The 1896 Amateur Hockey Association of Canada season was the tenth season of play of the league. Each team played eight games, and Montreal Victorias were first with a 7–1 record. During the season, on February 14 the Victorias hosted a Stanley Cup challenge match with the Winnipeg Victorias club. Winnipeg won 2–0 to win the Cup.

1896 AHAC season
LeagueAmateur Hockey Association of Canada
SportIce hockey
DurationJanuary 3 – March 7, 1896
Number of teams5
1896
ChampionsMontreal Victorias
AHAC seasons
← 1895
1897 →

Executive

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  • Watson Jack, Victorias (President)
  • Weldy Young, Ottawa (1st. Vice-Pres.)
  • Clarence Mussen, Montreal (Sec.-Treasurer)

Season

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The Crystals were allowed to change their name to Shamrocks, which matched their new affiliation with the Shamrock A.A.A.

Highlights

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The Victorias were truly the class of the league and only lost once, 3–2 to Ottawa. Their regular season team goal total was nearly double that of Ottawa.

Final Standing

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Team Games Played Wins Losses Ties Goals For Goals Against
Montreal Victorias
8
7
1
0
41
24
Ottawa HC
8
6
2
0
22
16
Quebec
8
4
4
0
23
23
Montreal HC
8
2
6
0
24
33
Montreal Shamrocks
8
1
7
0
16
30

Playoffs

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There were no playoffs as Montreal won first place exclusively.

Exhibitions

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After the season, Montreal and Shamrocks played an exhibition series of games in the United States:[1][2]

Washington, March 7, 1896
  • Shamrocks 3, Montreal 1
Baltimore, March 9, 1896
  • Montreal 6, Shamrocks 5
New York, March 10, 1896
  • Montreal 1, Shamrocks 1 ( completed March 11 with Shamrocks winning 2–1)

The Montreal Victorias travelled to New York City for an exhibition against the New York Athletic Club. The Athletic Club records the date as March 4, (although the date conflicts with an AHAC game), won by the Vics 6–1.[3]

Stanley Cup challenge

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Victorias vs. Winnipeg at Montreal

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The first successful challenge to the Cup came in February 1896 by the Winnipeg Victorias, the champions of the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA). On February 14, Winnipeg beat defending champion Montreal Victorias, 2–0, becoming the first team outside the AHAC to win the Cup. Winnipeg took a 2–0 lead in the first half of the game on goals by Armytage and Campbell, then played on the defensive in the second half.

Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location
February 14, 1896 Winnipeg Victorias 2–0 Montreal Victorias Victoria Skating Rink

Stanley Cup engraving

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1896 Winnipeg Victorias

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Players

  Forwards
  • Dan Bain(center)
  • Colin "Tote" Campbell(left-wing),
  • Tom "Attie" Howard(right-wing),
  • Robert "Bobby" R Benson (Spare-left-right wing),
  Defencemen
  Goaltenders
  • George Whitey Merritt
  • Jack Sheppard (played 1 regular-season game in goal)

Coaching and administrative staff

  • E.B. Nixon (President)&
  • Able Code (Vice President/Manager)
  • J. Carter (Mascot/Trainer)&

Stanley Cup engraving

  • VICTORIAS
  • - OF -
  • WINNIPEG
  • 1895
  • Winnipeg included the year 1895 instead of 1896, because they defeated the 1895 defending Stanley Cup Champions Montreal Victorias before the 1896 season had been completed. This is not an engraving error.
  • An interesting factoid for this 2-0 win over the similarly named Montreal Victorias is that the very first Stanley Cup Parade was held in Winnipeg on Main Street celebrating this victory.
  • Two non-players first names are unknown&

Schedule and results

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Month Day Visitor Score Home Score
Jan. 3 Victorias 7 Montreal 5
4 Ottawa 2 Shamrocks 1
10 Montreal 5 Shamrocks 3
11 Victorias 7 Quebec 5
18 Montreal 1 Ottawa 3
18 Quebec 2 Shamrocks 1
25 Ottawa 2 Quebec 5
25 Shamrocks 1 Victorias 5
Feb. 1 Ottawa 3 Victorias 2
1 Montreal 1 Quebec 3
5 Shamrocks 5 Montreal 3
8 Shamrocks 1 Quebec 4
8 Victorias 3 Ottawa 2 (6'00 overtime)
15 Ottawa 3 Montreal 2
22 Quebec 2 Montreal 3
25 Montreal 4 Victorias 7
29 Shamrocks 2 Ottawa 3
29 Quebec 2 Victorias 4
Mar. 4 (†) Victorias 6 Shamrocks 2
7 Quebec 0 Ottawa 4

† Victorias clinch league championship.

Player statistics

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Goaltending averages

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Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average

Name Club GP GA SO GAA
Fred Chittick Ottawa 8 16 1 2.0
Frank Stocking Quebec 8 23 2.9
Robert Jones Victorias 8 24 3.0
James Drysdale Shamrocks 8 30 3.8
George Hamilton Montreal 2 8 4.0
Herbert Collins Montreal 6 25 4.1

Scoring leaders

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Name Club GP G
McDougall, Robert Victorias 6 10
McKerrow, Clare Montreal 6 8
Davidson, Shirley Victorias 7 8
Swift, Albert E. Quebec 8 8
Westwick, Harry Ottawa 8 8
Drinkwater, Graham Victorias 8 7
Smith, Alf Ottawa 8 7
Doyle, Pat Quebec 8 6
Gillilan, David Victorias 3 5
Mussen, Aubrey Montreal 5 5

See also

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References

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  • Coleman, Charles L. (1966), The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc.
  • Podnieks, Andrew Lord Stanley Cup, Fenn Publishing Company, Ltd. 2004
  • McKinley, Michael (1993), The Official Book Hockey Hall of Fame Legends, p. 66
  • Bringall, Richard (2011), The Forgotten Heroes – Winnipeg Hockey Heritage, p. 28
Notes
  1. ^ "Hockeyists in New York", The Globe, p. 8, March 11, 1896
  2. ^ "After the puck", The Globe, p. 10, March 12, 1896
  3. ^ A monthly magazine devoted to the interests of the New York Athletic Club, vol. 5–6, New York Athletic Club, p. 45.
Preceded by AHAC seasons
1896
Succeeded by