1.
Ice hockey
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Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponents net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of six each, one goaltender. A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. In North America, the National Hockey League is the highest level for mens hockey, the Kontinental Hockey League is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking, worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and these games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion, in international competitions, the national teams of six countries predominate, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in mens competition at the Olympics, in the annual Ice Hockey World Championships,177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations. In Russia and the Ukraine, where hockey can also refer to bandy, the name hockey has no clear origin. The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word hockey when he translated the proclamation in 1720, the 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called hokie—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves. A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage. According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc. The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck. Stick-and-ball games date back to pre-Christian times, in Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey. IJscolf, a game resembling colf on a surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a curved bat, a wooden or leather ball
2.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
3.
Renfrew Creamery Kings
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The Renfrew Hockey Club, also known as the Creamery Kings and the Millionaires, was a founding franchise in 1909 of the National Hockey Association, the precursor to the National Hockey League. The team was based in Renfrew, Ontario, with fellow rejectee Montreal Wanderers, OBrien founded the NHA, along with franchises in Cobalt, Haileybury and Montreal. In consequence the team became widely nicknamed the millionaires, in addition, OBrien secured the services of Newsy Lalonde midseason from the Canadiens franchise, and Lalonde would wind up the season the NHAs first scoring champion. Coached by Ottawa Senators legend and future Hall of Famer Alf Smith and its second and final season, Renfrew lost Lalonde to the new Montreal Canadiens team, and finished 8-8, with Don Smith and Odie Cleghorn being the leading scorers. Renfrews final major professional game was a 7-6 victory on March 7,1911, thereafter, with it being apparent that the small towns such as Renfrew, Cobalt and Haileybury could not support major senior hockey, OBrien folded the franchise for good. The Renfrew Creamery Kings, The Valley Boys of Winter 1910, burnstown, Ontario, General Store Publishing House,1990
4.
Ottawa Senators (original)
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The Ottawa Senators were a professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a member of the National Hockey League. The club, which was officially the Ottawa Hockey Club, was known by nicknames, including the Generals in the 1890s, the Silver Seven from 1903 to 1907. Generally acknowledged by historians as one of the greatest teams of the early days of the sport. Ottawa HC played in the first season during which the Stanley Cup was challenged in 1893, the club repeated its success in the 1920s, winning the Stanley Cup in 1920,1921,1923 and 1927. In total, the won the Stanley Cup eleven times. In 1950, Canadian sports editors selected the Ottawa HC/Senators as Canadas greatest team in the first half of the 20th century. The club competed in the NHL until the 1933–34 season, when it relocated the NHL franchise to St. Louis, Missouri, the organization continued the Senators as an amateur, and later semi-professional, team in Quebec senior mens leagues until 1954. The Ottawa Hockey Club was founded by a group of like-minded hockey enthusiasts. A month after witnessing games of hockey at the 1883 Montreal Winter Carnival, Halder Kirby, Jack Kerr and Frank Jenkins met, being the first organized ice hockey club in Ottawa, and also the first in Ontario, the club had no other clubs to play that season. The only activities that winter were practices at the Royal Rink starting on March 5,1883, the club first participated competitively at the 1884 Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournament wearing red and black uniforms. Future Ottawa mayor Nelson Porter is recorded as the scorer of the clubs first-ever goal, Frank Jenkins was the first captain of the team, he later became the president of the Hockey Club in 1891 and of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1892. For the 1885 season, the club adopted gold and blue as its colours, Ottawa earned its first-ever victory at the tournament over the Montreal Victorias, but lost its final match to the Montreal Hockey Club to place second in the tournament. The 1886 Montreal tournament was cancelled due to an outbreak of smallpox, on December 8,1886, the first championship league, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada was founded in Montreal. It was composed of clubs from Montreal plus a Quebec City club. Ottawas Thomas D. Green was named the first president of the league, under the format, Ottawa lost the one challenge it played in that first 1887 season to the Montreal Victorias. After that season, Ottawa HC became inactive, the Royal Rink, which had been their primary facility, had been converted to a roller skating rink, and ice rink facilities were at a shortage. This changed with the opening of the Rideau Skating Rink in February 1889, One of the principal organizers in the restarting of the team was Ottawa Journal publisher P. D. Ross, who also played on the team
5.
