Forgotten Heroes: Winnipeg's Hockey Heritage

By Richard Brignall

Ladies and Gentlemen, lace up your skates. In these pages find the origins of Canadian hockey and the birth of internation hockey. This book is about hockey all over North America and is a tribute to our widely forgotten heroes, because remember, hockey began here, in Manitoba. From amateur sport to pros, we couldn't be prouder of our heritage. Richard Brignall has chronicled this incredible history. He draws a picture of the pioneer Manitoban and Canadian athlete from before the turn of the century to when the game caught fire everywhere.

Let's brag about the Winnipeg Victorias, with an edge of your seat performance when they captured the Stanley Cup, first in 1896, and then for many more years, they brought the Cup home again and again. And mention the Winnipeg Falcons too, notable winners of the Olympic Hockey Championships in 1920 that placed us on the map as the world's best hockey team, and the world's biggest fans. Right from the get-go, every game, home, or away, Manitobans filled arenas to capacity year after year. Forgotten Heroes delivers history, but moreover it's an exciting play by play ride of the war on ice.

Richard Brignall storms passionately through time and scores a goal with this, the definitive story of world hockey.

Wear a helmet when you read this, hockey fan or not.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing
• Release date: Oct 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781990737213

Richard Brignall

Richard Brignall is a freelance writer, former newspaper sport reporter, based in Kenora, Ontario. He has over 130 articles published in magazines like Cottage Life and Outdoor Canada. He helped originate the Recordbooks series at James Lorimer and Company. This series focuses on Canadian sports history and issues like race, gender, disability, and poverty. He has written seven books for this series. Titles include Small Town Glory about the Kenora Thistles winning the Stanley Cup, Forever Champions about the Edmonton Grads women's basketball team, Big League Dreams about black baseball player Fergie Jenkins, and China Clipper about Chinese-Canadian football player Norm Kwong.

Book preview

Cover: Forgotten Heroes: Winnipeg's Hockey Heritage, written by Richard Brignall, shows collage of six photographs, 2 hockey players while playing, single player with a stick in dark coloured uniform with a white eagle image printed, eight hockey players posing with dark coloured uniforms and hockey sticks along with a man in suit standing in the center of the group, ten hockey players posing with white uniform with letter W printed and holding hockey sticks, two single players with hockey sticks.

FORGOTTEN HEROES

WINNIPEG’S HOCKEY HERITAGE

RICHARD BRIGNALL

Logo: J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing. Logo shows a silhouette of a man carrying an open book over his head.

Forgotten Heroes: Winnipeg’s Hockey Heritage

First published 2011 by J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing Inc.

©2011, Richard Brignall

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing Inc., except for brief excerpts used in critical reviews, for any reason, by any means, without the permission of the publisher.

Cover and interior design by Relish Design Studio

Edited by Ruth DeGraves

Photographs courtesy of Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and the Provincial Archives of Manitoba

Printed and bound in Canada on 100% post-consumer recycled paper

We acknowledge the financial support of the Manitoba Arts Council and The Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Brignall, Richard

Forgotten heroes: Winnipeg’s hockey heritage / Richard Brignall.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-897289-65-5

1. Hockey—Manitoba—Winnipeg—History. I. Title.

GV848.4.C2B75 2011         796.962097127’43         C2011-905726-3

J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing Inc.

P.O. Box 86, RPO Corydon Avenue

Winnipeg, MB R3M 3S3

Canada

For John Danakas, whose phone call that day in 2005 changed my life.

For my wife Shelley, for her continued support and understanding of what I do as a writer.

Acknowledgements

A book covering over seventy years of history is quite the undertaking. It took over three years to sell the idea to a publisher, research the subject, and finally write the book. Researching and writing are lonely activities, so I was lucky to have understanding and supportive parents, wife, and publisher. This book could not have been written without your continued support.

My primary research was done through the newspapers of the day. It was very interesting to read through the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Tribune microfilm archives at the University of Manitoba. Not only did I see the evolution of hockey, but also of a city and country. Other newspapers I sought out included the Kenora Daily Miner and News, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Toronto Star, and Toronto Globe and Mail.

