Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournaments

The Montreal Winter Carnival Ice Hockey Tournaments were a series of annual ice hockey tournaments held in the 1880s in conjunction with the Montreal Winter Carnival, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. First held in 1883, these tournaments are considered to be the first championship ice hockey tournaments and the predecessor to the first championship ice hockey league, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada.



History
In 1883, the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA) was asked to add sports to the events to be held with the Montreal Carnival. The MAAA was affiliated with the Montreal Snowshoe Club. Along with the McGill Hockey Club, they organized a four-team tournament, played outdoors on the St. Lawrence River. The trophy for this tournament is on display at the Musee McCord Museum in Montreal.

In 1884, the Ottawa Hockey Club the first team from outside Montreal played in the tournament. For this tournament, the location changed to a rink made on the McGill University grounds. In 1886, the Quebec Hockey Club joined the tournament line-up.

In December 1886, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada was founded by the four Montreal teams (McGill, Montreal Hockey Club, Montreal Crystals, Montreal Victorias) and the Ottawa Hockey Club.

Season-by-season record

 * 1883 - Montreal Winter Carnival Hockey Tournament (winner McGill), held on the St. Lawrence River.
 * 1884 - Montreal Winter Carnival Hockey Tournament (winner Victorias), held at McGill's outdoor rink
 * 1885 - Montreal Winter Carnival Hockey Tournament (winner Montreal), held at the Crystal Rink
 * 1886 - Dominion Championship (winner Crystals)
 * 1887 - Montreal Winter Carnival Hockey Tournament (winner Montreal)
 * 1888: No tournament; Carnival cancelled
 * 1889 - Montreal Winter Carnival Hockey Tournament (winner Victorias)

1883
The carnival was held from January 23 to 28. Montreal, McGill and Quebec teams contested the trophy and McGill won the tournament.The trophy for this tournament is on display at the Musee McCord Museum in Montreal.

McGill wins hockey tournament (McGill 1-0-1, Quebec 0-0-2, Victorias 0-1-1)

Rosters
The following players were part of the hockey teams participating in the 1883 Montreal Winter Carnival.

Montreal Victorias: C. Lamothe (c.), S. Abbott, J. Arnton, E. Sheppard, E. Stevenson, J. Muir, D. Watt.

Quebec HC: W. Scott (c.), F. Ashe, A. Scott, M. Swift, A. Colley, S. Valler, A. Davidson.

McGill: A. Low, J. Elder, T. Green, R. Smith, W. Murray, J. Kinlock (c.), P. Foster.

Source: Montreal Daily Witness

1884
The 1884 tournament saw several games lost due to rain. The outdoor rink was unplayable on February 6 and the Crystals and Wanderers did not show at the rink for their games. Both teams lost by default although the games could not have been played.

The tournament was the first appearance of the Ottawa Hockey Club in competitive play. The club made it to the final game before losing to the Victorias 1–0.

Victorias win Winter Carnival Tournament

Source: Montreal Gazette

1885
Montreal wins Winter Carnival Tournament

Source: Montreal Gazette

Rosters
The following players were part of the hockey teams participating in the 1885 Montreal Winter Carnival.

Montreal HC: Tom Paton, Fred Larmonth, Billy Aird, Billy Hodgson, Richard Smith, F. W. Barlow, Duncan McIntyre.

McGill: G. W. Stephens, J. M. Elder, Hanbury Arthur Budden, J. A. Kinlock, H. D. Johnson, R. E. Palmer, C. P. Brown.

Montreal Football Club: A. Elliott, R. Campbell, W. J. Cleghorn, A. J. Campbell, R. Sterling, D. Robertson.

Montreal Crystals: William Hutchison, James A. Stewart, Robert Laing, Jack A. Findlay, Allan Cameron, W. McCaffrey, D. Labonte.

Ottawa HC: William O'Dell, G. Currier, Thomas D. Green, Tom Gallagher, Frank Jenkins (c.), Jack Kerr, Halder Kirby.

Source: Montreal Gazette

1886
The Dominion Championship was played in 1886. At a meeting held on January 4th between delegates of the four Montreal clubs, it was decided to debar the Quebec & Ottawa teams from competing in the tournament. The teams played 3-game series', McGill vs Crystals in one semi-final (only 2 games were played), AAA vs Victorias in the other. Montreal AAA & Crystals would play in the final series, Crystals winning 3 games to none. Quebec challenged Crystals for the championship on March 19. However, the final was marred by rough play, as reported in the Montreal Gazette:

"The Crystal rink was crowded last night with lovers of the game of hockey in the hope of seeing a good game. In this they were disappointed, for after about twenty-eight minutes rough and very questionable play - the home team being very conspicuous - the game was stopped, owing to A. E. Scott meeting with an accident. The Crystal team refused to withdraw a man to equalize matters, and as these representatives of a so-called first class hockey team were the sole possessors of the ice when time was called, the referee declared the game ended in favor of the Montreal men."

