Amateur

IceHockeyLeagues.com categorizes Hockey into four broad categories called Layers and within each Layer there exists individual leagues and tournaments of various classifications. The first Layer that tracks Hockey from its beginnings is the Amateur Layer.

Hockey, like all of the others sports, was played initially for personal recreational development, not for money or sub-national / national pride. Amateur Hockey is the bedrock from which the other three Layers are built on.

Each link goes to a League Page where you can find more information and individual season standings.

LeagueClassificationYearsAge
The Leagues of the Ontario Hockey AssociationDevelopment Association1890 to now
Amateur Hockey Association of CanadaElite League1887 to 189812 years old
Montreal Winter Carnival Hockey TournamentProto-League1883 to 1887, 18897 years old
Canadian Amateur Hockey LeagueElite League18991 year old
Table of IceHockeyLeagues.com Amateur Level till 1899 (last updated Nov 2023)

More info to follow…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Amateur_Hockey_League (1896)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Amateur_Hockey_Association

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Canadian_sports#Organizational_infrastructure

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_ice_hockey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Hockey_Association (1890)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_City_Hockey_League (1890)