Many individuals helped me in my search for information. I would like to thank Manitoba hockey historian Ed Sweeney, who helped me gain more insight into local history. He is an amazing statistician, and his unpublished book, A Century of Manitoba Hockey, was a valuable resource. I would also like to thank the Armytage family for letting me look through their family scrap-book of hockey and rowing history.

Even though I looked through seventy years of Winnipeg newspaper archives this book could not have been written without the writings of Vince Leah. His own monumental hockey book—100 Years of Hockey in Manitoba—filled in many of the gaps lost over time. His writings that also included the book Pages From the Past helped me see a more personal side of Winnipeg and its love of hockey.

History has a way of becoming forgotten and reading through old newspapers proved invaluable in recreating the excitement. The sports reporters from this time, in their own way, helped me find the stories. These journalists included Vince Leah, Hal Sigurdson, Tony Allan, Joe Mathewson, Scott Young, Maurice Smith, E.A. Armstrong, Jim Coleman, Trent Frayne, Scott Young, and Stewart McPherson. Some of the early journalists didn’t have a by-line, but they too were important in my research.

Other books that I used in my research included Sawchuk: The Trouble and Triumph of the World’s Greatest Goalie, by David Dupuis, Putting A Roof On Winter, by Michael McKinley, Before the Echoes Fade: The Story of Charlie Gardiner, by Antonia Chambers, Canada’s Olympic Hockey History 1920–2010, by Andrew Podnieks, Hockey is Our Game, by Jim Coleman, The Memorial Cup: Canada’s National Junior Championship, by Richard Lapp and Those Were the Days, by Stan Fishler. I also found this magazine article helpful, published in Manitoba History magazine, issue Spring/Summer 2002, called An Immense Hold in the Public Estimation: The First Quarter Century of Hockey in Manitoba, 1886–1911.

The Hockey Hall of Fame website, Legends of Hockey, was a valuable tool for player biographies. The Society of International Hockey Research was helpful in all aspects of this book, including player biographies and statistics. The website, www.winnipegfalcons.com, was put together by Brian Johannesson, son of former Falcon Konnie. It helped in discovering the Falcons’ true story and for visuals for the book.

For the majority of visuals for the book I would also like to thank Andrea Reichert of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame collections. She helped me through the archive and for many weeks took on the job of scanning photos for this book.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Section One Stanley Cup Years 1890–1909

CHAPTER 1—Hockey Comes West 1890–95

CHAPTER 2—Stanley Cup Challenge 1896

CHAPTER 3—Regaining the Glory 1897–1902

CHAPTER 4—Changing Face of Manitoba Hockey 1902–1909

Section Two Allan Cup Years 1908–1935

CHAPTER 5—Rise of Amateur Hockey 1908–1919

CHAPTER 6—Unlikely Heroes 1919–1927

CHAPTER 7—Back from the Brink 1927–1931

CHAPTER 8—Chasing Olympic Gold 1931–1935

Section Three Memorial Cup Years 1918–1959

CHAPTER 9—Junior Hockey Comes of Age 1918–1923

CHAPTER 10—Elmwood’s Time to Shine 1924–31

CHAPTER 11—The Rise of the Kingly Crew 1931–38

CHAPTER 12—The War Years 1939–1946

CHAPTER 13—One Last Time 1947–1959

Epilogue

Appendix

Index

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Contents

Prologue

Section One Stanley Cup Years 1890–1909

Chapter 1—Hockey Comes West 1890–95

Chapter 2—Stanley Cup Challenge 1896

Chapter 3—Regaining the Glory 1897–1902

Chapter 4—Changing Face of Manitoba Hockey 1902–1909

Section Two Allan Cup Years 1908–1935

Chapter 5—Rise of Amateur Hockey 1908–1919

Chapter 6—Unlikely Heroes 1919–1927

Chapter 7—Back from the Brink 1927–1931

Chapter 8—Chasing Olympic Gold 1931–1935

Section Three Memorial Cup Years 1918–1959

Chapter 9—Junior Hockey Comes of Age 1918–1923

Chapter 10—Elmwood’s Time to Shine 1924–31

Chapter 11—The Rise of the Kingly Crew 1931–38

Chapter 12—The War Years 1939–1946

Chapter 13—One Last Time 1947–1959

Epilogue

Appendix

Index

Guide

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Contents

Prologue

Start of Content

Epilogue

Appendix

Index

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Photograph of 9 young hockey players. Five standing in the front row and 4 behind. All wearing stripped jerseys, skates, and hockey padding. The front row players are holding hockey sticks, and the player in the centre is holding a goalie hockey stick.

