The History The origin of hockey in Canada has never been definitely established. Claims have been made on behalf of many localities, notably Montreal, Halifax and Kingston and the controversy will no doubt go on as long as the sport continues. There is no doubt that hockey has been played for a long time in Canada and individual clubs such as the Victorias of Montreal were known at an early date. Montreal also lays claim to having the first organized league of clubs. The first organization actually dealing with the administration and development of the sport was the Ontario Hockey Association which was organized on the 27th of November, 1890. With the passage of the years in other parts of Canada organizations also came into existence and on December 4th, 1914, the first meeting to provide for a national body was held in the Chateau Laurier, Ottawa. While it was fitting that the first meeting should be held in Canada's capital city, the impetus for the organization was provided by a group of men in that Western city which has had such a notable connection with the sport, Winnipeg. The invitations for the meeting were sent out by C.C. Robinson of Winnipeg on behalf of the Allan Cup Trustees and N.H. Crow of Toronto, the Secretary of the Amateur Athletic Union of Toronto.
At the meeting, William Northey of Montreal, Trustee of the Allan Cup was chosen as the chairman and Mr. Crow acted as Secretary. Those present at the meeting and the organizations represented were as follows;
J.W. Ward, Hamilton, Alberta A.H.A.
Otto Dinnith, Montreal, Can. Inter-Collegiate H.U.
Ernest H. Jupp, Toronto, Can. Inter-Collegiate H.U.
Francis Nelson, Toronto, Ont. Hockey Association
H.E. Wettlaufer, Berlin, Ont.
W.F. Taylor, Winnipeg, Manitoba Hockey Assn.
Mr. P.D. Shand, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan A.H.A.
F.H.P. Marples, Winnipeg, Monarch Hockey Club
W.F. Trivett, Toronto, O.A.A.U.
C.C. Robinson, Winnipeg, Victoria Hockey Club
D.W.F. Nichols, Winnipeg, Winnipeg Hockey Club
R.E. Melville, Montreal, Quebec Br. A.A.U.
Jos. B. Parker, Winnipeg, C.T.P.A.A.
Jas. G. Merrick, Toronto, Can. Olympic Assn.
Thomas Boyd, Winnipeg, A.A.U. of C.
Albert E. Vert, New Westminster, B.C.A.A.U.
Norman M. Mowat, Montreal, Montreal City H. League
Leo Dandurand, Montreal, Montreal City H. League
Norton H. Crow, Toronto Sec. A.A.U. of C.
W. Northey, Montreal, Allan Cup Trustee
G.B. Reid, Regina, Victoria Hockey Club
Those present at the meeting decided unanimously that a national governing body for amateur hockey should be organized and thus the Association came into being. A constitution and by-laws were drafted and adopted and Dr. W.F. Taylor of Winnipeg was selected as President, Francis Nelson of Toronto, Vice-President, and C.C. Robinson of Winnipeg as Secretary-Treasurer of the infant organization. It is noteworthy that the Association unanimously chose as Honorary President that outstanding Canadian figure, John Ross Robertson of Toronto, and for Patron, His Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught, Governor General of Canada.
Over the years the Association has become a truly national governing body with
other areas of Canada becoming members. The Quebec Amateur Hockey
Association joined the CHA in 1919, and in 1920 the Ottawa and District AHA
also became a member. In 1928 the Maritime Association, embracing the
provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, was
admitted to membership. Newfoundland made the Association truly Canada wide
in 1966, when the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association applied for and
was welcomed into membership in the CHA.In 1968, New Brunswick and in 1974, Nova Scotia requested permission to
withdraw from the Maritime branch and become separate members of the CHA.
These requests were granted and brought the total number of branches within the
CHA to twelve. In 1998, the Northwest Territories Amateur Hockey Association
was accepted as a member of the CHA setting the current number of branches to
thirteen.The first annual meeting of the Association was held in Winnipeg on December
10th, 1915. At this meeting it was decided that Allan Cup competition would be
conducted on a basis of elimination's in Eastern and Western Canada with the
winners of each section meeting in a final series, instead of the challenge system of
the Allan Cup trustees in vogue up to that time.Captain James T. Sutherland of Kingston was elected as President. Shortly
thereafter the President enlisted in the Canadian Forces and was absent from
Canada for the duration of the war and during his absence, J.F. Paston of
Whitby, Ontario acted in his place.On account of the conditions brought about by the war, no meeting was held in
the years 1916, 1917, or 1918.
