1896 - CAPITALS NEAR PERFECT
Ottawa won its second title. With a dozen goals from John Powers plus
8 from James Murphy Capitals marched to a 9-1 record. Weakened by the
retirement of Joe O'Meara, Shamrocks lost twice to the champs enroute
to their runner-up position. There was only one black mark on the
Ottawa record and it was a suspicious one. They arrived in Cornwall
for the second last game of the year poised to clinch the pennant. Yet
the leaders were hammered 6-1! Immediately the press speculated that
the contest had been thrown. It was true that the loss revived
Shamrocks title hopes, however that was not necessarily bad for
Capitals either. The final game was Ottawa at Shamrocks and half the
gate would go to the visitors. Capitals denied the accusation and
pointed out that Cornwall were not a bad team. Colts had earlier
beaten the irish 4-2. Plus they placed third in the circuit with 6
wins. As for the Ottawa players, the dispute regarding their honesty
would not be resolved until the following season.
Surprisingly few Ottawa fans travelled to Montreal for the final match.
Most expected another loss, meaning the tie break would open in the
nation's capital a week later. Curious because the irish had been
beaten in the initial encounter 7-1, thanks to Powers' four goals.
John Tucker may have led Shamrocks with 15 goals on the year but he
came up empty against Ottawa, twice! In the rematch Capitals again
showed the green shirts up and won the championship outright. They
topped the montrealers 4-1 as Harry Carleton's brace carried them home.
Named after the great shawnee chief who was killed during the War of
1812, Toronto Tecumsehs debuted in the big league. They pleased
everyone with their offensive style. To accompany their 5-5 record
they scored 44 goals, only one behind Capitals. C.Cross led the league
with 18. Tecumsehs had strong out of town support, including: Barney
Quinn(Prescott) Larry Hay(Orangeville) Tod Downey(St.Catharines) and
the Milners(Brampton).
The other Toronto team went winless again. M.A.A.A. were not much
better at 2-7. The bottom pair did not play their last game.