Boys’ hockey team (approx. 12–15 years old). One player is wearing a jersey with BH on the front.

Prologue

When glancing at this book you might comment, This is a history of Winnipeg hockey, but the Winnipeg Jets are hardly mentioned. There is a reason for that omission.

When Winnipeg is brought up in a hockey conversation it usually becomes a conversation about the Winnipeg Jets. People remember the WHA glory days, their battles in the NHL, great players through the years, and the relocation of the franchise. For 15 years the question if an NHL team would ever return to the city would always bring further comment.

Thankfully, that important question was finally answered as the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg. It’s the second NHL franchise Atlanta gifted Canada. Anyone remember the Atlanta Flames? The Winnipeg Jets have been reborn, as has the city’s dream of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Winnipeg.

Even though in this book you will not read about Hull, Hawerchuk, or Carlyle, you will notice the driving factors for hockey supremacy have not changed over the years. Players by the forgotten names of Armytage, Bain, and Breen were pushing themselves to win the Stanley Cup 100 years ago and bring it back to Winnipeg. That dream for greatness has not changed over the past 120 years.

What else hasn’t changed is the love of hockey by Winnipeggers. Since its humble beginnings in the city in 1890, people have not only enjoyed playing the game, but also supported leagues and players in pursuit of a championship. People wouldn’t just flock to watch games and fill rinks, but would also fill the streets to hear the most recent telegraph reports from distant rinks. They had a connection to their hometown team, Our Boys, and a victory for the team would be a victory for the city.

It is in that spirit that the unthinkable happened in the spring of 2011. The NHL could not continue turning their backs on Winnipeg. The hockey spirit of the city won out again and this new future will be an interesting ride. People will fill the arena and watch Our Boys play, and support them when they are on the road carrying with them the Winnipeg name. It is said people should never stop dreaming. Winnipeg didn’t and their biggest dream came true.

It is said people should never stop dreaming. Winnipeg didn’t and their biggest dream came true.

Unfortunately, in this time of great joy the city’s amazing hockey history seems to be pushed farther out of view. Winnipeg’s place in the hockey world is still tied directly to the Jets. It’s too bad, as Winnipeg’s hockey history is vast and worthy of making Winnipeg one of the great hockey centres in Canada. Instead, we have cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa being cited as the great historic hockey centres in the country. It is time Winnipeg is given a place in this conversation and its achievements celebrated.

Forgotten Heroes celebrates the history of hockey in Winnipeg and across Manitoba. It recalls its origins, its greatest victories and disappointing losses, and the players who battled on the ice locally and across the globe. Local hockey teams have won every major hockey championship in the world. This province has produced

Black and white photograph of a referee trying to break up a fight on the ice. A player is on the ground and a member from the opposing team is being pulled away by the referee as members from both teams are gathered around watching. In the stands there are hundreds of spectators standing and watching.

1946 Memorial Cup

Black and white photograph of 1936-37 Monarchs hockey team posing as a team in front of Canada Cycle and Motor Company Limited shop. Total of sixteen players with long coats and hats, seven in the front row sitting in chairs, eight standing behind, and one in front kneeling on the floor on one leg.

1936–37 Monarchs

Stanley Cup, Allan Cup, Memorial Cup, Olympic, and World Championship teams. Players who grew up and developed their skills in Manitoba hockey leagues have provided talent to teams and leagues across the globe. These players and teams have been a gift to the history of the game.

Winnipeg’s hockey history is vast and worthy of making Winnipeg one of the great hockey centres in Canada.

It is unfortunate that in this current Information Age, these many histories have disappeared into oblivion over time. It is easy for us to forget our past, and as generations pass on it becomes even more difficult to regain it fully. As we can only predict the future, people should continue to embrace the past. This book is for people to learn about that forgotten history and be proud of Manitoba’s hockey players’ many achievements.

WSHL Winnipegs posing wearing white uniforms. Twenty-three men in total, five in the front row sitting in the floor, six behind them sitting in chairs, nine behind them standing and three at the top standing. All wearing white uniform that has Winnipeg maple leaf logo.