Quebec asked to replay the game on the following Wednesday, but the Crystals refused. The latter felt they had won the game, and nothing would make them change their minds. The Gazette returns to the subject the following week. The sports writer wrote:

"... we would refer to the recent match between the Crystals and Quebec team for the Dominion championship. It did hockey a great deal of harm in Montreal, a good many lovers of the game being disgusted at the miserable fiasco which the game ended in. The merits of the case have been given before and are simply: - The Quebecers came up al1 the way to play the Crystals a match and went on the ice to play a game of hockey. Roughness of the most barefaced and fou1 description was indulged in on both sides, men on either side who can play hockey when they choose, but who seem to prefer brute force, being noticeable. Soon one of the Quebec players, by accident, was thrown against the side of the rink and had his head badly cut. He had to leave the ice, and here came the trouble. The Quebec men said they had not a spare man prepared to play and asked the Crystals to drop one. They, however, refused to do this, as in fact they were not bound to do, and the Quebecers left the ice. Had the game proceeded it looked as if Quebec would now hold the championship, and very many people would rather see it go than be held here if Montreal had not it without a doubt. Still the Crystals think they were sure to win, and they had a chance to play Wednesday night and showed they were perfectly able to play the game pure and simple."

The Montreal Victorias then challenged the Crystals in the final game of the season, defeating them 4-1. The Crystals immediately challenged the Victorias but the return match was not played.


 * Game results


 * January 15: Montreal Crystals - McGill 1:0 OT
 * January 22: Montreal Victorias - Montreal AAA 1:0 OT
 * January 29: Montreal Crystals - McGill 4:1
 * February 5: Montreal AAA - Montreal Victorias 3:1
 * February 12: Montreal AAA - Montreal Victorias 2:1
 * February 19: Montreal Crystals - Montreal AAA 3:1
 * March 6: Montreal Crystals - Montreal AAA 4:2
 * March 19: Montreal Crystals - Quebec HC 1:0 Forfeit - final
 * March 24: Montreal Victorias - Montreal Crystals 4:1

1887
In February, the Montreal teams of the AHAC participated in the Montreal Winter Carnival hockey tournament. The tournament, which was scheduled to play outdoors on an ice rink at the Ice Palace, was disrupted by two days of storms, and was not completed until February 25. During this time, no AHAC challenges were played.

Montreal wins Winter Carnival Tournament

Source: Montreal Gazette

Rosters
The following players were part of the hockey teams participating in the 1887 Montreal Winter Carnival.

Montreal HC: W. Hutchison, J. Stewart, A. Cameron, J. Findlay, A. Hodgson, J. Virtue, W. Hodgson.

Montreal Victorias: T. Arnton, J. Muir, J. Campbell, A. Shearer, J. Arnton, J. Craven, E. Barlow.

Montreal Crystals: W. Norris; D. Brown, C. Ellard; R. Laing, J. McDonald, S. McQuisten, J. McGoldrick, D. Elliott.

McGill: H. McNutt, A. Shanks, C. Wylde, F. Lucas, H. Budden, D. Hamilton, W. Warden.

Source: The Montreal Daily Herald

1889
The 1889 Winter Carnival featured the first game of ice hockey witnessed by Lord Stanley, Governor General of Canada, who would later donate the Stanley Cup.

Montreal Victorias win Winter Carnival Tournament

Source: Kitchen 2000, p.12

1886 Burlington Winter Carnival
The Burlington Coasting Club proposed a winter carnival for the city of Burlington, Vermont as a rival attraction to the Montreal Winter Carnival, with the hope of inaugurating the event. It was scheduled to begin on February 15, 1886 and featured 5 days of winter sports activities. A committee from the club had been visiting Montreal to obtain attractions for the carnival as well as gain tips on how to manage the event. The Montreal Snow Shoe Club, along with several organisations from Montreal were invited to the carnival to participate in the events. The Montreal Crystals and the Montreal Hockey Club accepted the invitation, as did the Ottawa Hockey Club, which later withdrew due to scheduling conflicts. A local team was quickly assembled from the employees of the Van Ness House, a hotel in Burlington. Montreal HC won the gold medal, and the Crystal won the silver. Originally scheduled for February 15–19, the organizers were forced to move the events one week earlier due to unseasonable weather. The carnival was held on February 22–26. The hockey games were played on Lake Champlain in heavy wind. The first game was played on the morning of February 26, with two 20-minute halves. There was no score through 40 minutes, and Montreal's R. Smith scored in overtime. The second game was between Montreal HC and Van Ness House, and it was the first international ice hockey game. The players representing Van Ness House did not have any hockey experience, having only gone through a few practices prior to the carnival. The two teams played two 15-minute periods, with Montreal winning 3–0 and thus claiming the gold medal. The final game was played in two 10-minute periods, with Joseph McGoldrick of the Crystals scoring the only goal to capture the silver medal.

Montreal wins Winter Carnival Tournament

Source: Lord Stanley: The Man Behind the Cup

Rosters
The following players were part of the hockey teams participating in the 1886 Burlington Winter Carnival.

Van Ness House: Lewis C. Johnson, Charles H. Whitcomb, Maxwell A. Kilvert, William F. Waters, Edward. S. Griffing, Howard Crane, Walter A. Laduke (captain) Montreal HC: Tom L. Paton, George S. Lowe, Duncan McIntyre, Francis Barlow, Francis Crispo, William C. Hodgson, Richard F. Smith, Fred M. Larmonth (captain) Montreal Crystals: Allan Cameron, Jonathan A. Findlay, Edward McCaffrey, Joseph F. McGoldrick, William Hutchison, James Virtue, Robert Laing (captain)