Victoria Rink (Rat Portage)

The Rink in 1906

Fred Whitcroft 1907.

The Winnipeg Tribune 22 Jan 1907, Tue  •  Page 8

Winnipeg Tribune February 28th 1911 Page 6.

The Victoria Rink (Rat Portage) was an indoor arena located in Rat Portage and later Kenora, Ontario. The arena opened on November 30, 1897 replacing the Princess Rink (Rat Portage).

The arena would be home to the Rat Portage Thistles (later renamed to the Kenora Thistles when the community was renamed) who won the Stanley Cup in 1907 making Kenora the smallest town to ever win the Cup. Due to the arena's small capacity of 700, the two series that the Thistles played in were held at the Winnipeg Arena Rink against the Brandon Wheat Cities on March 16 and 18 and March 23 and March 25 against the Montreal Wanderers.

1897 S.C. McGimsie built Victoria Rink at the location of the current Federal Building and Post Office on Chipman and Fort Streets sold in 1898 to W.R. Wilson burned down in 1900 and rebuild immediately – sold in 1912 to the Peterson Brothers it burned down in 1915.For a more detailed history of the rink and the teams that played in it, please see

The Kenora Thistles history page

This article was written by James Laverance.

08 Jun 1906, Fri  •  Page 6

Winnipeg Free PressWinnipeg, Manitoba February 28, 1911

Winnipeg Free Press Winnipeg, Manitoba February 28, 1911

Winnipeg Free Press Winnipeg, Manitoba December 17, 1910

The Rat Portage Miner & Rainly Lake Journal November 31, 1897.

The Winnipeg Tribune (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) · Fri, Dec 16, 1904 · Page 8