WSHL Winnipegs, gold medalists at the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, NY

Forgotten Heroes should not be an end to a person’s education in the history of hockey in Manitoba. This book covers hockey between 1890 and 1959 and there is a lot of hockey over those 70 years. So much information that only important parts could fit into this book. This book is best read with a pad and pen, writing down names for further research. Internet sites like the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Legends of Hockey give expanded biographies for players. And, any venture to the MTS Centre would not be complete without standing in front of the Manitoba Hockey Wall of Fame exhibit and reading the histories of Manitoba’s past greats.

Black and white photograph of Victorias hockey team posing in a dark coloured uniform that has overlapping VCH logo printed, each holding a hockey stick, and one in the middle in suit.

Victorias hockey team, 1892–1893, champions of Manitoba and NW Territories. Back row standing; left to right: Fred Higginbotham, J.C. Waugh, Jack Armytage—captain, Claude Temple. Front row: Jack McCulloch, Attie Howard, George (Whitey) Merritt, and Ford Thompson.

Section One

STANLEY CUP YEARS

1890–1909

1

Hockey Comes West

1890–95

Hockey was an activity that helped people get through the never-ending cold winter. Illuminated hockey rinks become a beacon to end boredom on those dark nights. But, through the years it has become much more than just a game. Canadians have developed a distinct relationship with hockey to the point where it is part of our national identity.

Current generations couldn’t fathom life without hockey, but there was a time when it was a new game just being discovered. When this unknown game of hockey was introduced to Winnipeggers it slowly grew in popularity and eventually became an integral part of life in the city.

Curling was the original winter pastime for Winnipeggers. A gentleman’s game played on a sheet of pebbled ice where delicate shots separate the victor from the defeated. But there came a time when people needed a little more action in the dead of winter—hockey would fill that void.

Three small-sized advertisements from the Manitoba Free Press. The first advertisement is for hockey sticks – 200 dozen now in stock. Second advertisement is for hockey pucks – first quality championship pucks, 35 cents each and Electric Tape black and white electric tape for hockey sticks 5 cents, 10 cents, and 35 cents per roll. Third advertisement is for Brydon Skating Rink, Citizens band performs Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Evenings.

Manitoba Free Press, clockwise from top: November 30, 1896, December 1, 1896, and December 26, 1898

The first recorded indoor hockey match was played on March 3, 1875, at Montreal’s Victoria Skating Rink. James Creighton was the organizer and most players during that game—members of Creighton’s McGill University rugby team—had never seen a hockey stick until that night. The forty people that watched the match didn’t know they were witness to the beginning of something great.

Seventeen years later, in 1892, the game of hockey took its next big step. The Governor General of Canada, Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, announced he would donate a trophy to be given to the top hockey club in Canada each year. The Stanley Cup and the dream of every hockey player to win it was born. But at the time of its inception, it was thought only eastern hockey clubs would compete for the Stanley Cup—they never thought a western club would ever send a worthy challenger.

During that time, when hockey went from an oddity to an obsession, Canada was also going through its own transformation.

The transcontinental railway pushed westward to join the two coasts of Canada, creating a single nation. It took with it an adventurous bunch of people. They were looking for a new life, setting up businesses and prospering. The game of hockey travelled west with these people.

It is believed a form of hockey, known as shinny, was first played in Manitoba during the winter of 1886–87 on the Red River. Later that same winter a few matches were played indoors at the skating rink known as the Royal Rink. The catalyst behind these games was a man named P.A. MacDonald.

It is believed a form of hockey, known as shinny, was first played in Manitoba during the winter of 1886–87 on the Red River.

He moved to Winnipeg in 1880 to practice law. In the winter of 1885–86 he travelled to Montreal and returned with a few hockey sticks. He arranged and participated in these first games. Hockey would not develop a large following in these early years. Games were scarce as there were no suitable rinks. To remedy this shortfall the Austin Rink was built in 1888. It would be the main venue for hockey games during the 1889–90 winter season.

