Amateur Athletics Win First Stanley Cup in Montreal

The trophy didn't even exist yet. When Montreal's Amateur Athletic Association beat the Ottawa Capitals 3-1 on March 22, 1894, in what is recognized as the first Stanley Cup championship game, Lord Stanley's famous cup was still being engraved in London. It wouldn't arrive in Canada for several more weeks. The players celebrated their championship without knowing what the physical prize actually looked like. Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, had announced the creation of the challenge cup in 1892, pledging to purchase a "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" for the best amateur hockey team in Canada. The cup cost ten guineas, approximately $50 at the time. It stood just seven inches tall, a modest silver bowl that bore no resemblance to the massive trophy that would eventually tower at nearly three feet. Five teams competed for the cup during the 1893-94 season, and the final between Montreal AAA and Ottawa drew a capacity crowd to the Victoria Skating Rink. The game was played under hockey rules that were still evolving: seven players per side, 30-minute halves, and no forward passing. The ice surface was natural, maintained by building workers who flooded it overnight in sub-zero temperatures. Montreal won convincingly, and the captain received the cup when it finally arrived from England. The tradition of engraving winners' names on the trophy began gradually. As the list of champions grew, rings were added to the base, stretching the cup to its current iconic proportions. Today the Stanley Cup is the oldest professional sports trophy in North America and the only major championship trophy on which every winning player's name is individually engraved. It travels over 300 days a year and has its own full-time keeper.