Canadian Amateur Hockey League
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The league existed for seven seasons, folding in 1905 and was itself replaced by the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association. Formed because of a dispute between teams of the AHAC, it developed the sport in its transition to professional. The CAHL itself would fold over a dispute, leading to the new ECAHA league, the annual meeting of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada was held in Montreal on December 10,1898, and was reported as a cataclysm in the hockey world. At the previous meeting, the application of the Ottawa Capitals to join was declined. In 1898, the Capitals had won the championship and applied again for AHAC membership. The AHAC executive then voted in favor of admitting the Capitals for league membership and this led to the representatives of the Quebec, Montreal Victorias and Ottawa clubs opting to withdraw from the association. The representative of the Montreal Hockey Club asked the group to reconsider but was declined, the withdrawing teams then met at the Windsor Hotel the same day. A representative of the McGill University also attended on the possibility that McGill would join, on December 14, the group met again and organized the CAHL, adding also the Montreal Shamrocks and not McGill. The new league adopted the constitution of the AHAC. Proposed by the Quebec team, a rope was used to connect the tops of the goal posts. Attached to the rope and the posts was netting in a pocket, nets had been in use for the goals in lacrosse and ice polo. The nets became a permanent part of the CAHL rinks after a series in 1899. The league would stay with the five teams until the 1904 season. During the season, Ottawa withdrew from the league in a dispute with the league, the league continued its schedule with the remaining four teams. The following season, the league admitted the Montreal Le National and Montreal Westmount clubs in place of Ottawa, which joined the Federal Amateur Hockey League. It would be the season of the league, as in the off-season the Montreal Wanderers and Ottawa would form the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association. † Stanley Cup winner ‡ Ottawa resigned February 8,1904, Federal Amateur Hockey League List of Stanley Cup champions List of pre-NHL seasons List of ice hockey leagues
6.
Montreal Le National
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The Montreal Nationals were an amateur, later professional, and then amateur again mens senior-level ice hockey team. They are notable in that they were the first team to represent French Canada and were the first ice hockey team composed of francophone players, the Nationals organization was established in 1894. They iced their first team in 1895, being the first club composed of francophone players, after a few years of independent play against other established clubs, they briefly played in the Intermediate Canadian Amateur Hockey League in 1901. They then entered the Federal Amateur Hockey League in 1904 when Le National, after flirting with these organized leagues, they joined the brand new Canadian Hockey Association in 1910 as a professional entity. They stayed with that league through its various name changes, for their final season in 1926/27, the Montreal Nationals merged with the intermediate Montreal St Francois Xavier Hockey Club to form the Montreal/St Francois Nationals. After that one season, the club finally folded, the Montreal Nationals organization also iced a junior team alongside the more popular senior team in 1920. The team played in the Junior Amateur Hockey Association, the team was shut down in 1925 but reactivated in 1944. In 1949, the league was renamed the Quebec Junior Hockey League, the team was shut down again in 1952 but reactivated one final time in 1956 in the Metropolitan Montreal Junior Hockey League. In 1958 the club was renamed the Palestre Nationals, in 1969, the MMJHL merged with the Quebec Junior Hockey League to form the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. That year the team moved out to the Montreal borough of Rosemont to become the Rosemont Nationals, in 1971, the club moved out to the Montreal suburb of Laval to become the Laval Nationals. In 1975, after 50 years of operation, the Montreal Nationals organization folded, the team still used the Nationals name for the next few seasons, but after coach Jean Rougeau left the club they were renamed the Laval Voisins. Today the club is the Acadie–Bathurst Titan, as well as their hockey team, the Montreal Nationals also had a lacrosse team, which was actually established first, in 1894. In 1897, they won the league, and in 1898 the senior league. Becoming professional in 1910, they won the Eastern Canada championship, jack Laviolette Didier Pitre 1904 FAHL season Montreal Canadiens Montreal Montagnards Brown, William. The Montreal Maroons, The Forgotten Stanley Cup Champions
7.