RULES FOR THE GAME OF HOCKEY AS AMENDED BY THE MANITOBA HOCKEY ASSOCIATION 1892

The game is played on ice by teams of seven on each side, with a puck made of vulcanized rubber, one inch thick all through, and three inches in diameter. Hockey sticks shall not be more than three inches wide at any part. A goal is placed in the middle of each goal line, composed of two uprights four feet in height, placed six feet apart and at least five feet from end to end. The goal posts shall be firmly fixed. In the event of a goal post being displaced or broken, the referee shall blow his whistle, and the game shall not proceed until the post is replaced.

Each side shall have a captain (a member of his team), who before the match shall toss for choice of goals. Each side shall play an equal time from each end. The duration of championship matches shall not be less than one hour, exclusive of stoppages. The team scoring the greater number of goals in that time shall be declared the winner of the match. If at the end of that time the game is a draw, ends shall be changed and the game continued until one side scores.

There shall be only one referee for a match, and in no case shall he belong to either of the competing clubs. He shall enforce the rules, adjudicate upon disputes, or cases unproved for by rule, appoint the goal umpires, keep the time and the score, and at the conclusion of the match declare the result. The puck shall be considered in play until the referee stops the game, which he may do at any time and which he must do at once when any irregularity of play occurs, by sounding a whistle. His decision shall be final.

A goal shall be scored when the puck shall have passed between goal posts in front, and below an imaginary line drawn across the top of the posts. Goal umpires shall inform the referee when a goal is scored. Their decision shall be final.

The game shall be started and renewed by the referee calling play, after having placed the puck on its largest surface on the ice, between the sticks of the two players, one from each team, who are to face it.

A player is offside if he is in front of the puck, or when the puck has been hit, or is being run by any of his own side behind him between himself and his own goal-line). A player being offside is put on-side when the puck has been hit by, or has touched the dress or person of any player of the opposite side, or when one of his own side has run in front of him, either with the puck or having played it when behind him. If a player when offside plays the puck, or annoys or obstructs an opponent, or deliberately lingers offside, the puck shall be placed where it was last played before the offside play occurred.

The puck may not be stopped with the hand, except by the goalkeeper, but may be stopped, but not carried or knocked on by any other part of the body. No player shall raise his stick above his shoulder. Charging from behind, tripping, collaring, kicking, crosschecking, or pushing shall not be allowed. And the referee may, at his discretion, rule a player who has infringed the above rule, offthe ice for the game in progress, or for the whole match.

When the puck goes offthe ice behind the goal line, it shall be brought out by the referee to a point five yards in front of the goal line, on a line at right angles thereto from the point at which it left the ice, and there faced. When the puck goes offthe ice at the side, it shall be similarly faced three yards from the side.

The goalkeeper must not, during play, sit or kneel upon the ice, he may when in goal, stop the puck with his hands, but shall not throw or hold it.

No change of players shall be made after a match has commenced, except by reasons of accident or injury during the game.

Should any player be injured during a match and compelled to leave the ice, his side shall have the option of putting on a spare man from the reserve to equalize the teams. In event of any dispute between the captains as to the injured player’s fitness to continue the game, the matter shall at once be decided by the referee.

Should the game be stopped by the referee by reason of the infringement of any of the rules, or because of an accident or change of players, the puck shall be faced at the spot where it was last played before the infringement, accident, or change of players shall have occurred.

Photograph of Championship Cup. Cup has engravings of Manitoba Hockey Association 1892, Championship Cup. Presented by TA Anderson with his signature. Victoria Hockey Club – 1891-92.

1892 Manitoba Hockey Association Championship Cup

The first hockey club in Winnipeg was organized on November 03, 1890. Present at this meeting were J. Conroy, Jack Armytage, W. Rowan, E.R. Coleman, Attie Howard, Jack McCulloch and W.J. Elliott. They christened themselves as the Victoria Hockey Club, in honour of their sovereign queen. A crude constitution was drawn up to govern the club.

It wouldn’t be long before a rival club would appear. The very next week the Winnipegs Hockey Club was organized by C.D. MacDonnell, Fred Ashe, Robert Girdlestone, and Harry and Fred Beckett. They would be the Victorias’ primary competition over the next decade.

The playing costumes of the Winnipegs club will be white knickerbockers and white jerseys with a ‘W’ in dark blue on the breast and stockings of the same colour, reported the Manitoba Free Press.

