I think that last question could apply to George Richardson as well. I'm planning on doing a deep dive into the OHA at some point after the holidays, from around George's time up until consolidation. I've briefly looked at a few of Richardson's seasons and the game reports are sadly lacking in description, to the point that I don't feel confident in assessing him as a player. Do we have anything from the Cup challenge that he played in against Ottawa?
A deep dive into the OHA would be great, I am looking forward to seeing it.
As for the Cup challenge against Ottawa HC- there really isn't a ton of coverage, at least that I have seen. Here are my notes-
Queen’s University vs Ottawa HC, 27 February 1906
This one was ugly, to the point that it was compared to the Dawson City games.
A Montreal paper wrote: “Marty Walsh at rover for the Queen’s seven was not surpassed in brilliancy by any player of the Ottawas. The little fellow did good work for his team, but it counted for very little, owing to the fact that he received poor assistance save for that of Richardson and sometimes Crawford. McDonnell, the elongated point player of the Queen’s team, showed a fairly good knowledge of senior hockey and handled himself pretty well, while Mills in the flags, despite the presence of the large figures chalked up against him, gave a good account of himself in the first half”
“For Ottawa none of the men can be credited with any wondrous feats of skill”
Another Montreal paper reported: “Very dashing were all their efforts, but it was evident that in close quarters they were out of it. They look too young and were not nearly set. In spite of this, Dobson brought down the house by nearly bowling over the massive Pulford on two occasions. Every man of them seems destined to become famous as a hockey player, and if they can keep that team together for a couple of years the Stanley Cup may yet find a resting place in Kingston. Richardson, Walsh and Crawford are great players in front, while Mills in goal, and MacDonnell, a brother of the famous Rhodes scholar, is a great cover point”
An Ottawa paper noted: “The visitors showed a good goaltend in Mills, and in McDonnell, their point man, they have a long rangy player who at times did spectacular work. Sutherland at cover is not so good as his mates, while on the forward line Walsh and Richardson carried off the honors. Walsh especially covered himself with glory and his pluck was greatly admired. Crawford and Dobson showed up in spots”
“On the Ottawas, special mention must be made of Westwick, who made his re-appearance after an absence of several weeks. He put up a serling game at all times, and was ably assisted by Frank McGee, who is now in the form of last year. As usual, Alf Smith gave an exhibition of unselfish hockey, but Harry Smith did not appear to exert himself to any great extent, although he figured largely in the scoring”
Final Score: 16-7 Ottawa HC
Rosters
Queen’s: Mills in goal, McDonnell at point, Sutherland at cover, Walsh at rover, Crawford at center, Dobson at RW, and Richardson at LW
Ottawa: Hague in goal, Moore at point, Pulford at cover, Westwick at rover, McGee at center, A. Smith at RW, H. Smith at LW
| Team | Goal Scorer | Assist | Assist |
| Ottawa | A. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | Westwick | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | Westwick | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Crawford | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Walsh | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Walsh | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | McGee | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | H. Smith or A. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Dobson | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | Westwick | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | H. Smith or McGee | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | McGee | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | A. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | A. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | H. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | McGee | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | H. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | McGee | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Dobson or Crawford | Walsh | N/A |
| Ottawa | Westwick or McGee | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | A. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Richardson | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Richardson | N/A | N/A |
Queen’s University vs Ottawa HC, 28 February 1906
Pulford and Moore fought in the locker room after the last game. Apparently, Pulford made some unfavorable comments about Moore’s playing. It was noted that Pulford “displayed a somewhat disfigured countenance”, with one source saying he ended up with two black eyes.
A Montreal paper wrote: “Marty Walsh and Richardson were again the choice of the forwards, and B. Sutherland, who replaced Crawford, was a source of strength. Dobson also showed to good advantage. The defence of McDonnell and Mills displayed some improvement, the latter distinguishing himself on several occasions with stops of the circus variety”
“McGee and Alf. Smith were easily the pick of the Ottawa team. Pulford’s defence was usually reliable”
Another Montreal paper reported: “Of course, it is true that Pulford is the strong man of the defence, and had it not been for his brilliant work, especially last year against Rat Portage, the Stanley Cup would not not be in Ottawa”
“Pulford was eventually prevailed upon to turn out, but he did not play his usual good game”
“While the game generally was clean yet towards the end it became decidedly rough, not in the sense of open fouls, but in that cruel jabbing and cutting for which one of two of the champions are noted. The player mostly to blame was McGee. One bad attack on the goal keeper when the puck was elsewhere escaped the observation of both officials though the crowd yelled. McGee has no need to resort to these tactics, for his play is perfection itself, but he seems unable to resist the temptation to injure an opponent on the sly and in the sorest manner in which it can be done”
“Harry Smith is another player with a reputation in this respect [foul stick work]”
“The only weak spot was at cover point, when Sutherland was no match for the Ottawa forwards, but on the other hand Walsh was the most brilliant player on the ice. He played a magnificent game and had a hand in nearly all the dangerous attacks made by his side. It is said that Richardson is a greater player than he is, but that was not in evidence in Ottawa. He has been ill, however, and probably that accounts for it. Another young player who caught the eye was Dobson. He also is a hockey player of excellence, and these three were always more than a match for the Ottawa defence when they got well going. Had it not been that Hague played a wonderful game, the score against Ottawa would have been very large. He gave the finest exhibition of goal keeping that has been seen in Ottawa for many a long day. His vis a vis, Mills, was also good, and saved his side repeatedly. Another of the great players of the Queen’s team is McDonnell, a young fellow of 18. He has a long reach and was a sore thorn inside of the Ottawa attacks. Time and again he turned defence in attack, while his methods were always clean and above board”