National Hockey Association
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The National Hockey Association, officially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the predecessor to todays National Hockey League. Founded in 1909 by Ambrose OBrien, the NHA introduced six-man hockey by removing the rover position in 1911, during its lifetime, the league coped with competition for players with the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the enlistment of players for World War I and disagreements between owners. The disagreements between owners came to a head in 1917, when the NHA suspended operations in order to get rid of an unwanted owner. The remaining NHA team owners started the NHL in parallel as a measure, to continue play while negotiations went on with Livingstone. A year later, after no progress was reached with Livingstone, the NHAs rules, constitution and trophies were continued in the NHL. In November 1909, the Eastern Canada Hockey Association, holder of the Stanley Cup, the Montreal Wanderers team of the ECHA had been bought by P. J. Doran, owner of the Jubilee Rink in Montreal and he intended to move the teams games there. The Jubilee was smaller than the Wanderers current rink, the Montreal Arena which meant visiting teams would earn less on their trips to play the Wanderers. On November 25,1909, the teams in the league disbanded the ECHA and formed the new Canadian Hockey Association. The team had applied to the Stanley Cup trustees as champions of the Federal League, at the November 25 CHA founding meeting, held at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, OBrien applied to join the CHA but the application was rejected. Sitting in the lobby of the hotel after the CHA meeting, OBrien met Jimmy Gardner of the Wanderers, together, they decided to form their own league, the National Hockey Association. At the same time, to build a rivalry and capture francophone interest in Montreal, OBrien and Gardner conceived of creating a team consisting of francophone players, to be managed by francophones. In all, OBrien and his father, Michael John OBrien, were financing four teams in the league, the Renfrew Creamery Kings, Cobalt, Haileybury, the Cobalt and Haileybury clubs were from the Timiskaming Professional Hockey League and Renfrew from the Federal Hockey League. Along with the Wanderers, the league had five teams, the OBriens were determined to win the Stanley Cup and a bidding war for players immediately started. Frank Patrick and Lester Patrick were each signed by the Renfrew Millionaires for $3,000 apiece, Renfrew also signed star player Cyclone Taylor of the champion Ottawa Senators team, reputedly at $5,000 per season. Attendance at the CHA games was poor and a meeting of the NHA was held on January 15,1910 to discuss a merger of the two leagues. Instead, the NHA admitted Ottawa and the Montreal Shamrocks to the NHA, the owners of the Montreal Le National were offered the ownership of the Canadiens but turned it down. The Quebec Bulldogs and the teams of the CHA were not even considered for membership
8.
Stanley Cup
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The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoff winner. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to Montreal HC, and subsequent winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games, Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. After a series of mergers and folds, it was established as the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926. There are actually three Stanley Cups, the bowl of the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the authenticated Presentation Cup. The NHL has maintained control over both the trophy itself and its associated trademarks. Nevertheless, the NHL does not actually own the trophy, the original bowl was made of silver and is 18.5 centimetres in height and 29 centimetres in diameter. The current Stanley Cup, topped with a copy of the bowl, is made of a silver and nickel alloy, it has a height of 89.54 centimetres. Unlike the trophies awarded by the major professional sports leagues of North America. Originally, the winners kept it until a new champion was crowned, currently, winning teams get the Stanley Cup during the summer and a limited number of days during the season. It is unusual among trophies to include winning members names, every year since 1924, a select portion of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff names are engraved on its bands. However, there is not enough room to include all the players and non-players, initially a new band added each year, though this caused the trophy to grow in size, earning the nickname Stovepipe Cup. In 1958 the modern one-piece Cup was designed with a barrel which could contain 13 winning teams per band. To prevent the Stanley Cup from growing, when the band is full, the oldest band is removed and preserved in the Hockey Hall of Fame. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanleys Cup, The Holy Grail, the Stanley Cup is surrounded by numerous legends and traditions, the oldest of which is the celebratory drinking of champagne out of the cup by the winning team. Since the 1914–15 season, the Cup has been won a combined 100 times by 18 active NHL teams, prior to that, the challenge cup was held by nine different teams. The Montreal Canadiens have won the Cup a record 24 times and are the most recent Canadian-based team to win the cup, the Stanley Cup was not awarded in 1919 because of a Spanish flu epidemic, and in 2005, as a consequence of the 2004–05 NHL lockout. After the Lord Stanley of Preston was appointed by Queen Victoria as Governor General of Canada on June 11,1888, he, Stanley was first exposed to the game at Montreals 1889 Winter Carnival, where he saw the Montreal Victorias play the Montreal Hockey Club. The Montreal Gazette reported that he expressed his delight with the game of hockey
9.
