 The Allan Cup trophy | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Senior champion of Canada |
| History | |
| First award | 1909 |
| Most wins | Port Arthur Bearcats/Thunder Bay Twins (9) |
| Most recent | Dundas Real McCoys (2024) |
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. It was won by the Dundas Real McCoys in 2024.
In 1908, a split occurred in the competition of ice hockey in Canada. The top amateur teams left the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association, which allowed professionals, to form the new Inter-Provincial Amateur Hockey Union (IPAHU), a purely amateur league. The trustees of the Stanley Cup decided that the Cup would be awarded to the professional ice champion, meaning there was no corresponding trophy for the amateur championship of Canada. The Allan Cup was donated in early 1909 by Montreal businessman and Montreal Amateur Athletic Association president Sir H. Montagu Allan to be presented to the amateur champions of Canada. It was to be ruled like the Stanley Cup had, passed by champion to champion by league championship or challenge. [1] [2] Three trustees were named to administer the trophy: Sir Edward Clouston, President of the Bank of Montreal, Dr. H. B. Yates of McGill University, (donor of the Yates Cup to the Intercollegiate Rugby Union in 1898) and Graham Drinkwater, four-time Stanley Cup champion.[ citation needed ]
The trophy was originally presented to the Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, members of the IPAHU, to award to the champions of the IPAHU. [2] The first IPAHU champion, and by extension, first winner of the Cup was the Ottawa Cliffsides hockey club. After the season, the Cliffsides were defeated in the first-ever challenge by the Queen's University hockey club of Kingston, Ontario.[ citation needed ]
In the early years, trustees of the Cup quickly came to appreciate the difficulties of organizing a national competition in so large a country. In 1914, at the suggestion of one of the trustees, Claude C. Robinson, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) was formed as a national governing body for the sport with W. F. Taylor as its first president. [3] [4] One of the CAHA's first decisions, in 1915, was to replace the challenge system with a series of national playoffs. Starting in 1920, the Allan Cup champion team would represent Canada in amateur play at the Olympics and World Championships. The CAHA used the profits from Allan Cup games as a subsidy for the national team. [5] Competition for the cup was originally a one-game format, then a two-game total goals format. In 1925, CAHA leaders Silver Quilty and Frank Sandercock, changed the format to a best-of-three series due to increased popularity of the games and demand for a longer series. [6] [7]
At the CAHA general meeting in March 1927, W. A. Fry requested to have the CAHA take control of the Allan Cup and its profits from the trustees, and use the funds to build amateur hockey in Canada. He felt the move justified as the CAHA had evolved and was able to manage its own affairs. His motion asked for H. Montagu Allan to donate the cup to the CAHA, and establish an Allan Cup committee which included trustee William Northey. [8] [9]
In February 1945, CAHA president Frank Sargent announced the cancellation of the 1945 Allan Cup playoffs. It was the first season in which the trophy was not contested since the inaugural 1909 Allan Cup. [10] The cancellation was caused by the reluctance to travel during wartime conditions, and the players' need to work rather than playing hockey. [11]
In 1951, the CAHA set up a "major league" of competition from the semi-pro and professional senior leagues. The leagues would no longer compete for the Allan Cup, but would compete for the new Alexander Cup. The Allan Cup would be competed for on a more purely amateur basis from teams in smaller centres of Canada. The major league concept broke up by 1953, and the Alexander Cup competition was retired after 1954.[ citation needed ]
The reigning Allan Cup champion was usually chosen to represent Canada in ice hockey at the Olympic Games or the Ice Hockey World Championships. The practice lasted from 1920 to 1964, when Father David Bauer established a permanent Canada men's national ice hockey team. [12]
Since 1984 the Allan Cup has been competed for by teams in the Senior AAA category. Although interest in senior ice hockey has diminished over its history, the Cup retains an important place in Canadian ice hockey. [13] The Cup championship is determined in an annual tournament held in the city or town of a host team, playing off against regional champions.[ citation needed ]
The Cup has been won by teams from every province and from Yukon, as well as by two teams from the United States which played in Canadian leagues. The city with the most Allan Cup championships is Thunder Bay with 10, including four won as Port Arthur before the city's amalgamation. The original Cup has been retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a replica is presented to the champions. [14]
Listed are all of the challenges of the early years of the Allan Cup, bolded are the final winner of the season.
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This is a list of champions by province, territory, or state.
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(*) Two championships won by teams from Lloydminster are included only in the total for Saskatchewan.
