billy McGimsie | 1 |
| Frank "Pud" Glass | | RW | Roxy Beaudro | 1 |
| Ernie "Moose" Johnson | | LW | Tommy Phillips, Capt. | 3 |
| Jack Marshall | 1 | sub | |
| Billy Strachan | | spare | Joe Hall |
| Bill Chipcase | | spare | Russell Phillips |
| Referees Chittick, Shea |||||

### Wanderers vs. Kenora at Winnipeg

Kenora went ahead and used Alf Smith and Rat Westwick of Ottawa for the challenge, against the wishes of Stanley Cup trustee Mr. Foran. The series was supposed to start on March 21 in Kenora, but Montreal protested the use of Smith and Westwick, and also wanted to play the series in Winnipeg. Foran ruled that both players were ineligible. The clubs went ahead and started the series on March 23 in Winnipeg. Mr. Foran was notified by the press (inaccurately) that Montreal had dropped its protest and that the clubs intended to play anyway. Mr. Foran threatened to take the Cup back to Ottawa:

   If the two clubs ignore the instructions of the cup trustees by mutually agreeing to play against Westwick and Smith when both were positively informed these men were ineligible to participate in the present cup matches, the series will be treated as void, and the cup will be taken charge of by the trustees. It will remain in their possession till the various hockey leagues can educate themselves up to a standard where decent sport will be the order of the day.”

The teams went ahead and played the series. However, Mr. Foran changed his mind after the Wanderers won the Cup, stating that the Wanderers could keep the Cup, because they had not rescinded their protest.

| Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| March 23, 1907 | Montreal Wanderers | 7–2 | Kenora Thistles | Winnipeg Auditorium |
| March 25, 1907 | Kenora Thistles | 6–5 | Montreal Wanderers | Winnipeg Auditorium |
| Montreal wins total goals series 12 goals to 8 |||||

March 23, 1907 :

| Montreal Wanderers | 7 | at | Kenora Thistles | 2 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| William "Riley" Hern | | G | Eddie Geroux | |
| Lester Patrick, Capt. | | P | Tom Hooper | |
| Hod Stuart | | CP | Si Griffis | |
| Frank "Pud" Glass | 2 | RO | Harry "Rat" Westwick | |
| Ernie Russell | 4 | C | Fred Whitecroft | |
| Cecil Blachford | | RW | Alf Smith | 1 |
| Ernie "Moose" Johnson | 1 | LW | Tommy Phillips, Capt. | 1 |
| Bill Chipcase | | spare | Roxy Beaudro |
| T. Erskine & Rod Kennedy | | spare | Russell Phillips |
| Referee- W. MacFarlane | | |
| Referee W. Kean | | |

March 25, 1907 :

| Montreal Wanderers | 5 | at | Kenora Thistles | 6 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| William "Riley" Hern | | G | Eddie Geroux | |
| Lester Patrick, Capt. | 1 | P | Roxy Beaudro | 1 |
| Hod Stuart | | CP | Si Griffis | 1 |
| Frank "Pud" Glass | 1 | RO | Harry "Rat" Westwick | |
| Ernie Russell | 1 | C | Fred Whitecroft | 2 |
| Cecil Blachford | | RW | Alf Smith | 1 |
| Ernie "Moose' Johnson | 2 | LW | Tommy Phillips, Capt. | 1 |
| T. Erskine & Rod Kennedy | | spare | Russell Phillips |
| Bill Chipcase | | spare | Tom Hooper |
| Referee- W. MacFarlane | | |
| Referee W. Kean | | |

## Kenora Thistles - January–March 1907 Stanley Cup champions

### Players

**Wingers**

* Roxy Beaudro (also played point)
* Tom Phillips(Captain)
* Russell Phillips
* Alf Smith(right wing)†&

**Defencemen**

* Tom Hooper(also played Rover)
* Art Ross(Point)††
* Silas Griffis(Cover point)
* Joe Hall(Cover point did not play)††

**Goaltenders**

* Eddie Giroux

### Coaching and administrative staff

* Fred Hudson (Manager), James Link (Coach/Trainer)
* J.F McGillvary@ (Secretary/Treasurer), Lowrey Johnson (President)&
* † Not part of team when Kenora won the Stanley Cup in January 1907. However, Harry Westwick, Fred Whitcroft, and Alf Smith joined the team in March 1907 to play against the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2 playoff games.
* †† Left the team after winning the Stanley Cup, Art Ross, and Joe Hall were not part of the team, when Kenora defeated Brandon in 2 game playoff for Manitoba League Title/Stanley Cup.

@unknown first name.

* &-Missing from the team picture.

### Stanley Cup engraving

Kenora engraved their name inside the bowl of the Stanley Cup. 1907 Thistles of Kenora .