Amateur Hockey Association of Canada
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The Amateur Hockey Association of Canada was an amateur mens ice hockey league founded on 8 December 1886, in existence until 1898. It was the ice hockey league organized in Canada, after one in Kingston. It was organized to provide a season to determine the Canadian champion. Prior to its founding the Canadian championship was determined in a tournament in Montreal and it is the first championship ice hockey league. A meeting was called, for those in favor of the formation of a Dominion hockey association, for the evening of 8 December 1886. James Stewart, J. G. Monk, H. A. Budden, E. Sheppard, green of Ottawa had played on the 1883 McGill hockey team. In that age, ice hockey was a different game compared to today. These were defined as, left wing centre right wing rover point coverpoint The left wing, centre and right wing were the forwards, the rover would line up behind the centre, with the point and coverpoint following, in an I formation towards the goaltender. The face offs were at an angle to todays practice. The goaltenders used no special equipment, the goals were two posts, with no crossbar. An umpire would judge the legality of each score, there were no boards along the sides of the ice, and there were no standard dimensions for a rink, although dimensions were instituted for the positioning of the goal out from the ends of the rink. A match was two halves of thirty minutes, sudden-death overtime was also in place, and a match would continue until a goal was scored in the event of a tie after regulation. Players in all positions would normally play the entire 60 minutes, the captains of contesting teams shall agree upon two umpires and a referee. All questions as to games shall be settled by the umpires, all disputes on the ice shall be settled by the referee, and his decision shall be final. The game shall be commenced and renewed by a bully in the centre of the rink, goals, six feet wide and four feet high, which shall be changed after each game, unless otherwise agreed. A player must always be on his own side of the puck, the puck may be stopped, but not carried or knocked on, by any part of the body. No player shall raise his stick above his shoulder, when the puck gets off the ice behind the goals it shall be taken by the referee to five yards at right angles from the goal line and there faced. When the puck goes off the ice at the sides it shall be taken by the referee at five yards at right angles from the boundary line and there faced
10.
Western Pennsylvania Hockey League
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The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, was a semi-professional ice hockey league founded in 1896 and existing through the 1910s. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the league was the pre-eminent ice hockey league at the time in the United States and it was the first league to openly hire and trade players. In 1895, Pittsburgh officials, constructed the Schenley Park Casino which featured the first artificial ice-making plant in North America, the 1895-96 winter season also saw the first introduction of hockey in the city. On December 30,1895, the Pittsburgh Press made mention of an international hockey. The paper noted that 2,500 to 3,000 fans showed up to watch the game, no score or records were reportedly kept but the paper did note that the team from Queens University outplayed the Pittsburghers, who had never played the game before. The city quickly realized that in order to make money they would need to have more events than just speed skating, family skates and they decided that since hockey was a relatively new game, it could catch on in Pittsburgh. The PAC was managed by Charles S. Miller, who became the leagues president, the league played at the Casino twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday nights. The first big league game was November 17,1896 between Duquesne and PAC, won by Duquesne 2–1. Play continued until December 16, when the Casino rink was destroyed by fire, the league dissolved without a championship. The league would remain dormant until 1899 and the erection of a rink at the Duquesne Gardens. The league was revived with three teams, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, Pittsburgh Duquesne and Western University, the PAC won the leagues first championship. The following season the Pittsburgh Bankers, which was composed entirely of bankers, were admitted to the league, despite the fact that the league could be traced back to 1895, the WPHL wasnt officially started until the 1901-02 season. In 1901, Arthur Sixsmith, a member of the Ottawa Senators, traveled to Pittsburgh. The two men, along with the manager of the Duquesne Gardens, James Wallace Conant, then established the WPHL. By 1902, Sixsmith convinced several Canadian players, including his brother Garnet Sixsmith, to come to Pittsburgh, also in 1901, the Keystone Bicycle Club was admitted to the league, replacing Western University. The Keystones were instrumental in changing the league from amateur to professional, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club repeated as champions, although the Keystones were instantly competitive. In one memorable game occurred during this era, the WPHLs Garnet Sixsmith scored 11 goals in a game at the Duqesne Gardens. The 1901–02 season is considered the first season whereby the league was recognized as professional, the league had three teams in 1901-02, Pittsburgh Bankers, Pittsburgh Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Keystones
11.
