1898 AHAC season

The 1898 Amateur Hockey Association of Canada season was the twelfth and final season of the league. Each team played 8 games, and Montreal Victorias were again first with an 8–0 record, to retain the Stanley Cup. This was their fourth-straight league championship. The league would dissolve prior to the next season.

1898 AHAC season
League	Amateur Hockey Association of Canada
Sport	ice hockey
Duration	January 4, 1898 – March 5, 1898
Number of teams	5
1898
Champion	Montreal Victorias
Top scorer	Cam Davidson (14 goals)

League business

Executive

• J. A. Findlay, Montreal (President)
• J. S. Dunbar, Quebec (1st. Vice-Pres.)
• G. P. Murphy (2nd Vice-Pres.)
• H. Wilson (Sec.-Treasurer)
• W. Snow, E. Hinchy, E. Farwell, E. Blurty, G. Tanguay (Council)

The Ottawa Capitals applied to join the league, but were turned down because they had not won an intermediate-level championship.

Season

Highlights

The game of February 12, 1898, between Ottawa and the Victorias was notable because Fred Chittick, the regular goalkeeper of Ottawa staged a one-man strike because he had not received his share of complimentary tickets. Ottawa played A. Cope instead and lost 9–5. The fans in attendance heckled the defence pair of Harvey Pulford and Weldy Young, and in response Mr. Young went into the crowd to attack a spectator.

Final Standing

Team	Games Played	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals For	Goals Against
Montreal Victorias	8	8	0	0	53	33
Montreal	8	5	3	0	34	21
Montreal Shamrocks	8	3	5	0	25	36
Quebec	8	2	6	0	29	35
Ottawa	8	2	6	0	28	44

Exhibition tours

Shamrocks tour New York

From February 14 through 19th, the Shamrocks toured New York city, playing teams of the Amateur Hockey League. They played the New York Hockey Club twice and the Brooklyn Skating Club once. The Shamrocks split the two with New York 2–1 and 0–1[1] at the Lexington Avenue Ice Palace. The series was considered close however in the second game play turned rough and several Montreal players were ejected; Brown (Montreal) and Billy Russell (New York). Benny Phillips of New York would score the only goal and assists were rewarded to DeCasanova and Russell.[1] The Shamrocks also defeated Brooklyn 4–3 at the Clermont Avenue Rink.[1] [2]

Victorias tour New York

The first game was dubbed by the American media as establishing the amateur international championship, between the top American team, The New York Athletic Club and the top Canadian team the Montreal Victorias.[3] After the season, the Victorias visited New York, first playing the New York Athletic Club at the St. Nicholas Rink, winning 6–1 on March 4. The game was in attendance of 3000 people. The game was noted as the Victorias were able to 'disarm' their opponents illustrating stealing the puck from the opposing players through stick-handling. Montreal scorers were (2 goals each) Macdougall, Davidson, Drinkwater to Fenwicks single goal [4]

On March 5, the Victorias defeated the St. Nicholas Skating Club 8–0.[2]

Playoffs

There were no playoffs as the Victorias won first place exclusively.

Stanley Cup challenges

Victorias vs. Ottawa

Prior to the season, Victorias would play Ottawa Capitals of the 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.

Date	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Location
December 27, 1897	Montreal Victorias	15–2	Ottawa Capitals	Victoria Rink

Ottawa	(2)	at	Montreal	(15)
R. Wilmot		G	Gordon Lewis
Lafleur		P	Hartland MacDougall
Eddie Murphy		CP	Mike Grant, Capt
Pat Murphy		F	Robert MacDougall
Henry O'Connor		F	Graham Drinkwater
Martin McGuire		F	Shirley Davidson
William Baldwin		F	Cam Davidson

Referee – J. A. Findlay
Umpires – M. J. Polan, A. McKerrow

Source: Ottawa Journal[5] No challenges were played after the season.

Schedule and results

Month	Day	Visitor	Score	Home	Score
Jan.	4	Victorias	6	Shamrocks	4
	8	Montreal	2	Quebec	5
	8	Ottawa	1	Shamrocks	2
	11	Victorias	4	Montreal	3
	15	Ottawa	4	Quebec	3
	15	Montreal	10	Shamrocks	2
	19	Shamrocks	5	Victorias	7
	22	Quebec	1	Montreal	3
	29	Montreal	4	Ottawa	3
	29	Quebec	4	Victorias	5
Feb.	5	Shamrocks	5	Quebec	6
	5	Ottawa	6	Victorias	12
	9	Shamrocks	0	Montreal	4
	12	Victorias	9	Ottawa	5
	12	Quebec	1	Shamrocks	4
	19	Ottawa	2	Montreal	6
	19 (†)	Victorias	6	Quebec	4
	26	Quebec	5	Ottawa	6
	26	Montreal	2	Victorias	4
Mar.	5	Shamrocks	3	Ottawa	1

† Victorias clinch league championship.

Player statistics

Goaltending averages

Name	Club	GP	GA	SO	Avg.
Tobin, A.	Shamrocks	2	2		1.0
Collins, Herb	Montreal	8	21	1	2.6
Lewis, Gordon	Victorias	3	9		3.0
Stocking, Frank	Quebec	7	29		4.1
Richardson, Frank	Victorias	5	24		4.8
Chittick, Fred	Ottawa	4	21		5.3
Semple, Hugh	Shamrocks	6	34		5.7
Cope, Alex	Ottawa	4	23		5.8
O'Meara, Mark	Quebec	1	6		6.0

Scoring leaders

Name	Club	GP	G
Davidson, Cam	Victorias	7	14
McKerrow, Clare	Montreal	8	13
McDougall, Robert	Victorias	8	12
Brown, Desse	Montreal	8	11
Drinkwater, Graham	Victorias	8	10
Gillespie, James	Shamrocks	8	10
Hutchison, Howard	Ottawa	8	8
Howard, R.	Quebec	7	7
White, Frank	Ottawa	6	7
Horsfall, Bert	Quebec	8	6

Source: Coleman(1966), pp. 41–43

Montreal Victorias 1898 Stanley Cup champions

Players

  Forwards

• Graham Drinkwater(rover)
• Cam Davidson^
• Jack Ewing^
• Robert MacDougall^
• Ernie McLea^

  Defencemen

• Harold Henderson(point),
• Hartland MacDougall(point)
• Mike Grant(cover point)

  Goaltenders

• Gordon Lewis(goal)
• Frank Richardson (Playing-Coach)

Coaching and administrative staff

• W. Jack(President)&, Fred Meredith (Hon. President),
• W. Grant (Vice President)&, F.H. Wilson (Hon. Vice President)&,
• P.M. Desterneck (Secretary/Treasurer)&
• &-First names are unknown
• ^Unknown who played Center, Right Wing and Left Wing, so the players are listed as forwards

See also

• Stanley Cup Champions
• List of pre-NHL seasons

References

• Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc.
• Podnieks, Andrew (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 1-55168-261-3.

1. New York Times Feb 18 1898
2. W.B. Curtis (April 1898). Outings Monthly Review of Amateur Sports and Pastimes. Ice Hockey.CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
3. New York Times March 3rd 1898
4. New York Times Mar 5th edition 1898
5. "Victorias Had An Easy Thing". Ottawa Journal. December 28, 1897. p. 6.