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Hockey History
The Allan Cup – a 100-year old tradition for Canada’s best amateur senior hockey club The Allan Cup was first presented in 1909 for the top amateur senior hockey club in Canada. It was established to replace the Stanley Cup, a competition that had turned professional. The trophy was named in honor of Sir H. Montague Allan, and teams that won their league title were eligible to compete in the tournament. During the early years of Cup competition, winners of the Cup were decided through a challenge system, which started with the Montreal Victorias. Each season members of the Inter-Provincial Amateur Hockey Association (IPAHU) would challenge for the Cup. Some of the winners under this format included the Ottawa Cliffsides and the club from Queen’s University. In 1914, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association was formed to provide a better format for a national series of competition. The CAHA organized a series of national playoff contests which continues to this day. The six original branches of the CAHA were Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. The Allan Cup has been represented by only Senior AAA teams since 1984, and in 1994 the CAHA merged with the Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) to form Hockey Canada. While the Cup was contested during the World War I years, play was suspended during 1944-45 season in World War II. Several round-robin tournaments were held before 1990, but since 1992, the Allan Cup has been established with a round-robin format. The Allan Cup has been won by teams from every province in Canada, as well as the Yukon, and two United States teams (Warroad Lakers of Minnesota and the Spokane Flyers/Jets) that played in Canada. The city of Thunder Bay (and Port Arthur before the name change) leads with 10 victories. This has helped Ontario lead the provinces with 48 wins. Next is British Columbia with 11, and then Manitoba with 10. Hamilton teams have been to the Allan Cup final three times in its 100-year history. The first year, 1919, was the best for the Tigers, as they defeated Winnipeg to win the city’s only Allan Cup. In 1931 the Tigers once again played Winnipeg, but lost. In 1946
the Tigers played against Calgary, but also lost.
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