Introduction
On December 8, 1886, the teams that made up the circuit for the Montreal Winter Carnival Hockey Tournament (MWC) decided to create a stand-alone hockey league that did not coincide with the popular winter festival. The league was called the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) and was made up by the Montreal Hockey Club, McGill University, Montreal Crystals, Montreal Victorias, and the Ottawa Hockey Club. These five teams participated in a season of series challenges at the Crystal and Victoria hockey rinks.
While the AHAC shared the same teams and play format as the MWCHT, the AHAC was its own entity, bringing together the best players in Hockey to play in a dedicated league. This was the first time ever that a league dedicated to Hockey was created, following the format established by Baseball’s National League. The biggest difference was that the AHAC was purely Amateur.
The AHAC decided to return to the balanced schedule format from 1888 and 1893-1897, with each team playing one another twice.
1898 was Season 12 of play for the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada and took place 126 years ago. This would be the final season of the AHAC as its member teams decided to form a new league, the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL).
Classification / Layer
Season Length
January 4, 1898 to March 5, 1898
Season Champion
Montreal Victorias
# of Teams
5
Season Standings (Overall Champion Challenge Record)
Season Playoffs (Stanley Cup Challenges)
Prior to the season, Victorias would play Ottawa Capitals of the Central Canada Hockey Association (CCHA) in a single-elimination game on December 27, 1897, winning 15–2. It was originally scheduled as the first best-of-three challenge, but the series ended after the first game because the Victorias clearly was the superior team with a 15–2 victory and the Ottawa team withdrew its challenge.
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