Amateur Hockey Association of Canada

The Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) was an amateur ice hockey league founded in 1886, in existence until 1898. It is one of the first organized ice hockey leagues known. The Stanley Cup had its origins with this league due to the fact that the 1893 champion of the league, Montreal AAA was the first winner of the Cup, being awarded the Cup as the champions of the AHAC.

History

Beginnings

The AHAC was born on December 8, 1886, when the representatives of various hockey clubs met at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal at the instigation of the Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal. The first executive was composed of:

• President -- Mr. T. D. Greene, Ottawa.
• First Vice-president -- Mr. J. Arnton, Victorias.
• Second Vice-President -- Mr. R. Laing, Crystals.
• Secretary-treasurer -- Mr. E. Stevenson, Victorias.
• Council -- Messrs. James Stewart, Crystals; J. G. Monk, Victorias; H. A. Budden, McGill; E. Sheppard, M.A.A.A., and Percy Myles, Ottawa.

They agreed that the season should run from the 1st of January until the 15th of March. Th constitution would be adapted from a lacrosse league constitution.

Playing Rules

In that age, ice hockey was a very different game compared to today: the AHAC rules stated that there were six skaters on each side. These were defined as:

• left wing
• centre
• right wing
• rover
• point
• counterpoint

The left wing, centre and right wing were the forwards, like today. The rover would line up behind the centre, with the point and counterpoint in an 'I' formation towards the goaltender. The face offs were at a right angle to today's practice, the centre men facing inwards from the sides of the rink. The goaltenders used no special equipment.

There were no goal nets. 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 (also to note that in the day, game meant goal by modern definition). 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.

Seasons Format

The AHAC operated on two different systems in its lifetime: the challenge system, where a championship team would face a new challenger each week for the championship, and the series system, which corresponds to the regular season found in the NHL today. With the exception of 1888, the challenge system was exclusively used in the AHAC before the advent of the Stanley Cup, while the series system became the norm in 1893, the first year the Cup was contested.

The first championship team of the AHAC was the Montreal Crystals, having unofficially being declared the champions before the AHAC. The first title change occurred on January 14, 1887, when the Montreal Victorias defeated the champions 4-0. The Victorias would hold the title until the very last challenge game, when the Crystals won 3-2 in their third successive challenge. Because of the Vics' long run as champions, it was decided to switch to the series system in 1888.

The series system was a success, although a tie atop the standings between the Vics and the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (Montreal AAA), and the subsequent scheduling of the tiebreaker game caused much trouble when the game was scheduled at a time when two Victorias players were injured, at the home venue of the Montreal AAA. However, teams from outside Montreal incurred huge travelling expenses, which led the AHAC to revert back to the challenge system.

First Stanley Cup

In 1893, the first year since 1888 where the AHAC played under a series system, the Montreal AAA lost their first game against the Ottawa Hockey Club, and proceeded to win their next seven en route to the championship. It was also at this time that Lord Stanley, though his aide-de-camp, announced a challenge trophy for the best amateur hockey team in Canada. The Stanley Cup, as it would later be known, would be presented to the Montreal AAA on May 15, 1893, as its initial champions. The AAA was very much split on whether to accept the trophy. The hockey club arm of the AAA, for reasons unknown, was adamant about refusing the trophy, while other arms of the AAA accepted. Thus, the trophy was accepted by the AAA, but with none of the hockey officials of the AAA present.

After accepting the trophy, the AAA remained adamant about returning the trophy that was presented to them. In the end, the AAA investigated into why its hockey club wanted to refuse and return the trophy, even though such an action would damage the reputation of the AAA. It was believed that the people who were in charge of running their team were, in fact, not representative of the team itself, and when the hockey club asked for a loan of $175 in start-up expanses for the 1894 season, it was flatly refused (the first time the AAA refused anything to the hockey club). Inexplicably, the hockey club reversed its position, and the next few months saw a gradual schism between the AAA and the club. Indeed, the inscription on the Cup when it was successfully defended in 1894 only stated "Montreal". The AAA, at one point, considered the hockey club to have seceded from the organization that bore them. The issue would be finally resolved in later years, after various attempts at reconciliation.

Teams

Season	Teams	Champion
1887	McGill HC, Montreal AAA, Montreal Crystals, Montreal Victorias, Ottawa HC	Montreal Victorias (challenge winner)
1893	Montreal AAA†, Montreal Crystals, Montreal Victorias, Ottawa HC and Quebec HC	Montreal AAA (best record)
1894	Montreal AAA†, Montreal Crystals, Montreal Victorias, Ottawa HC and Quebec HC	Montreal AAA(playoff)
1895	Montreal AAA, Montreal Crystals, Montreal Victorias, Ottawa HC and Quebec HC	Montreal Victorias (best record)
1896	Montreal AAA, Montreal Shamrocks, Montreal Victorias† (December 1896), Ottawa HC and Quebec HC	Montreal Victorias (best record
1897	Montreal AAA, Montreal Shamrocks, Montreal Victorias†, Ottawa HC and Quebec HC	Montreal Victorias (best record)
1898	Montreal AAA, Montreal Shamrocks, Montreal Victorias†, Ottawa HC and Quebec HC	Montreal Victorias (best record)

† Stanley Cup winner

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• List of pre-NHL seasons
• List of ice hockey leagues
• Stanley Cup Challenge Games

References

• Coleman, Charles L. The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893-1926 inc.