after the montreal hc won the 1902 cahl title in march, they promptly sent a challenge to the winnipeg victorias and a best-of-three series was arranged. the season was mild, and there was an inch of water on the slushy ice for game one. tony gingras scored the only goal of game one and winnipeg shut out montreal, 1–0. ice conditions improved for game two an montreal shut out winnipeg 5–0. in game three, montreal took an early 2–0 lead after eleven minutes and then held on for a 2–1 victory. winnipeg attacked furiously at the end, and montreal's effort was described as "little men of iron" by "montreal star" sports editor peter spanjaardt. with the victory, the montreal club won the cup for the first time since 1894.