On December 20, 1890, the first official Manitoba hockey game was played in Winnipeg at the Winnipeg Street Railway Rink which was located on Main Street close to the Assiniboine River. It was a match between the city’s soon-to-be-rival clubs, Victorias and Winnipegs. Fewer than 50 people turned out to watch the match.

At this time, because hockey was a relatively new sport that garnered little interest, these hockeyists had to pay double rate for the privilege of playing one hour in the only rink in the city. Two matches were played that winter. The Victorias won one game and the other ended in a tie.

The first official hockey league in Manitoba was formed before the 1891–92 season. The teams were the Victorias, the Winnipegs, and Fort Osborne. The league was called the Manitoba and North West Senior Hockey League (NWHL).

Representatives of the three city teams met on December 8, 1891, at the Winnipeg Hotel and arranged a schedule of games for the championship of Manitoba. Jack Armytage and Jack McCulloch represented the Victorias, Fred Beckett and Claude Dennison for the Winnipegs, and Lieutenants Victor Williams and Tom Evans for the newly organized Fort Osborne Club.

The Victorias would go on to win their first provincial championship.

The first game of the season was played at the Thistle Skating Rink on Market Ave. The Victorias and Winnipegs played to a 2-goal tie.

The Victorias would go on to win their first provincial championship. They finished the season with a 5-1-1 record. Jack Armytage and Attie Howard topped the league scoring with eleven goals apiece. A trophy was donated by Victorias President T.W. Anderson and was presented to captain Armytage and the Victorias for winning the championship.

To give this new league and hockey in Manitoba some legitimacy, the Manitoba Hockey Association was formed on November 11, 1892. It would govern both the provincial senior and intermediate leagues. They would also provide a set of rules that hockey would be played under in Manitoba.

The three clubs continued to play in the provincial senior league. The Winnipegs and Victorias both secured quarters in the newly built McIntyre Rink, while the Osbornes, who soon after began to be known as the Dragoons, played on the open-air rink at the Fort Osborne Barracks.

People’s curiosity about hockey eventually transformed into a deep passion. The increase in its popularity was highlighted by the larger crowds attending matches. The games played on Saturday afternoons generally tested the capacity of the rink. The spec tators began to understand the technicalities of the game and were quite enthusiastic in cheering on the efforts of their favourite team.

Two advertisements. The top advertisement is for McIntyre Skating Rink, W. H. Seach, Manager. Skating – afternoons 2:30 to 4:45. Evening 8 to 10. Ninetieth band in attendance Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Bottom advertisement for Citizens Rink, open every afternoon and evening from 2 to 4:45 and from 7:30 to 10 o’clock. Dragoons Band, nights, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

December 1, 1896

An indicator the game was spreading westward and gaining in popularity was the fact the small town of Portage la Prairie had entered a team in the provincial intermediate league. Hockey clubs and leagues would eventually appear in every city and town in western Canada.

Winnipeg wouldn’t always be the top hockey centre in western Canada, but over the next twenty-year period it reigned supreme.

HISTORIC HOCKEY RINKS OF WINNIPEG

Hockey rinks evolved at the same rate as the game. Early rinks would primarily be used for skating with people skating around in circles to the music of a live band. Hockey would soon take over as the primary tenant with the stands filled to the rafters with people watching an important senior hockey game.

The original hockey rink in Winnipeg was the Austin Rink, but it wouldn’t be its home for long.

The Grand Roller Rink was built in 1885 during a roller-skating craze. It was located at the corner of Princess and Pacific. Once the roller craze cooled offit became known as the Thistle Rink and became home to the Thistle Curling Club. In the fall of 1891 two men named Bryson and Charlesworth bought the property and turned it into a skating rink. The Bryson Rink was home for a single season of Winnipeg senior league hockey. It burned down in 1900.

The McIntyre Rink was the main hockey venue during the heyday of the Winnipeg Victorias. It was originally the Royal Rink and was used by the Granite Curling Club until 1892. Between the 1892–93 season and 1897–98 season it was used primarily as a hockey rink. It was called the Granite Rink, but was known as the McIntyre Rink because it was located on Albert Street behind the McIntyre Block. It remained in use until 1902.

