‘The earliest games in the sport were not carbon copies of the current version, the Halifax Rules, which Creighton played under in the March 3rd game, said the puck couldn’t leave the ice, no forward passing was permitted and the goalie couldn’t fall down or kneel to make saves. As the sport’s popularity skyrocketed in Montreal in the late 1800 therefore, the official rules of the game were created, this Montreal Rules, in 1877. Injured players could be substituted, team sizes were set at seven per side and the rink’s dimensions were made standard. Hockey took the nation by storm, as hockey teams showed up across eastern Canada, both in universities and in amateur athletic clubs.

McGill University established the first college hockey team in 1877, and the 1880 saw an explosion of teams. The very first hockey leagues formed in the mid-1880 therefore, whilst the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, which began in 1885, was the very first federal hockey organization. At this Montreal Winter Carnival in 1889, in a match between the Montreal Victoria and the Amateur Athletic Association, Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Governor General of Canada, with his wife and two children stopped to watch the game. Stanley was taken with the game, and helped to form a team, the Rideau Rebels and a league, the Ontario Hockey Association .2 Years after the creation of the OHA, Stanley made the concept of a regional contest along with gave per cup to be awarded to this victor, this Dominion Challenge Trophy.

In 1893, it was determined the cup could never become the land of any team and has been renamed the Stanley Hockey Championship Cup.whilst the cup, on the magnitude of an association football, has experienced many cosmetic changes through time, this Stanley Cup is still awarded to this winner of the National Hockey League today. As the nation spread west, so did the sport. The Manitoba Hockey Association has been formed in 1892, and very first competed for the Stanley Cup 4 years later. In their first attempt to win the Cup, the Winnipeg group defeated their counterparts from Montreal, and the news on the victory came down in hockey’s very first play-by play, done by telegraph. The Cup continued to be awarded, year following year, to groups mainly from Montreal, this hockey capital of this world.

In 1900, a group from Halifax competed for this Stanley Cup, losing to this Montreal Shamrocks 1However, this Halifax group had come west together with the practice of setting up fishing nets on the rear of this metal posts that served as goals. The tradition stayed, and the very first goal nets were born.