International Professional Hockey League
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The International Professional Hockey League was the first fully professional Ice hockey league, operating from 1904 to 1907. It was formed by Jack Doc Gibson, a dentist who played hockey throughout Ontario before settling in Houghton, the IPHL was a five team circuit which included Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Calumet, Michigan and Houghton, the IPHL was instrumental in changing the nature of top-level senior mens ice hockey from amateur to professional. In the time period around 1900, leagues in Canada fought against the professionalization of athletics, any player who figures on any of these teams must be banished from Ontario Hockey. However, it wasnt until the Portage Lakes Hockey Club and the formation of the IPHL in 1904 that any hockey league achieved full-fledged professional status, in the early 20th century, the mining industry was making huge investments in Northern Michigan. In the fall of 1903, James R. Dee of Houghton started discussions with Western Pennsylvania Hockey League representatives in Pittsburgh regarding the establishment of a national hockey association, houghtons team had played against Pittsburghs for a de facto United States national championship in ice hockey. In 1903–04, the professional Houghton team, without a league of its own, marie, Ontario and Michigan prompting the OHA to ban both the American Soo Indians and Canadian Sault Hockey Club from competing against Canadian amateur teams. As a result, the two teams had nowhere to go but to the professional league. A meeting was held on November 5,1904 which included prominent business leaders from Pittsburgh, a number of cities were considered for this new professional league including Montreal, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, and Duluth. However, the league accepted teams from Houghton, Pittsburgh, the two Soos, and Calumet, the representatives of the Canadian Soo suggested a revenue sharing plan that would divide gate receipts in a 60–40 home-visitor split. This revenue sharing plan would make the journey to Pittsburgh possible, considering that team played at the 5. The WPHL, which had been paying players to play ice hockey since 1901, put its best professionals into one team, the Pittsburgh Pros, the Houghton Portage Lakes team played at what was a new facility at the time called the Amphidrome on Portage Lake. The Calumet-Laurium Miners, a rival of the Houghton team. Marie, Michigan made the Ridge Street Ice-A-Torium, the curling club. Marie, Ontario team or Canadian Soo as it was called also played at its local curling rink, the International Hockey League attracted some of the best players from established Canadian amateur leagues. Every player received a salary of at least $15 to $40 a week. Ottawas Hod Stuart, was paid $1,800 by the Calumet Miners to play for the team, cyclone Taylor was enticed into the league with a salary offer of more than $3,000. In many cases, this meant that IHL managers would have to completely new teams each season
12.
Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
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The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association was a mens amateur – later professional – ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11,1905 with the top clubs from two leagues, four from the Canadian Amateur Hockey League and two from the Federal Amateur Hockey League. It was formed to maximize the revenues of a now popular spectator sport, the league would itself dissolve in 1909 over a dispute between team owners over business issues. Founding The CAHL held its meeting on December 9,1905. At that meeting it was decided that amalgamation with the FAHL should be attempted, on December 11, it was announced that the amalgamation would form a new league, the ECAHA. The CAHL was discontinued, but the FAHL would continue, the first executive was elected, Howard Wilson, Montreal G. P. Murphy, Ottawa Dr. From the start, the league allowed teams to use professional players. The players who were professionals had to be printed publicly, in 1908, the amateur-only Montreal Victorias and Montreal Hockey Club teams left the league. The league became a league, leading to several amateurs retiring from their teams. In significance of the change the league was renamed the Eastern Canada Hockey Association, in November 1909, the league dissolved over the plans of the Wanderers to move to an arena with fewer spectator seats. The three other teams announced that they were leaving the ECHA, creating the Canadian Hockey Association, the Wanderers helped form a competing league, the National Hockey Association. The CHA played for less than two weeks, merging with the NHA in January 1910, a silver championship trophy, designated the Arena Cup, was donated by the Montreal Arena Company. It was crafted from 90 ounces of sterling silver and designed by Birks of Montreal, after the Wanderers won it in 1906 through 1908, they were given the trophy permanently, a condition engraved in the silver of the trophy. The trophy is now on permanent display in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, a - Ottawa and Wanderers are both considered 1906 Stanley Cup Champions. List of Stanley Cup champions List of pre-NHL seasons List of ice hockey leagues Coleman, the Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol
13.
