The inaugural 1904 Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) season lasted from January 6 until February 24. Four teams played a six game schedule.
The FAHL had been formed on December 5, 1903. Three of the four teams had been rejected for membership by the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL), while the fourth – the Montreal Wanderers – was a new team composed of disillusioned players from two Montreal-based CAHL teams.
In their first season as a franchise, the Wanderers would dominate the regular season, going undefeated. Due to an unusual twist, the Wanderers would have to share the league championship with the Ottawa Hockey Club (HC) of the CAHL (see below).
Jack Marshall of Wanderers would score six goals against the Capitals on January 20.
| Team | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals For | Goals Against | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Wanderers | |||||||
| Montreal Le National | |||||||
| Cornwall HC | |||||||
| Ottawa Capitals |
| Month | Day | Visitor | Score | Home | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. | 6 | Cornwall | 3 | Le National | 5 |
| 13 | Le National | 5 | Capitals | 8 | |
| 15 | Wanderers | 5 | Cornwall | 1 | |
| 20 | Capitals | 6 | Wanderers | 10 | |
| 27 | Cornwall | 5 | Capitals | 4 | |
| 27 | Le National | 2 | Wanderers | 4 | |
| Feb. | 3 | Capitals | 3 | Cornwall | 7 |
| 3 | Wanderers | 7 | Le National | 3 | |
| 10 | Capitals | 4 | Le National | 10 | |
| 18 (†) | Cornwall | 3 | Wanderers | 8 | |
| 20 | Wanderers | 4 | Capitals | 3 | |
| 24 | Le National | 2 | Cornwall | 1 | |
† Wanderers lock down League Championship.
| width=110 | Name | width=90 | Club | width=25 | GP | width=25 | GA | width=25 | SO | width=25 | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholson, Billy | Wanderers | 6 | 18 | 0 | 3.0 | ||||||
| Grenier | Capitals | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4.0 | ||||||
| Hunter, Jack | Cornwall | 6 | 27 | 0 | 4.5 | ||||||
| Henri Menard | Le National | 6 | 27 | 0 | 4.5 | ||||||
| Moffatt | Capitals | 2 | 12 | 0 | 6.0 | ||||||
| Cope, Alex | Capitals | 2 | 15 | 0 | 7.5 | ||||||
| Hurdman | Capitals | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10.0 | ||||||
| width=130 | Name | width=120 | Club | width=25 | GP | width=25 | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Marshall | Wanderers | 4 | 11 | ||||
| Edgar Dey | Capitals | 6 | 11 | ||||
| Ken Mallen | Wanderers &<br>Cornwall | 6 | 10 | ||||
| Alphonse Prevost | Le National | 6 | 9 | ||||
| Percy Sims | Capitals | 5 | 9 | ||||
| Jack Laviolette | Nationals | 6 | 8 | ||||
| "Pokey" Leahy | Wanderers | 5 | 7 | ||||
| Jimmy Gardner | Wanderers | 6 | 5 | ||||
| Ed Decarie | Le National | 6 | 5 | ||||
| Fred Strike | Wanderers | 2 | 4 | ||||
Just days after the FAHL regular season was finished, the reigning Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Hockey Club (HC) left the CAHL and joined the FAHL. The Wanderers, FAHL regular season champions, immediately played Ottawa HC for the combined Stanley Cup/FAHL championship.
A two-game series between the Montreal Wanderers from FAHL and Ottawa Hockey Club from CAHL was arranged, for the Stanley Cup. The teams played the first game in Montreal to a tie of 5–5. Montreal refused to play overtime, demanding that the game be considered a no-contest and proposed that the series start over as a best two-of-three series. The Cup trustees demanded that the series continued as scheduled and the Wanderers abandoned the challenge.[1]
According to the Gazette, the game saw "the dirtiest game ever seen between two senior teams at the Arena." Thirty-six penalties were called. Leahy was injured and replaced by Mallan. James Strachan, president of the Wanderers was quoted as saying that the Wanderers would not go to Ottawa and play with Dr. Kearns as referee. Ottawa took a 2–0 lead, before the Wanderers scored five in a row. The Ottawas came back with three, the final goal by Frank McGee.
| Ottawa (5) | Montreal (5) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Pos | Player | G | |
| Hutton | G | Nicholson | |||
| J. McGee | P | Strachan | |||
| A. Smith | CP | Bellingham | |||
| H. Westwick | 2 | R | Leahy, Mallan | 1 1 | |
| F. McGee | 1 | C | Marshall | 1 | |
| W. Gilmour | 1 | RW | Gardner | 1 | |
| S. Gilmour | 1 | LW | Blatchford | 1 | |
| Referee - Dr. Kearns Umpires - Stevens, Baskerville | |||||
The Wanderers demanded a replay of the game to be held in Montreal, which Ottawa refused. The series was cancelled, with Ottawa retained the Stanley Cup. championship. Ottawa then joined FAHL in the offseason..[3]
After the season, the Wanderers travelled to Michigan to play the Portage Lakes Hockey Club pro club. The Wanderers lost to Portage Lakes 8-4 and 9-2 in a series dubbed the "World Championship" locally. The Wanderers next travelled to Pittsburgh to play the Pittsburgh Victorias.[4] Pittsburgh won 4-2,[5] and 6-4.[6]