The minutes indicate that the meeting of 1919 which was held in the City of
Toronto was a notable one. The Ontario Hockey Association had conceived of
an idea of a Junior Dominion championship along the same lines as the Allan Cup
competition and it provided a trophy for such competition to be known as the
Ontario Hockey Association Memorial Cup.Uniformity of playing rules was provided for, the rules of the Ontario Hockey
Association being adopted, and it was thought sufficient that 500 copies of these
rules be printed. It is interesting to note that today, over 100,000 copies of the
CHA Rule Book are distributed annually.The age limit for junior hockey was established at the 1919 meeting when the
OHA Memorial Cup was presented. Although the ìdeadlineî moved back and
forth a number of months, over the years, the age limit of 20 was maintained until
1974 when the regulation was changed to make this class of hockey open to all
players who are under 21 on December 31.There was considerable discussion at the 1920 Annual Meeting with regard to the
financing of the Association, and discussions took place with the Allan Cup
Trustees so that funds might be available from the playoff games conducted by the
Trustees for the financing of the Association. This arrangement continued until
1928 when control of the games was vested completely in the Association itself.Also at the 1920 meeting, the matter of branch-to-branch transfers was a matter
of concern, and this has continued to be so throughout the years.In 1921 the Association decided to appoint a National Registrar, and the late
W.A. Hewitt of Toronto, then Secretary of the OHA was selected to fill the post.
In 1925 this office was combined with that of Treasurer, and Mr. Hewitt
continued to serve in the dual capacity until his retirement in 1960. Mr. Hewitt
also served the Association for many years as a member of the Rules Committee
and, in his various capacities, the Association benefited greatly over the years
from his outstanding knowledge of the game.F.H. Marples of Toronto became Secretary of the Association in 1922 and held
this office, although not continuously, until his death in 1945. At that time the
Association named George S. Dudley of Midland, Ontario, to the position. In
1947 Mr. Dudley became Secretary-Manager of the Association and continued
in that position until his death in 1960.Following the death of Mr. Dudley, the office of the Association was moved from
Midland to Melville, Saskatchewan, with Gordon W. Juckes filling the posts of
Registrar, Treasurer, and Secretary-Manager. The Association took a major step
forward in 1967 when a National Office was set up for the first time. Winnipeg,
Manitoba was selected and remained the location for the National Office until
September 1970, when the Association moved to the new Sport Administration
Centre in Ottawa where much of the administrative affairs of the Association are
still conducted by a full time staff today.Amateur clubs in Canada have the opportunity to play for many fine trophies, the
most historic being the Allan Cup, emblematic of the Senior Championship of
Canada, and the OHA Memorial Cup, for the Junior Championship of Canada.
The Allan Cup, in continuous competition since 1908, has been retired to the
Hockey Hall of Fame, and a full sized replica is now used for presentations. The
Memorial Cup has been in continuous competition since being donated by the
OHA in 1919 and today this national competition has become one of the classics
in our sport.Over the years other trophies have been donated to the Association and a
complete history of all trophies can be found elsewhere on the Web site. The
history of the competition for the trophies is carried annually as an appendix to
the C.H.A. Rule Book.The Silver Jubilee of the Association was marked with appropriate ceremony at
the Annual Meeting of 1939, which fittingly was held in Winnipeg, the site of the
first Annual Meeting in 1915.Another milestone in the history of the Association occurred in 1964 when its
Golden Jubilee was observed. This Jubilee was held in the Chateau Laurier,
Ottawa, where the meeting which led to the formation of the Association in 1914,
was held. On the occasion of this Jubilee, a special commemorative bronze
plaque was unveiled in the lobby of the Chateau Laurier.. For this occasion,
CHA delegates were joined by many representatives from other spheres in our
sport, including the international field, professional hockey, and the Amateur
Hockey Association of the United States observed the occasion at the same time
and in the same location.In its early years the Association established and maintained a very strict code of
amateurism, but this has changed considerably with times down through the
years. One of the first relaxations of the early, Victorian idea of amateurism,
occurred in 1933 when provision was made to permit amateur players to try out
with professional clubs under very strict conditions.In 1935 a committee was appointed to consider methods of liberalizing the
definition of an amateur and the committee brought in a four-point proposal
which provided that a playerís amateur status should not be injured if he received
payment for loss of time while playing hockey; a position as a result of his playing
ability; if he took part in an exhibition game against a professional club or players;
