Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
Encyclopedia
The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) was a men's amateur, later professional ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 league in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with six clubs: four from the Canadian Amateur Hockey League
Canadian Amateur Hockey League
The Canadian Amateur Hockey League was an early men's amateur hockey league founded in 1898, replacing the organization that was formerly the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada before the 1898–99 season. The league existed for seven seasons, folding in 1905 and was itself replaced by the Eastern...

 and two from the Federal Amateur Hockey League
Federal Amateur Hockey League
The Federal Amateur Hockey League was a Canadian men's senior-level ice hockey league that played six seasons from 1904 to 1909. The league was formed initially to provide a league for teams not accepted by the rival Canadian Amateur Hockey League . One team, the Montreal Le National, was the first...

(FAHL), to bring together the top teams of both leagues. It was formed to enhance the revenues of a now popular spectator sport and help it cope in Canada with professionalism in the sport. The league would shed its amateur status for the 1908 season, leading to the split between Canadian amateur ice hockey teams playing for the Allan Cup
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. It has been competed for since 1909. The current champion is the Clarenville Caribous hockey club of Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:...

, and the professionals playing for the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

. The league would itself dissolve in 1909 over a dispute between team owners over business issues, and the emergence of the Renfrew Millionaires.

History

Founding
The CAHL held its regular meeting on December 9, 1905. At that meeting it was decided that amalgamation with the FAHL should be attempted. On December 11, it was announced that the amalgamation would form a new league, the ECAHA. The CAHL was discontinued, but the FAHL would continue. The first executive was elected:

  • Howard Wilson, Montreal (president)
  • G. P. Murphy, Ottawa (1st vice-president)
  • Dr. Cameron, Montreal (2nd vice-president)
  • James Strachan, Wanderers ( Secretary-treasurer)


However on December 20, the vice-president titles were abolished and the Secretary-treasurer position was given to William Northey of the Montreal Arena
Montreal Arena
The Montreal Arena, also known as Westmount Arena, was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the corner of St. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue. It was likely one of the first arenas designed expressly for hockey, opening in 1898...

 Company.

A silver championship trophy was donated by the Montreal Arena Company. After the Wanderers won it in 1906 through 1908, they were given the trophy permanently, a condition engraved in the silver of the trophy. The trophy is now on permanent display in the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

 in Toronto.

From the start, the league allowed teams to openly use professional players. The players who were professionals had to be printed publicly. In 1908, the purely amateur Montreal Victorias and Montreal Hockey Club teams left the league. The league became a professional-only league, leading to several amateurs retiring from their teams. In significance of the change the league was renamed the Eastern Canada Hockey Association.

In November 1909, the league dissolved over the plans of the Wanderers to move to a smaller arena. The three other teams announced that they were leaving the ECHA, creating the Canadian Hockey Association (CHA). The Wanderers, formed a competing league, the National Hockey Association
National Hockey Association
The National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...

 (NHA). The CHA lasted less than two weeks and in January 1910 it merged with the NHA.

Teams

Season Teams Champion
1906
1906 ECAHA season
The inaugural 1906 Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association season lasted from January 3 until March 10. Teams played a ten game schedule. Ottawa HC and Montreal Wanderers would tie for the league championship with a record of 9–1, while the Montreal Shamrocks would not win a single game...

Montreal Hockey Club
Montreal Hockey Club
The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team is notable for winning the first Stanley Cup in 1893, and in a...

, Montreal Shamrocks
Montreal Shamrocks
The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886, merging with the Montreal Crystals club in 1896. They won the Stanley Cup ice hockey championship in 1899 and 1900...

, Montreal Victorias
Montreal Victorias
The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. The club played at its own rink, the Victoria Skating...

, Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...

A, Ottawa Hockey Club†A, Quebec HC
Quebec Bulldogs
The Quebec Bulldogs were a men's senior-level ice hockey team officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club, later as the Quebec Athletic Club. Their recorded play goes back as far as the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1889, although the Quebec Hockey Club is known to have played since 1880...

 
Ottawa and Wanderers tied (best record)
Wanderers won two-game playoff
1907
1907 ECAHA season
The 1907 Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association season lasted from January 3 until March 10. Teams played a ten game schedule. The Montreal Wanderers won the league championship going undefeated, with their only loss of the season coming in a Stanley Cup challenge series with...

Montreal HC, Montreal Shamrocks, Montreal Victorias, Montreal Wanderers†, Ottawa HC, Quebec HC Wanderers (best record)
1907–08
1907–08 ECAHA season
The 1907–08 Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association season lasted from December 29, 1907 until March 7, 1908. Teams played a ten game schedule. The Montreal Wanderers would win the league championship with a record of eight wins, two losses....

Montreal HC, Montreal Shamrocks, Montreal Victorias, Montreal Wanderers†, Ottawa HC, Quebec HC Wanderers (best record)
1909
1909 ECAHA season
The 1909 Eastern Canadian Hockey Association season lasted from January 2 until March 6. Teams played a twelve game schedule. The Ottawa Senators would win the league championship with a record of ten wins, two losses and take over the Stanley Cup....

Montreal Shamrocks, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa HC†, Quebec HC Ottawa (best record)


† Stanley Cup Champions.

A - Ottawa and Wanderers are both considered 1906 Stanley Cup Champions.

See also

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK