MONTREAL HOCKEY CLUB

The 'Montreal Hockey Club' was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884.^[1] They were affiliated with 'Montreal Amateur Athletic Association', located in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The team played in several early ice hockey leagues, including the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada from 1886 until 1908. The teams were composed of amateurs until 1906.

Contents

History

1893 Stanley Cup Refusal

Season-by-season Record

See also

References

History

The Club is most famous for being the first winner of the Stanley Cup in 1893 and also, for refusing it. They won again in 1894, March 1902 and February 1903. The 1902 team was known as the "Little Men of Iron"^[2]
The team won the Amateur Hockey Association title in 1893 and 1894, and won the Canadian Amateur Hockey League title in 1902. The team played two seasons, in 1907 and 1907-08, with professional players in the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association, and after that no longer competed for the Stanley Cup, which was for professional teams.
The association continued to field senior level amateur teams and in 1930, won the Allan Cup, the championship for senior amateur teams in Canada.

1893 Stanley Cup Refusal

The Stanley Cup, as it would later be known, was to be presented to the Montreal Hockey Club on May 15, 1893, as its initial champions. At the time, the Montreal Hockey Club was in a dispute with its parent organization, the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA). The MAAA was split on whether to accept the trophy. The hockey club, for reasons unknown, was adamant about refusing the trophy, while other arms of the MAAA accepted. Thus, the trophy was accepted by the MAAA, but with none of the hockey officials of the hockey club present.
After accepting the trophy, the hockey club remained adamant about returning the trophy that was presented to them. In the end, the MAAA investigated into why its hockey club wanted to refuse and return the trophy, even though such an action would damage the reputation of the MAAA. 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 expenses for the 1894 season, it was flatly refused (the first time the MAAA refused anything to the hockey club). Inexplicably, the hockey club reversed its position, and the next few months saw a gradual schism between the MAAA and the club. The inscription on the Cup when it was successfully defended in 1894 only stated "Montreal". The MAAA, at one point, considered the hockey club to have seceded from the organization that bore them. The issue was resolved in later years, after various attempts at reconciliation.

Season-by-season Record

'Year'	'League'	'GP'	'W'	'L'	'T'	'PTS'	'GF'	'GA'	'PIM'	'Finish'	'Playoffs'
1893	AHAC	8	7	1	0	14	38	18	--	1st	-- 'Awarded Stanley Cup'
1894	AHAC	8	5	3	0	10	25	15	--	1st (four-way tie)	Defeated Victorias (3-2), Ottawa(3-1). 'Won Stanley Cup'
1895	AHAC	8	4	4	0	8	33	22	--	2nd	--
1896	AHAC	8	2	6	0	4	24	33	--	4th	--
1897	AHAC	8	5	3	0	10	31	26	--	3rd	--
1898	AHAC	8	5	3	0	10	34	21	--	2nd	--
1899	CAHL	8	3	5	0	6	30	29	--	4th	--
1900	CAHL	8	5	3	0	10	34	36	--	2nd	--
1901	CAHL	8	3	5	1	6	28	37	--	4th	--
'1902'	CAHL	8	6	2	0	12	39	15	--	1st	Defeated Winnipeg Victorias 2-1 in best-of-three challenge. 'Won Stanley Cup'
1903	CAHL	8	4	3	0	8	34	19	--	3rd	Defeated Winnipeg Victorias in best-of-three challenge 8-1, 2-2(abandoned), 2-4, 4-1. Lost to Ottawa Senators in two-game CAHL playoff 1-1, 0-8 to lose the Stanley Cup.
1904	CAHL	8	3	5	0	6	34	49	--	3rd	--
1905	CAHL	10	7	3	0	14	54	42	--	3rd	--
1906	ECAHA	10	3	7	0	6	49	63	--	5th	--
1907	ECAHA	10	3	7	--	6	58	83	--	4th
1907-08	ECAHA	10	1	9	--	2	53	205	--	6th	--

See also

★ List of Stanley Cup champions

References

1. Hockey: Canada's Royal Winter Game, , Arthur, Farrell, , 1899,
2. Legends of Hockey web site description.