Ontario Professional Hockey League
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The Ontario Professional Hockey League, sometimes referred to as the Trolley League, and also known as the Canadian Hockey League in its time, was a professional ice hockey league in Canada. It was a professional league and consisted of teams from Toronto. The leagues annual champion would challenge for the Stanley Cup, the Ontario Professional Hockey League was organized in November 1907. The Toronto Professionals had been playing games against teams of the International Professional Hockey League. In early November 1907, the International League had folded, reducing the number of opponents for Toronto, at the annual meeting of the Toronto team on November 7, the first discussions of a possible league were held. A founding meeting was held in Berlin, Ontario on November 12 where a league was formed with Berlin, Brantford, Guelph, the leagues initial name was the Canadian Hockey League and the officers were, J. P. Downey, M. P. P. Guelph, Hon. President, Alex Mine, Toronto, President A. B, burnley, Brantford, Vice-President N. E. Irving, Guelph, Secretary Otto Vogelsang, Berlin, Treasurer J. C. Palmer, Toronto, George Roehmer, Berlin, J. A. Fitzgerald, Guelph and Roy Brown, the rules would be based on the Ontario Hockey Association and the International League. Representatives of Galt had shown interest in being a part of the league, in the 1908 off-season, Brantford left the league and was replaced by Galt and St. Catharines. Galt would win the OPHL championship and Galt challenged for the Stanley Cup in January 1909, after the 1909 season, Guelph, St. Catharines and Toronto left the league. In 1910 the OPHL added the Waterloo Colts to become a four-team league, Berlin got off to such a strong start in the season, that the league decided to start a new season in later January. In March 1910, Berlin challenged the Wanderers for the Cup and were defeated, the leagues final attempt to win the Cup came a year later in March 1911, with Galt again losing to Ottawa, which now played in the National Hockey Association. The league disbanded after the 1911 season, the OPHL teams were raided for players by the NHA after the NHA was itself raided for players by the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. Players who left included Eddie Oatman, Jack McDonald and Goldie Prodgers, the Moncton Victorias of the Maritime Professional Hockey League signed nearly all of the champion Galt teams players. The Victorias would win the MPHL championship and challenge NHA champion Quebec, a namesake league would play for one season in 1930–31 with teams in Galt, Guelph, Kitchener, Niagara Falls, Oshawa and Stratford. † Guelph and St. Catharines withdrew after six games of the schedule, List of pre-NHL seasons List of ice hockey leagues Coleman, Charles L. The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol.1, 1893–1926 inc
14.