or, if he were a professional in another line of sport. This brought on a very
considerable controversy with the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada, with which
the Association was then affiliated, with the result that in 1936 all links between
the two organizations were broken.In 1940 the Association took a further step providing that players would be
permitted to play in our Association even though receiving definite salaries. These
steps were inevitable in view of the great development of the game in Canada,
particularly since the provision of artificial ice surfaces and commodious and well
appointed arenas have occasioned the stretching out of the hockey season with
exclusive scheduling of games.An attempt was made in 1923 to introduce a working arrangement between
professional and amateur hockey. This proved abortive. But, in 1936
representatives of professional hockey and this Association met to discuss their
problems. As a result, an agreement was entered into which provided for the
recognition of certain matters by both organizations and for the provision of
uniform playing rules.An agreement between the CHA and the NHL, representing professional
hockey, continued from that time, until 1975, the conditions of the agreement
varying according to the times and the situation. Quite a few significant changes
were made to the agreement which was signed in May, 1967. The agreement
drawn up at that time provided for the elimination of professional sponsorship for
individual amateur teams. An amateur draft for players going overage for Junior
Hockey was implemented. The use of professional tryouts, and option forms for
amateur players, was eliminated. Under the new agreement a Joint Development
Committee was formed representing the NHL and the CHA, charged with
implementing a Development Program as an alternative to sponsorship.By 1975, because of the formation of a new professional organization, the World
Hockey Association, the NHL was no longer able or prepared to enter into an
agreement with the CHA. For a time after the formation of the WHA, the CHA
succeeded in having agreements with both professional organizations. These,
however, were terminated and today no formal agreement exists in Canada
between professional and amateur hockey.
Canadian Hockey has been represented in the international field by the
Association since the formation of the International Ice Hockey Federation
following World War II. Canada's participation in hockey, both Olympic and
World Championship competition, dates back to 1920. The day has gone when
Canada is an automatic winner in international competition, and the great
advances made in our sport in many parts of the world, and especially in
countries such as Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia,
have resulted in the Olympic and World Championship competitions becoming
an outstanding event in recent years.To meet the new calibre of competition prevailing in international hockey, the
CHA authorized in 1963 the formation of a National Team to represent our
country in the 1964 Olympics in Insbrook, Austria.The Association continued the National Team program over the next four years
until the spring of 1969 when this project was turned over to a new organization,
Hockey Canada, who was charged with providing a team, under the jurisdiction
of the CHA to represent Canada in the international sphere.Although World Championship play has continued almost annually since 1931,
Canada has not been given the opportunity to host the games. At the 1967 IIHF
Congress in Vienna, however, Canada was awarded the 1970 World
Championships. Later, at the Summer IIHF Congress in Switzerland in July 1969,
provision was approved which would entitle teams in the Pool "A" division of the
World Championships to use not more than 9 "non NHL" professional players. In
January, 1970 at an IIHF meeting in Geneva the question was raised as to the
effect this type of "Semi-open-competition" would have on the Olympic eligibility
of the players involved, and as a result of this the five qualified European teams for
Pool "A" in 1970 refused to compete under the Regulation which had been
approved in Switzerland in July 1969. As a result of this development, Canada
withdrew from the 1970 World Championships, and relinquished the right to host
the games, which were subsequently moved to Stockholm, Sweden.Although Canada did not participate in the IIHF World Championships following
our withdrawal in 1970, three major tournaments were organized in 1972, 1974,
and 1976. These tournaments had a great effect on international hockey and in
1975 the IIHF Congress in Switzerland approved unanimously the opening of the
World Championships to all players, professional and amateur. As a result of this
action by the IIHF, and the approval of the Canada Cup '76 Series in Canada, our
country returned to the World championships in 1977 and placed fourth in the
competition which was held in Vienna.In addition to participating in the Olympic and World Championship games, the
Association has been active, especially in recent years, in exchange visits between
Canadian teams and teams from many other countries. These exhibition tours have
taken teams to nearly every country in Europe, as well as on two tours of Japan.
