The Amateur Hockey Association of Canada would establish itself as Canada’s (and the World’s) elite hockey league between 1887 and 1898. The MWC Tournament was the first ever organized ice hockey tournament that lead to the creation of the first ice hockey league, making the MWC Tournament the direct predecessor to the AHAC for historical and statistical purposes.
The Tournament helped establish Ice Hockey through the following important events:
- First organized inter-city ice hockey competition, establishing Montreal as the premier ice hockey city in 1883.
- First international ice hockey tournament when Tournament was moved to Vermont, USA for one year in 1886.
- The top tournament teams went on to form first ice hockey league in 1887.
- Canada’s Governor General Lord Stanley was inspired by watching MWC Tournament play in 1889 to the point that he considered donating a Championship Cup to Canada’s top hockey teams. He would later donate the Stanley Cup in 1893, ten years after the Tournament was established.
| Season | Number of Teams | Format | Champions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1887 | 5 Teams | Challenge | Montreal Crystals (final challenge) |
| 1888 | 4 Teams | Series | Montreal Hockey Club (playoff) |
| 1889 | 5 Teams | Challenge | Montreal Hockey Club (final challenge) |
| 1890 | 4 Teams | Challenge | Montreal Hockey Club (final challenge) |
| 1891 | 6 Teams | Challenge | Montreal Hockey Club (final challenge) |
| 1892 | 4 Teams | Challenge | Montreal Hockey Club (final challenge) |
| 1893 | 5 Teams | Series | Montreal Hockey Club (best record) |
| 1894 | 5 Teams | Series | Montreal Hockey Club (playoffs) |
| 1895 | 5 Teams | Series | Montreal Victorias (best record) |
| 1896 | 5 Teams | Series | Montreal Victorias (best record) |
| 1897 | 5 Teams | Series | Montreal Victorias (best record) |
| 1898 | 5 Teams | Series | Montreal Victorias (best record) |
Amateur Hockey Association of Canada Cumulative Standings:
| Team | TGP | TW | TL | TT | TGF | TGA | SW/SP |
| Montreal Hockey Club | 78 | 52 | 26 | 0 | 288 | 189 | 7/12 |
| Montreal Victorias | 67 | 45 | 21 | 1 | 291 | 194 | 4/11 |
| Montreal Crystals | 34 | 8 | 26 | 0 | 74 | 134 | 1/7 |
| Ottawa Hockey Club | 57 | 34 | 23 | 0 | 205 | 161 | 0/9 |
| Quebec Hockey Club | 52 | 17 | 34 | 1 | 147 | 218 | 0/10 |
| Montreal Shamrocks | 34 | 8 | 26 | 0 | 94 | 159 | 0/6 |
| McGill University | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 49 | 0/2 |
SV = Seasons Won / SP = Seasons Played
Montreal Winter Carnival Hockey Tournament Cumulative Championship Points
| IceHockeyLeagues.com Premier-League Championship Points span to 1887-98 | ||
| Team | # of Championships | Premier Championship Points |
| Montreal Hockey Club | 7 (1888-94) | 22 |
| Montreal Victorias | 4 (1895-98) | 16 |
| Montreal Crystals | 1 (1887) | 4 |
Al Young is a sports stats enthusiast and budding web designer. He loves how hockey history created legends and wanted to combine that with how hockey stats can be tell stories as well. IceHockeyLeagues.com is another web site dedicated to the FanSeeStats.com group of 'stats-as-stories' web properties.
Latest posts by Al Young (see all)
- Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, 1905 - December 17, 2017
- Canadian Amateur Hockey League, 1905 - December 16, 2017
- Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, 1904 - December 10, 2017
