1894 AHAC season

1894 AHAC season
League	Amateur Hockey Association of Canada
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	January 5 – March 10, 1894
Number of teams	5
1894
Champions	Montreal Hockey Club

The 1894 Amateur Hockey Association of Canada season lasted from January 5 until March 10. The season ended with a four-way tie, necessitating a playoff to decide the league and Stanley Cup championships. The Montreal Hockey Club defeated the Ottawa Hockey Club in the final playoff game to claim the title.

Executive

League executive Watson Jack.

• President - Watson Jack, Victorias
• First Vice Pres. - A. Laurie, Quebec
• Second Vice Pres. - Weldy C. Young, Ottawa
• Secretary-Treasurer - J. A. Findlay, Montreal

Season

Highlights

In two games players scored five goals. In the opening game, in which Montreal soundly defeated Quebec 7–0, Haviland Routh scored five. On January 20, Bert Russel of Ottawa scored five.

Final standing

Team	Games Played	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals For	Goals Against
Montreal Hockey Club	8	5	3	0	25	15
Ottawa Hockey Club	8	5	3	0	24	16
Montreal Victorias	8	5	3	0	36	20
Quebec Hockey Club	8	5	3	0	26	27
Montreal Crystals	8	0	8	0	10	43

Playoffs

The first Stanley Cup playoff game occurred on March 17, 1894. At the end of the 1894 AHAC season, four teams tied for the AHA championship with records of 5–3–0. This created problems for the AHA governors and the Cup's trustees since there was no tie-breaking system in place. After long negotiation and the withdrawal of Quebec from the championship situation, it was decided that a three-team tournament would take place in Montreal, with Ottawa getting a bye to the finals (being the sole "road" team). The Montreal HC defeated the Montreal Victorias, 3 – 2. Five days later on March 22, 1894, Montreal successfully defended their title with a 3 – 1 win over Ottawa. The OHA champion Osgoode Hall challenged for the Cup, but this was abandoned due to the lack of natural ice.

Game one: Montreal Hockey Club vs. Montreal Victorias

Ice conditions were described as not very good. The game was considered exciting, however, with Haviland Routh and Billy Barlow starring.

Date	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Location
March 17, 1894	Montreal Hockey Club	3 – 2	Montreal Victorias	Victoria Rink

Game one rosters

Montreal HC	Goals	Pos.	Goals	Victorias
Herbert Collins		G		Gordon Lewis
Allan Cameron		P		Mike Grant
George James		CP		William Pullan
Billy Barlow	2	F	1	Shirley Davidson
Clare Mussen		F	1	Robert MacDougall
Archie Hodgson	1	F		Norman Rankin
Haviland Routh		F		Reg Wallace
Referee: Weldy Young, Ottawa

Game two: Ottawa Hockey Club vs. Montreal Hockey Club

The final was close and in doubt until Billy Barlow scored the winning goal at 9'00" of the third quarter.

According to the Globe report of the game:

"Team play was marred by the softness of the ice. Rough and foul play was frequent, both defences indulging freely in tripping and slashing. Young of Ottawa was injured by James in the second half and although he finished the game without apparent distress, fainted dead away at the end of it. After the match the victors were carried off the rink."

Date	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Location
March 22, 1894	Montreal Hockey Club	3 – 1	Ottawa Hockey Club	Victoria Rink

Game two rosters

Ottawa	Goals	Pos.	Goals	Montreal HC
Albert Morel		G		Herbert Collins
Harvey Pulford		P		Allan Cameron
Weldy Young		CP		George James
Chauncey Kirby	1	F		Haviland Routh
Bert Russel		F		Clare Mussen
Joe McDougall		F	2	Archie Hodgson
Sam McDougall		F	1	Billy Barlow
Referee: Herbert Scott, Quebec

Schedule and results

Month	Day	Visitor	Score	Home	Score
Jan.	5	Quebec	0	Montreal	7
	6	Crystals	1	Ottawa	6
	6	Quebec	3	Victorias	7
	13	Victorias	3	Montreal	4
	13	Ottawa	1	Quebec	4
	18	Crystals	1	Montreal	3
	20	Victorias	1	Ottawa	5
	20	Quebec	4	Crystals	1
	27	Ottawa	4	Montreal	1
	27	Crystals	4	Quebec	8
Feb.	3	Quebec	3	Montreal	2
	9	Ottawa	3	Crystals	1
	10	Montreal	1	Victorias	2
	17	Ottawa	2	Victorias	3
	24	Montreal	5	Ottawa	1
	24	Victorias	3	Quebec	4
Mar.	2	Montreal	2	Crystals	1
	3	Quebec	0	Ottawa	2
	7	Crystals	0	Victorias	6
	10	Victorias	11	Crystals	1

Player statistics

Goaltending averages

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

Name	Club	GP	GA	SO	GAA
Herbert Collins	Montreal	8	15	1	1.875
Albert Morel	Ottawa	8	16	1	2.00
Gordon Lewis	Victorias	6	13	1	2.16
Robert Jones	Victorias	1	3		3.00
Frank Stocking	Quebec	8	27		3.375
James "Shiner" White	Crystals	2	8		4.00
Hartland MacDougall	Victorias	1	4		4.00
Alexander Clapperton	Crystals	4	18		4.50
Carpenter	Crystals	1	6		6.00
Kearns	Crystals	1	11		11.00

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = games played, G = Goals scored.

Name	Club	GP	G
Bert Russel	Ottawa	8	10
Albert Swift	Quebec	8	10
Haviland Routh	Montreal	8	8
Billy Barlow	Montreal	8	8
Norman Rankin	Victorias	5	6
Shirley Davidson	Victorias	8	6
Chauncey Kirby	Ottawa	8	6
Arthur D. Scott	Quebec	8	6
K. Davidson	Quebec	4	5
Sam McDougall	Ottawa	7	5

Stanley Cup engraving

Players

  Forwards

• Billy Barlow^
• Clare Mussen^
• Archie Hodgson^
• Haviland Routh^
• Alex Kingan^
• Alex Irving^
• Arthur Waud^
• Aubrey Mussen (Spare/did not play/on team picture)

  Defencemen

• Allan Cameron (point)
• George James (cover point),
• Eddie O'Brien (point)
• James Stewart (cover point - playing President of AAA).

  Goaltenders

• Herbert Collins

Coaching and administrative staff

• Harry L. Shaw (Manager/Secretary-Treasurer)
• James Taylor (President of the Hockey Club) (missing from team picture)
• ^Unknown who played Center, Rover, Right Wing and Left Wing, so the players are listed as forwards

Stanley Cup engraving

• Montreal
• -- 1894 --

See also

• List of pre-NHL seasons
• List of Stanley Cup champions

References

Bibliography

• Coleman, Charles L. The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc. pp. 13–18.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. pp. 12, 50. ISBN 1-55168-261-3.

External links

• description of first Stanley Cup final on Backcheck