The Auditorium Rink, located at the corner of Garry Street and York Avenue began operation in 1898–99. It was built at a cost of $20,000. Its ice surface measured 200 feet by 80 feet. It was considered regulation size, as it was roughly the same size as the Montreal Victoria Rink. It was Winnipeg’s ‘big game’ rink until after the First World War. The ‘Aud’ operated for 28 years until it was destroyed by fire on March 14, 1926.

Other rinks at this time included the Citizens’ Rink, Manitoba Rink, The Arena, and Winnipeg Rink. The Assiniboine Rink was on the Assiniboine River at the foot of Kennedy Street. The ice surface was the size of two hockey rinks. Like an indoor rink, it had electric lights and heated change rooms.

The Amphitheatre Rink, built in 1909, was originally a venue for horse shows. It was converted to a hockey rink in 1912. The building was located on the corner of Colony Street and Whitehall Ave. During the off-season it was used for dog shows, flower shows, political and religious gatherings, and boxing and wrestling cards. This became the primary rink in Winnipeg until 1955. The ‘Amp’ was closed down on May 31, 1955 and demolished by its new owner, Great West Life Insurance Company.

At this time the Olympic Rink was the primary hockey venue in Winnipeg’s north end. Originally known as the St. John’s Olympic Rink, it was built in 1923 at the corner of Charles Street and Church Avenue. It was transformed into a curling rink in the early 1960’s, but that only lasted a couple of seasons. It was levelled in 1969 to make way for a high-rise apartment building.

The Winnipeg Arena opened in October 1955. The first tenant was the Winnipeg Warriors of the Western Hockey League. Its original capacity was 10,177. The seating was increased to 15,350 in 1979 when the Winnipeg Jets entered the NHL. It closed on November 7, 2004 and demolished on March 25, 2006.

Auditorium rink 1900. A large auditorium with pitched roof and three arched windows on the top front of auditorium and a large door on the left corner of the building with few men and women standing outside the door. Walls of the auditorium are painted white.

Auditorium Rink, 1900

Olympic rink auditorium is a dark coloured brick building with several rectangular windows in the front of the building and a few cars are parked outside. There are 2 electric poles seen outside the building.

Olympic Rink

Photograph of Winnipeg All-Star team, 1893. Total 10 men seen in white uniform with large W letter on the uniform. Two sitting on floor, one leaning on another. Others sitting on a chair and posing for the photograph.

1893 Winnipeg All-Star team

As hockey spread Westward and gained popularity, the people in Winnipeg started to look east, back to the heart of the hockey world. They thought to legitimize themselves in this sport; the Winnipeg hockeyists would have to face off against the cream of the eastern hockey crop.

At the beginning of the 1892–93 season a Manitoba All-Star team was formed with the intention to go east to play exhibition games. It would be a combined squad, taking players from the three senior clubs. The team included Jack McCulloch, Jack Armytage, Fred Higginbotham, and Attie Howard from the Victorias; Fred Ashe, C.D. MacDonnell, Robert Girdlestone, Harry Beckett, Tarte Stowe, and Claude Dennison from the Winnipegs, and Captain Tom Evans from the Dragoons.

With this team, the Manitoba Hockey Association proclaimed this season of hockey would be the best hockey the west has ever seen.

The transcontinental railway would once again join east to west, only this time hockey supremacy was at stake. A chance for western men to show just how good they could be. And why not do it by playing the game so near and dear to their eastern hearts.

The Manitoba All-Stars would play games in Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, and Montreal. They didn’t know the level of competition they would be up against, but neither did the clubs in the east. With a sense of superiority, people in the eastern hockey circles didn’t give these western men much hope.

The Montreal Gazette wrote, The idea of Winnipeg hockey men playing in Montreal with anything like a chance of winning is so far out of the way that it is hardly worthy of consideration.

Most of their Ontario challengers helped pay trip expenses. The All-Stars looked for the same consideration from the Montreal clubs—it was flatly refused.

The Montreal club said, This is all very well for Ontario, but in Montreal there is no real reason why we should guarantee expenses. In fact, we have enough hockey as to keep ourselves busy, and we don’t think we can learn anything from Winnipeg.

Later, the All-Stars told the Montreal Herald that had it not been for that slur, they would not have gone to Montreal. But, they wanted to show the people in Montreal that they were not such duds as the Gazette sought to make out. Their play would