The 1888–89 AHAC season was the third season of the

Amateur Hockey Association of Canada The Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) was an amateur men's ice hockey league founded on 8 December 1886, in existence until 1898. It was the second ice hockey league organized in Canada, after one in Kingston, Ontario started in 1883. ...

. Play was in challenges and started on December 15, 1888. The Montreal Hockey Club would win the final challenge of the season against the

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. ...

to win the Canadian championship for the second season in a row.

League business

The annual meeting of the Amateur Hockey Association was held in the

Victoria Skating Rink The Victoria Skating Rink was an indoor ice skating rink located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened in 1862, it was described at the start of the twentieth century to be "one of the finest covered rinks in the world". The building was used dur ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, on November 16, 1888. Representatives from most of the hockey clubs were present. The election for the ensuing year resulted as follows: * President, Mr. J. Stewart; * first vice-president, A. Shearer; * second vice-president, D. B. Holden; * secretary-treasurer, A. Hodgson. * Council — H. Kinghorn (McGill), S. Lee (Crystal), T. Arnton (Victoria), A. C. Higginson (Montreal).

Rule changes

The league reverted to the challenge system, hoping to attract teams from outside Montreal. Quebec would return to play in the AHAC. The number of games was reduced to only four. The league adopted a rule where the placement of the 'bully' or faceoff, could be played at the point of infringement, or at the point of play stoppage, at the choice of the captain of the offended team after a rules infraction.

Regular season

This season saw two teams from outside of

and Ottawa to make challenges. Halifax(Dartmouth) had not challenged for the national championships before, while Quebec had played in the Montreal tournaments. McGill did not return to mount a challenge this year. Ottawa did not play a challenge, but did play an exhibition against the Montreal Hockey Club in Ottawa. Halifax Chebuctos would play two games in Montreal, both played half under "Montreal rules", half under "Halifax rules". Halifax would lose 6–1 to Montreal and 4–1 to Crystals. Both games were played at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

skating rink. The two games are recorded in the overall record. The Chebuctos would play two games against Quebec, losing 8–0 and 5–1.

Overall record

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals scored

Goaltending averages

Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA =

Goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on s ...

League business

Rule changes

Regular season

Overall record

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Goaltending averages

Montreal HC 1889 AHAC champions

References

Bibliography

Notes