The Winnipeg Victorias were a former amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, organized in 1889. They played in the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Victorias won the Stanley Cup in February 1896, 1901 and January 1902 while losing the Cup in December 1896, February 1899, February 1900, March 1902, and February 1903. After the Stanley Cup became the professional championship, the Victorias continued in senior-level amateur play, winning the Allan Cup in 1911 and 1912.
The Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL) was an ice hockey league that operated from 1941 to 1959, based in Quebec, Canada. The league played senior ice hockey under the jurisdiction of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association until 1953, when it became professional and operated as the Quebec Hockey League (QHL).
William Abraham Hewitt was a Canadian sports executive and journalist, also widely known as Billy Hewitt. He was secretary of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1903 to 1966, and sports editor of the Toronto Daily Star from 1900 to 1931. He promoted the establishment of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), then served as its secretary-treasurer from 1915 to 1919, registrar from 1921 to 1925, registrar-treasurer from 1925 to 1961, and a trustee of the Allan Cup and Memorial Cup. Hewitt standardized player registrations in Canada, was a committee member to discuss professional-amateur agreements with the National Hockey League, and negotiated working agreements with amateur hockey governing bodies in the United States. He oversaw referees within the OHA, and negotiated common rules of play for amateur and professional leagues as chairman of the CAHA rules committee. After retiring from journalism, he was the managing-director of Maple Leaf Gardens from 1931 to 1948, and chairman of the committee to select the inaugural members of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945.
Claude Copeland Robinson was a Canadian ice hockey and sports executive. After winning an intermediate-level championship as captain of the Winnipeg Victorias in 1905, he served as secretary-treasurer and as vice-president of the Victorias. He coached the Victorias to a Manitoba Hockey League championship in 1909, and felt that his team could have competed for the newly established Allan Cup, despite that challenges from senior ice hockey teams were accepted only from Eastern Canada at the time. The Victorias won the Allan Cup by default in 1911, when the Toronto St. Michael's Majors refused to play, then successfully defended four challenges for the trophy.
Allan Wilfrid Pickard was a Canadian ice hockey administrator, who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1947 to 1950. When Canada opted out of the 1947 Ice Hockey World Championships and decided not to participate in the 1948 Winter Olympics, Pickard felt that Canada was obliged to send a team due to its place as a top hockey nation, and nominated the Ottawa RCAF Flyers who won the gold medal for Canada and lived up to the requirements of the Olympic Oath as amateurs. Despite disagreement with the International Olympic Committee, he sought for the International Ice Hockey Federation to adopt the CAHA definition of amateur in the face of increasing difficulty in selecting the Canada men's national ice hockey team.
The 1914 Allan Cup was the Canadian senior ice hockey championship for the 1913–14 season. The final challenge was hosted by the Regina Victorias in Regina, Saskatchewan. The 1914 playoff marked the seventh time the Allan Cup had a champion.
The 1915 Allan Cup was the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) championship for senior ice hockey in the 1914–15 season. The title was first held by the Melville Millionaires as champions of their league and two challenge wins. The Millionaires then lost the final Allan Cup challenge to the Winnipeg Monarchs. The 1915 playoff marked the eighth time the Allan Cup had a champion.
Sylvester Patrick "Silver" Quilty was a Canadian football player, referee, coach and sport administrator. As a player, he won the Yates Cup in 1907 with the Ottawa Gee-Gees football team, and was credited as the first man to play the flying wing position. He also played with the Ottawa Rough Riders, and the McGill Redmen football team. After his playing career, he became a football referee and officiated the 10th Grey Cup, and also coached the Ottawa Rough Riders.
The 1921 Allan Cup was the senior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) for the 1920–21 season.
The 1922 Allan Cup was the senior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) for the 1921–22 season.
The 1924 Allan Cup was the Canadian senior ice hockey championship for the 1923–24 season. Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) president Toby Sexsmith moved the finals to Toronto instead of Ottawa, since the 1924 Stanley Cup Finals were moved from Montreal to Ottawa due to warm weather. The CAHA profited $5,865 from the 1924 Allan Cup playoffs, and contributed $2,000 towards the Canada men's national ice hockey team for their travels to ice hockey at the 1924 Winter Olympics.
The 1928 Allan Cup was the Canadian senior ice hockey championship for the 1927–28 season. The University of Manitoba won the Allan Cup, defeating the Montreal Victorias 2-1 on series.
