The Early Years—Events (1800s-1949)

When Lord Stanley of Preston decided to donate a national hockey trophy to the young Dominion he presided over, he galvanized the collective consciousness of the nation. British-born aristocrats put aside cricket and soccer in lieu of hockey as the national sport for Canada. Farmers who came from Europe to open the West embraced the frozen game, as did French Canada.

Even in the early decades of the Dominion of Canada, the game served to unite this land more powerfully than any politician or national policy. If the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Last Spike is what joined Canada from Atlantic to Pacific, then it was hockey that kept it together. From the Stanley Cup to the Allan Cup to Olympic games to World Championships, major hockey events were a prime way for Canadians to express their uniqueness—not quite British, not quite Americans—this game with pucks and sticks was a symbol of our identity, our culture.

In this section, we will look at the great events that helped hockey move from its infancy to the modern era; events that transformed the sport from the frozen pond to the arena packed with thousands of fans.

[back] [top]