The Oxford University Ice Hockey Club (OUIHC) is home to the men's and women's Blues ice hockey teams of the University of Oxford, England. The men's Blues, also known as Oxford University Blues,[2] is one of the world's oldest ice hockey teams.[3] Tradition places the origin of the team in 1885, when a match is said to have been played against Cambridge University Ice Hockey Club in St. Moritz, Switzerland.[4] This date is recognised by the Hockey Hall of Fame, and prior to the 1985 Ice Hockey Varsity Match, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) formally recognised the 1885 game as the first ice hockey match played in Europe.[5] However, there is no contemporary evidence that this match took place, and Oxford now claims that this was a bandy match.[6]
The oldest surviving evidence of their existence is a team photo and roster from 1895, when they played Cambridge in another bandy match at Blenheim Palace.[12] In 1900, they played Cambridge at Princes Skating Club in the first official Varsity Match, winning 7–6.[13] Their captain in this match was future cricketerBernard Bosanquet.[12]
Ice hockey in Europe; Oxford University vs. Switzerland, 1922. Future Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson is at right front.
John McCall MacBain (Captain) - Canadian billionaire businessman and philanthropist, dubbed the “Second Century Founder of the Rhodes Scholarship” for his £75 million donation to the Rhodes Trust[14]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