Cecil Charles Duncan was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1936 to 1938 and led reforms towards semi-professionalism in ice hockey in Canada. He served as chairman of the CAHA committee which proposed a new definition of amateur to eliminate what it called "shamateurism", in the wake of Canada's struggles in ice hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics. He negotiated a series of agreements to protect the CAHA's interests, and to develop relationships with all other areas of the world where hockey was played. The agreements allowed the CAHA to become independent of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada which wanted to keep the old definition of pure amateurism. Duncan's reforms also returned the CAHA to affluence after four years of deficits during the Great Depression and increased player registrations in Canada.
Frank Ernest Sandercock was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as president of both the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association, and had previously been an executive with the Ontario Hockey Association and founded a hockey organization to operate leagues in Calgary. He was an early proponent of junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey in Alberta, fostered growth in the game, and sought to reinvest profits into minor ice hockey for the younger generation.
The Maritime Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) was a governing body for amateur ice hockey in the Maritimes of Canada. It was a branch member of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1928 to 1974, with its jurisdiction including the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The MAHA operated leagues for senior ice hockey which competed for the Allan Cup, and leagues for junior ice hockey which competed for the Memorial Cup. The New Brunswick Amateur Hockey Association separated from the MAHA in 1968, and the MAHA ceased to exist after the Nova Scotia Hockey Association and Prince Edward Island Hockey Association were established in 1974.
William Franklin Taylor was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He was the founding president of both the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) and the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association in 1914, and also served as president of the Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League. He sought for the Allan Cup to be symbollic of the amateur hockey championship of Canada, and to establish a national authority to oversee competition for the trophy. He allied the CAHA with the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada against professionalism and to promote amateur sport and expand hockey in Canada. He supported a desire by the players to govern their own affairs, to standardize ice hockey rules and ice hockey rink dimensions, and recognition of the authority and judgment of on-ice officials. Taylor assisted with patriotic fundraising to contribute to the World War I effort in Canada, and served the community in Winnipeg as a leading member of the Elks and the Shriners. He sat on the board of governors for The Children's Hospital of Winnipeg and the local Children's Aid Society, and was posthumously inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.
Frank Chapin Greenleaf was a Canadian sports administrator. He served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association, and was an executive in the Quebec branch of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada. He presided over amateur hockey when the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association wanted to end the raiding of its rosters by foreign teams and to prevent a geographic shift in talent by imposing a residency rule for players. Greenleaf negotiated for a North American senior ice hockey championship that saw the Allan Cup winner play the amateur champion of the United States. He served as an executive member of multiple amateur hockey leagues in Montreal and was one of the founders of the Mount Royal Junior Hockey League.
Lionel Fleury was a Canadian ice hockey administrator who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1964 to 1966. Under his leadership, the Canada men's national ice hockey team transitioned from student athletes coached by Father David Bauer into a year-round national team program. Fleury welcomed the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association as a new branch member of the national association in 1966, and changed the format of the Memorial Cup playoffs in Eastern Canada from an elimination bracket into a round-robin format to reduce travel costs and address concerns of imbalanced competition. He sought an end to the National Hockey League system of sponsoring amateur teams by replacing it with a draft of players who had graduated from junior ice hockey, and negotiated for a new agreement that was realized after his term as president concluded.
Harry John Sterling was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He was elected president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) in 1920, after serving as an Ontario Hockey Association executive and as president of the Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association. He declared that the CAHA would not tolerate the hockey "tourist" after becoming suspicious of players who changed their addresses to be on a new team. His investigation into registrations led to the suspension of a team from Saskatoon when it was discovered that players who won the gold medal representing Canada in ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics were being paid for amateur hockey. His term as president resulted in the CAHA enacting stricter rules for registration and co-operation with the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada to investigate into all Canadian hockey players to maintain amateurism.
Frederick Paul Henry Marples was a Canadian sports executive in ice hockey and athletics. He was president of the Winnipeg Monarchs team which won Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League championships in 1914 and 1915, and the Allan Cup as senior ice hockey champions of Canada. His operation of a reserve team to support the Monarchs led to debates on player eligibility for the Allan Cup and calls for a national governing body of hockey. As the secretary-treasurer of the Winnipeg Amateur Hockey League, he helped establish both the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) in 1914; then served as secretary-treasurer of the MAHA from 1914 to until 1934, and as secretary of the CAHA from 1926 to 1945. He sought to grow the game in rural regions of Manitoba, promote minor ice hockey as a source of future senior players, to keep players in junior ice hockey until age 21, and was against the exodus of amateur players to professional teams.
