The 1888 AHAC season was the second season of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada. Play was in a series format. The Montreal Hockey Club would win a playoff game against the Montreal Victorias 2-1 to win the Canadian championship for the first time.
League business The league at its annual meeting of November 9, 1887, decided to change the method of play for the season to a 'series' between the teams of the AHAC. Each team would play every other team twice. Ottawa did not attend and did not participate in the season.
Executive
President: J. J. Arnton, Victorias 1st Vice president: J. A. Stewart, Montreal 2nd Vice president: H. A. Budden, McGill Secretary-treasurer: W. E. Stevenson, Victorias Council: A. L. Shanks, McGill; D. A. Elliott, Crystals; A. Shearer, Victorias; L. Barlow, Montreal
Source: Kitchen 2000, p. 11
Regular season
Ottawa would not return this season to challenge.
Overall record
Note GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against Team GP W L T GF GA Montreal Hockey Club† 6 5 1 0 23 6 Montreal Victorias 6 5 1 0 24 9 Montreal Crystals 6 2 4 0 18 14 McGill University 6 0 6 0 4 40
† National Champion
Results Date Visitor Score Home Score Location AHAC Challenge play Jan. 13 Montreal HC 4 Crystals 1 Crystal Rink Jan. 18 Victorias 8 McGill 1 Victoria Rink Jan. 23 Montreal HC 5 McGill 0 Crystal Rink Jan. 27 Victorias 3 Crystals 1 Crystal Rink Feb. 3 Victorias 3 Montreal HC 1 Victoria Rink Feb. 10 Crystals 4 McGill 1 Crystal Rink Feb. 15 Montreal HC 3 Crystals 1 Crystal Rink Feb. 22 Victorias 6 McGill 2 Crystal Rink Feb. 27 Montreal HC 2 Victorias 1 Crystal Rink Mar. 2 Montreal HC 8 McGill 0 Crystal Rink Mar. 7 Victorias 3 Crystals 2 Victoria Rink Mar. 12 Crystals 9 McGill 0 Crystal Rink AHAC Playoff Game Mar. 15 Victorias 1 Montreal HC 2 Crystal Rink
Source: "Before the Trail of the Stanley Cup"
Player Stats
Scoring leaders Note - GP = Games played, G = Goals scored Name Club GP G D.A. Elliot Crystals 6 8 Jack Campbell Victorias 7 8 James Virtue Montreal HC 7 8 Fred Ashe Victorias 5 5 James Kinghorn Victorias 7 5 Sam Lee Crystals 4 4 Archie Hodgson Montreal HC 5 4 Andy Shearer Victorias 7 4
Goaltender averages Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average Name Club GP GA SO GAA Robert Scanlan Crystals 1 1 0 1.0 Tom Paton Montreal HC 7 7 2 1.00 J.C. Crathern Victorias 5 6 0 1.2 Tom Arnton Victorias 2 4 1 2.0 A.G. Higginson Montreal HC 1 2 0 2.0 William Virtue Crystals 4 9 0 2.2 Jack Norris Crystals 1 4 0 4.0 Shanks, Albert McGill 5 29 0 5.8 McCaffrey, Ed McGill 1 6 0 6.0
Playoffs
Date Winning Team Score Losing Team Location March 15, 1888 Montreal HC 2–1 Montreal Victorias Crystal Rink
The playing of the game was tarnished with some scandal. The AHAC council convened to set the date of the playoff. Two players for the Victorias, Ashe and J. J. Arnton Jr. were injured, and the council set the date for the playoff before the players were recovered. The deciding vote for the date was cast by J. Stewart, who played for the Montreal HC team. Hodgson of Montreal scored the first goal at 4½ minutes, followed two minutes by a goal of Campbell for the Vics. 5½ minutes later Hodgson lifted a shot past Arnton in the Vic's goal to put Montreal ahead to stay. The Vics protested that the goal was off-side to no avail. There was no more scoring in the match. The Montreal Daily Herald reporter praised referee Hamilton of the McGill Club, noting that both side broke the off-side rule often.
Montreal HC 1888 AHAC champions
Players Forwards Jack Findlay Archie Hodgson, (also played cover point) Billy Hodgson George S. Low James Virtue Defence Allan Cameron Archie McNaughton James A. Stewart Goaltender Thomas L. Paton Source: Kitchen 2000, p. 11
References Bibliography
Notes