Pacific Coast Hockey Association
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The PCHA was considered to be a major league of ice hockey and was important in the development of the sport of professional ice hockey through its innovations. The league was started by the Patrick family, professional players from Montreal, building new arenas in Vancouver and Victoria. After a few years of play, the league was accepted by the Stanley Cup trustees as being of a high standard that teams from its league were accepted for Stanley Cup challenges. Starting in 1915, the league entered into an agreement where the Stanley Cup was to be contested between the National Hockey Association and the PCHA after the seasons were finished. The league struggled to make money, and various teams moved into different cities in an attempt to be successful financially, eventually, the league, to survive, merged with the WCHL in 1924. After playing for the Renfrew Millionaires in 1910, players Frank Patrick and Lester Patrick moved west to Nelson, after Joe decided to sell the business in January 1911, the Patricks decided then to form a new professional ice hockey league, risking the family fortune. The decision was made to put new rinks in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, locations which necessitated the use of artificial ice, three teams, the New Westminster Royals, the Victoria Senators, and the Vancouver Millionaires would be formed. The Patricks moved quickly, buying property for the arenas in February, ground was broken for the arenas in April and the arenas were completed in December. Victorias arena seated 4,000, and cost $110,000, all players were paid by the league, unlike the NHA with its competing teams. The PCHA distributed players amongst the teams, Newsy Lalonde of the Canadiens would be the most notable player to move west, to play for Vancouver. The league was organized on December 7,1911 to be run by Frank and Lester. The Victoria arena would open to the public on Christmas Day 1911, the first league championship for the Patterson Cup trophy was won by the New Westminster Royals. The league did not challenge for the Stanley Cup the first year, despite the raiding of the NHA, a March 1912 west coast tour of the NHAs all-stars was arranged, billed as a sort of World Series of hockey. The NHA all-stars included Cyclone Taylor, a name in the East. After the PCHA all-stars won the first two games 10–4 and 5–1, leaving the outcome in no doubt, the NHA manager Art Ross decided to let Taylor play at the Patricks request. Taylor would put on a display of ice hockey prowess for the British Columbia fans. For the 1912–13 season the PCHA continued to raid the east for players, besides Taylor, Goldie Prodgers, Eddie Oatman, Jack McDonald and Ernie Johnson moved out west, although Newsy Lalonde returned to Montreal. The New Westminster rink, to be built by local interests, was not ready, Victoria would win the season and the club arranged for an exhibition series of the Stanley Cup champion Quebec Bulldogs
15.
History of the National Hockey League
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The history of the National Hockey League begins with the end of its predecessor league, the National Hockey Association, in 1917. The NHLs first quarter-century saw the league compete against two rival major leagues—the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and Western Canada Hockey League—for players and the Stanley Cup, the NHLs footprint spread across Canada as Foster Hewitts radio broadcasts were heard coast-to-coast starting in 1933. The Great Depression and World War II reduced the league to six teams, later known as the Original Six, by 1942. Maurice Richard became the first player to score 50 goals in a season in 1944–45, Gordie Howe made his debut in 1946, and retired 35 seasons later as the NHLs all-time leader in goals and points. China Clipper Larry Kwong becomes the first non-white player in the league, breaking the NHL colour barrier in 1948, Willie ORee broke the NHLs black colour barrier when he suited up for the Bruins in 1958. In 1959, Jacques Plante became the first goaltender to regularly use a mask for protection, the Original Six era ended in 1967 when the NHL doubled in size by adding six new expansion teams. The six existing teams were formed into the newly created East Division, the NHL continued to expand, adding another six teams, to total 18 by 1974. Bobby Hull was the most famous player to defect to the rival league, eventually, Soviet-Bloc players streamed into the NHL with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. Since then, the league has grown from 22 teams in 1992 to 31 today as the NHL spread its footprint across the United States, Wayne Gretzky passed Gordie Howe as the NHLs all-time leading scorer in 1994 when he scored his 802nd career goal. Mario Lemieux overcame non-Hodgkin lymphoma to finish his NHL career with over 1,700 points, increased use of defence-focused systems helped cause scoring to fall in the late 1990s, leading some to argue that the NHLs talent pool had been diluted by 1990s expansion. The first attempts to regulate competitive ice hockey came in the late 1880s. Before then, teams competed in tournaments and infrequent challenge contests that prevailed in the Canadian sports world at the time, in 1887, four clubs from Montreal formed the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada and developed a structured schedule. In 1892, Lord Stanley donated the Stanley Cup to be symbolic of the Canadian championship and appointed Philip Dansken Ross and it was awarded to the AHAC champion Montreal Hockey Club and