In the exchange, teams from Japan, the United States, Russia, Sweden, Germany,
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, and Italy have visited this country to
display their prowess in our national game.Hockey has also been a popular sport in many parts of the United States, and the
CHA as far back as 1919 gave consideration to affiliation between amateur
hockey in Canada and amateur hockey in the United States. It was not until 1936,
however, that a definite agreement was entered into between amateur hockey of
the two countries. This agreement provided for a control over the movement of
hockey players and other matters of mutual interest.For many years, the Officers of the American Association had expressed a desire
to entertain the CHA at its annual meeting in the United States. And finally, in
1949 it was possible to arrange for this to be done. The meeting was held in New
York City and was an outstanding success, with the Americans outdoing
themselves in providing for the enjoyment and entertainment of their Canadian
guests. The second opportunity of a similar nature occurred in 1959 when both
Associations held their Annual Meetings, concurrently, in Detroit, Michigan. The
CHA was able, in a small way, to repay the hospitality of the Americans in 1964
when USA Hockey was invited to hold their Annual Meeting in Ottawa, Ontario,
and to join with CHA delegates in celebrating the Associations Golden Jubilee.When the Association was first organized, there is no doubt that the prime
purpose was for the administration and promotion of Senior Hockey and the
establishment of a National championship in this division.Introduction of the OHA Memorial Cup in 1919 stimulated interest in junior
hockey and this has continued throughout the years. But, undoubtedly, in recent
years, the greatest expansion within the Association has been on the Minor
Hockey level. The development of Provincial and Regional playoffs, and many
other promotional programs developed by the Association and its branches has,
in the modern era, brought thousands of Canadian boys into organized hockey.A major promotional project was instituted in 1958, and Minor Hockey Week in
Canada, held annually in January, is now an important feature in Canada's Minor
Hockey program.Through the financial support and interest of the National Hockey League,
Canadian National Exhibition, and the City of Toronto, our National game
received a permanent home in the Canadian National Exhibition grounds on
August 26, 1961, when John F. Diefenbaker, then Prime Minister of Canada,
opened the new Hockey Hall of Fame. Over the years our Association has had a
particular interest in the Hall of Fame, and representatives of the CHA have
acted on both the Governing Committee and the Selection Committee since its
inception. The Association has also been responsible, financially and otherwise,
for providing the amateur hockey displays. Today the National Trophies of the
Association are on view in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and there are individual
displays featuring all of the teams which have won the Allan Cup, the Hardy Cup,
the OHA Memorial Cup, and who have represented Canada in Olympic and
World Hockey Championship competition. A CHA meritorious award was
instituted in 1962, to honor those "who have for many years served amateur
hockey faithfully as players, coaches and Association members, and made
outstanding contributions to Canadian Amateur hockey". The newest CHA
display in the Hockey Hall of Fame is one which commemorates the winners of
this special award.It is not possible in such a short account to make mention of the many changes
which have taken place in the rules of games since the inception of this
Association. When the Association was formed in 1914, a team consisted of
seven players and no substitutes were allowed. Today a team is composed of six
players, and thirteen substitutes. There was no such thing as a forward pass,
offside play being strictly prohibited as was kicking the puck or touching it with
the hand. Introduction of the forward pass and many other innovations, which
have taken place over the years, have resulted in greatly accelerating the tempo
of play, and it would appear that this trend meets with general public approval,
judging from the recent support the game receives not only here in Canada, but in
many other countries of the world.The history of the CHA is a comparatively short one, but since that Inaugural
Meeting in Ottawa on December 4, 1914, it has had to meet the impact of two
World Wars, and to live through periods of both depression and prosperity.Its continued growth and progress is evidence of the capable leadership which
the Association, and its branches, have received over the years, and of the high
regard with which our National game is held by the people, and especially the
young people, of Canada.
Note:
The text history of canadian hockey posted here is NOT my own creation it is courtesy of theCANADIAN HOCKEY ASSOCIATION.