“There was less wide passing and when Walsh and Company found that they were more than a match for Pulford and Moore they became bold and did not hesitate to attempt to skate around them on every available occasion. This paid, but Hague was every time in the way He stopped the rain of shots that came his way, and was a marvel. On one occasion he stopped the puck four times with Queen’s men all round him and saved his goals”
“In justice to Pulford it should be said that he had to cover up many of Moore’s mistakes also. He did not seem to be in his best form”
“Alf. Smith and McGee were the best of the rest, though Harry Smith was very good also. Westwick is not quite up to the form he showed before his accident in Montreal”
An Ottawa paper noted: “He [Bruce Sutherland] figured very prominently in the game, but he is not up to McGee either in speed or stick-handling. Marty Walsh was again a star performer, his work calling for unstinted applause from opponent as well as friend. RIchardson also distinguished himself on many occasions, though he figures but once in the scoring. Dobson was a little more in evidence than on the first night, but he was not as sure in shooting as he needs to be to score on the cup defenders. Behind the line ‘Eck’ Sutherland was not as effective as McDonnell, and neither of these saved the score as much as the stocky Mills in goal. That man with the Q in front and behind was mainly responsible for the lower score in last night’s game. Time and again he received the flying disc in all kinds of shots, and cleverly caught or turned it aside”
“Pulford played a more aggressive game than in the preceding match, even scoring a goal himself singlehanded. Moore also made numerous sallies into the challengers’ territory, always causing a commotion there”
“Harry Smith played a little more aggressively and was a most prominent figure in the summary of goals scored”
“Westwick was there with his old style of hockey that has made him the favorite he is”
“Alf. was particularly strong last night, and used good judgment in helping out the defence by dropping back while Pulford or Moore went down. The way McGee handled the puck was a treat to the crowd, for he seldom lost it in even the most precarious positions”
“Hague was in his best form and had a great deal more to do last night than in the first of the series”
Another Ottawa paper wrote: “McGee was evidently in a bad temper and that he wasn’t ruled off at some stage of the game was strange. But he nevertheless gave a splendid exhibition of scientific hockey and had no need to rough it on the occasions he reported to this sort of work. The Smith brothers were fast, sure and gritty- they took a lot of abuse, too, in the slashing line, and seldom retaliate. Alf. coached the whole line and kept giving advice right along with excellent results. Westwick was not out to exert himself. His injured side was bothering him and he wisely took few chances of having it caved in again. But he showed many flashes of his old-time form and hurdled sticks like a steeplechaser”
“Hague, Pulford and Moore played strong, consistent hockey. Richardson got a pinwheel toss from Pulford on one occasion that nearly put him out of business”
“Queen’s goaler, Mills, gave another spectacular exhibition, and handled some vicious shots from Harry Smith, Alf. and Westwick in real championship style. Richardson and McDonnell were the most prominent of the visitors while Walsh as usual was responsible for most of the excellent work done in the field. The latter proved himself one of the best all-round forward players seen here and he kept on the go all night”
Final Score: 12-7 Ottawa HC
Rosters
Queen’s: Mills in goal, McDonnell at point, E. Sutherland at cover, Walsh at rover, B. Sutherland at center, Dobson at RW, and Richardson at LW
Ottawa: Hague in goal, Moore at point, Pulford at cover, Westwick at rover, McGee at center, A. Smith at RW, H. Smith at LW
| Team | Goal Scorer | Assist | Assist |
| Ottawa | H. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Walsh or Richardson or B. Sutherland | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Walsh | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | H. Smith or McGee | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | A. Smith or H. Smith | Maybe A. Smith | N/A |
| Ottawa | H. Smith or A. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | A. Smith or H. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | McGee | Pulford | N/A |
| Queen’s | Dobson or Crawford | Walsh | N/A |
| Ottawa | H. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | B. Sutherland | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Dobson or B. Sutherland | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | Pulford | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Dobson or Walsh | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | McGee | A. Smith | N/A |
| Ottawa | Westwick | N/A | N/A |
| Queen’s | Richardson | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | H. Smith or Westwick | N/A | N/A |
| Ottawa | H. Smith | N/A | N/A |
| Name | Team | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Frank McGee | Ottawa HC | Center | 2 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Harry Smith | Ottawa HC | LW | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Alf Smith | Ottawa HC | RW | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Marty Walsh | Queen’s | Rover | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Rat Westwick | Ottawa HC | Rover | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| George Richardson | Queen’s | LW | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Harvey Pulford | Ottawa HC | Cover | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| B. Sutherland | Queen’s | Center | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Crawford | Queen’s | Center | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dobson | Queen’s | RW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Hague | Ottawa HC | Goal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| McDonnell | Queen’s | Point | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mills | Queen’s | Goal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Art Moore | Ottawa HC | Point | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Sutherland | Queen’s | Cover | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | | |
| Maybe A. Smith | Ottawa HC | RW | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | | | | | |
| A. Smith or H. Smith | Ottawa HC | N/A | N/A | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Crawford or Dobson | Queen’s | N/A | N/A | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| McGee or H. Smith | Ottawa HC | N/A | N/A | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Dobson or B. Sutherland | Queen’s | N/A | N/A | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dobson or Walsh | Queen’s | N/A | N/A | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| McGee or Westwick | Ottawa HC | N/A | N/A | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Richardson, B. Sutherland, or Walsh | Queen’s | N/A | N/A | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| H. Smith or Westwick | Ottawa HC | N/A | N/A | 1 | 0 | 1 |