thereafter awarded to the league champions, or to any pre-approved team that won it in a challenge. In 1904, the International Hockey League, based around Lake Michigan, was created as the first fully professional league, in recruiting players, the IHL caused an Athletic War that drained amateur clubs of top players, most noticeably in the Ontario Hockey Association. In the 1905–06 season, the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association was formed, which mixed paid and amateur players in its rosters, bidding wars for players led many ECAHA teams to lose money, and it eventually folded on November 25,1909. As a result of the dissolution of the ECAHA, two leagues were formed—the Canadian Hockey Association and the National Hockey Association. Since the NHAs owners were notable, wealthy businessmen, the CHA did not complete a season, as the NHA easily recruited the top players, and interest in the CHA teams faded. By 1914, the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association league was launched, the National Hockey League came into existence with the suspension of the NHA in 1917
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William Foran
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William Michael Foran was an ice hockey executive, Stanley Cup trustee and government official. For over 50 years, he was secretary of the Board of Civil Service Examiners and its follow-up organization, Mr. Foran served as the secretary for the Board of Civil Service Examiners for the Government of Canada from 1896 to 1908. He served for over 30 years in the post, and was responsible for negotiations between the CSC and parliament over civil service reform in the Civil Service Act of 1918. In 1915 he was elected vice-president of the Civil Service Assembly of the United States and Canada, the Assembly during those years served as a medium for the spread of ideas of civil service reform and scientific management. He was secretary of the CSC until 1939, when he retired and he was the president of the Ottawa Capitals hockey club and the Federal Amateur Hockey League when he was named Stanley Cup trustee on May 6,1907. He succeeded John Sweetland who had served as trustee from the commissioning in 1893. He served as trustee for the Stanley Cup until his death on November 30,1945, in 1929, he became president of the Ottawa Senators. In 1907, while acting trustee for P. D. Ross and John Sweetland, the Thistles had won the Cup from the Wanderers in a January challenge. The Wanderers would win their league and intended to challenge Kenora for the Cup, Mr. Foran ruled that both players were ineligible for play in the challenge against Montreal. The series went ahead anyway, with Mr. Foran threatening to take back the Cup, in 1914, the Toronto Blueshirts won the National Hockey Association title. The team played the Victoria Aristocrats, champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in a best-of-five series, Victoria had not submitted a formal challenge to the Stanley Cup trustees and Mr. Foran and P. D. Ross ruled that the series would not decide the Stanley Cup. The misunderstanding was cleared up and the series was deemed official, in the off-season, the trustees notified the NHL and the PCHA that the trustees would accept whatever arrangements the two leagues would organize. This led to a finals series between each leagues champions to decide the Stanley Cup. From that point on, the NHL and PCHA, and later the WCHL would decide the format of the Stanley Cup playoffs. In 1915, Mr. Foran and Mr. Ross ruled that the Cup had become synonymous with the Worlds Championship of ice hockey, and this changed the initial conditions that Lord Stanley himself put down, stating that the Cup was for the Canadian championship. In 1931, Mr. Foran became involved in a made by the American Hockey League to play the National Hockey League champion. He accepted the challenge, but the NHL refused to play the challenge, president Calder of the NHL rejected the challenge, stating that the AHL was a rogue league. The AHL would later agree to become a league, affiliated with the NHL
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James Strachan (ice hockey)
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James F. Strachan was a Canadian ice hockey executive and businessman. He was an owner or part-owner with Montreal, Quebec, Canada teams, Strachan was owner and president of the Montreal Wanderers from 1904 to 1909 during which the Wanderers won 3 of their 4 Stanley Cups in 1906,1907 and 1908. In 1908–09, he served as their head coach. He sold the club to P. J. Doran in 1909, the sale eventually triggered the formation of the National Hockey Association when Doran moved the Wanderers to the Jubilee Rink. The Rink was smaller than the Wanderers previous rink, the Montreal Arena, the Wanderers then formed their own league in partnership with Ambrose OBrien. The ECHAs new league failed and some of the joined the NHA. Strachan later served as first president of the Montreal Maroons ice hockey club, Strachan intended for the Maroons to be a revival of the Wanderers but he could not secure clear title to the name. The original Wanderers had folded in 1918 after a fire at the Montreal Arena, lacking a name, the club was dubbed the Maroons after the colour of their jerseys. In their second season the Maroons won the Stanley Cup championship in 1926, Strachan served as Maroons president from their founding in 1924 until June 1934, when he resigned to take care of his businesses. The Montreal Maroons, the forgotten Stanley Cup champions
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