In 1898, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada returned for premier hockey league play. The AHAC got started by teams from the Montreal Winter Carnival, eventually becoming the successor to the popular winter hockey tournament as the teams decided to focus on their own league play. The Montreal Hockey Club, Montreal Shamrocks, Montreal Victorias, Quebec Hockey Club, and the Ottawa Hockey Club participated in a balanced, round-robin league schedule.
The twelfth season played in 1898 (played from January 4 to March 5) saw The Montreal Victorias win the Championship. 1898 was the sixth year that the Dominion Challenge Cup was awarded. The Montreal Victorias also was awarded the Cup by winning a playoff game against the Ottawa Capitals of the Central Canada Hockey Association (CCHA).
| IceHockeyLeagues.com Premier-League Championship Points span to 1883-98 | ||
| Team | # of Championships | Premier Championship Points |
| Montreal Hockey Club | 9 (1885-86, 88-94) | 30 |
| Montreal Victorias | 5 (1884, 95-98) | 20 (+4) |
| Montreal Crystals | 1 (1887) | 4 |
| McGill University | 1 (1883) | 2 |
The AHAC was the first ever organized Ice Hockey league formed by four Montreal-based teams plus Ottawa. These five teams all played in the MWC Tournament so that tournament is considered to be the direct predecessor to the AHAC for historical and statistical purposes. From this humble beginning ice hockey and its leagues established their beginning.
- Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, 1905 - December 17, 2017
- Canadian Amateur Hockey League, 1905 - December 16, 2017
- Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, 1904 - December 10, 2017
