Foundation of the modern game in ice hockey
The original Stanley Cup, in the Hockey Hall of Fame vault.
The development of the modern game centred on Montreal. On March 3, 1875 the first organized indoor game was played there, as recorded in the Montreal Gazette. In 1877, McGill University students, James Creighton, Henry Joseph, Richard F. Smith, W.F. Robertson, and W.L. Murray codified seven ice hockey rules, and the first ice hockey club, McGill University Hockey Club, was founded in 1880. The game became so popular that it was featured for the first time in Montreal’s annual Winter Carnival in 1883. In 1885, A.P. Low introduced the game to Ottawa. During the same year, a second club was formed at Oxford University and traditionally the first Varsity Match against Cambridge was thought to have been played in St. Moritz, Switzerland and won by the Dark Blues 6-0, though the first photographs and team lists date from 1895[1]. This continues to be the oldest hockey rivalry in history. In 1888, the new Governor General of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston (whose sons and daughter became hockey enthusiasts), attended the Carnival and was so impressed with the hockey spectacle that he thought there should be a championship trophy for the best team. The Stanley Cup was first awarded in 1893 to the champion amateur team in Canada, Montreal AAA, and continues to be awarded today to the National Hockey League’s championship team. By this time there were almost a hundred teams in Montreal alone, and leagues throughout Canada. Also by 1893, Winnipeg hockey players incorporated cricket pads to better protect the goaltender’s legs. They also introduced the “scoop” shot, later known as the wrist shot.
1893 was also the date of the first ice hockey matches in the U.S. at Yale University and Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. Amateur Hockey League was founded in New York City in 1896, and the first professional team, the Portage Lakers was formed in 1903 in Houghton, Michigan (though there had been individual professionals in Canada before this).
The five sons of Lord Stanley were instrumental in bringing ice hockey to Europe, beating a court team (which included both the future Edward VII and George V) at Buckingham Palace in 1895. By 1903 a five-team league had been founded . The Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (now the International Ice Hockey Federation) was founded in 1908 and the first European championships were won by Great Britain in 1910.
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
