The Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

men's senior-level

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

league that played six seasons, from 1904 to 1909. The league was formed initially to provide a league for teams not accepted by the rival

Canadian Amateur Hockey League The Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) was an early men's amateur hockey league founded in 1898, replacing the organization that was formerly the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) before the 1898–99 season. The league existed for ...

(CAHL). The FAHL's membership changed in each of its six seasons of operation. During the FAHL's inaugural

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

season, the

Montreal Le National The Montreal Nationals (Le National de Montreal) were an amateur, later professional, and then amateur again men's senior-level ice hockey team. They are notable in that they were the first team to represent French Canada and were the first ice ho ...

became the first Francophone ice hockey team to play in a league with anglophone clubs. The 1906-07 season ended early due to an on-ice death, and the 1907 schedule was suspended mid-season. The FAHL was a professional league for its last two years and was known as the ''Federal Hockey League'' (FHL). The league dissolved with the formation of the

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), officially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Lea ...

(NHA). The FAHL, through league member

Ottawa Hockey Club Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of ...

, held the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

for the 1904-05 season.

History

1903–1906

The FAHL was formed December 5, 1903, at a meeting held at the Savoy hotel in Montreal. The first executive officers were: * President:

William Foran William Michael Foran (February 4, 1871 – November 30, 1945) was an ice hockey executive, Stanley Cup trustee and government official. For over 50 years, he was secretary of the Board of Civil Service Examiners and its follow-up organizatio ...

, Ottawa Capitals * Vice-president: W. Fitzgibbon, Cornwall * Second vice-president: A. Meunier, Nationals * Secretary-treasurer: J. Strachan, Wanderers. The first franchises were granted to the Wanderers, the Capitals, Cornwall and Le National. Three of the four teams had been rejected for membership by the

(CAHL), while the fourth – the

Montreal Wanderers The Montreal Wanderers were an amateur, and later professional, ice hockey team based in Montreal. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), the National Hockey Association ...

– was composed of disillusioned players from two Montreal-based CAHL teams.

, a francophone athletic organization, which also operated a lacrosse club, had operated an intermediate team in the CAHL. Only the Cornwall team would be a member for the FAHL's entire six seasons of play. The league adopted the constitution of the CAHL, except that new teams could join on a majority vote, unlike the unanimity required by the CAHL; and that any players who played in another league would be permanently suspended from play in the FAHL. Games in Montreal would be played on week-nights – at the Montagnard and Victoria rinks – to not conflict with the Saturday games of the CAHL. The inaugural 1904 season ended on February 24. Montreal Le National jumped to the CAHL, while the CAHL's

champion Ottawa Hockey Club (HC) jumped to the FAHL, immediately (March 2) defending the Stanley Cup and taking the one-week-old FAHL league championship away from the regular season champion Wanderers. The Ottawa HC would repeat as FAHL champion, and retain the Stanley Cup, in the 1904-05 season, before moving (with the Cup) to the

Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) was a men's amateur – later professional – ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with the top clubs from two other leagues: four ...

(ECAHA, later ECHA) for the 1905-06 season.

1906–07

The 1906-07 season ended early following the death of Owen McCourt of Cornwall, after an on-ice brawl in a game on March 6, 1907 between Cornwall and the Ottawa Victorias. This led to criminal charges of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

against

Charles Masson Charles Masson (1800–1853) was the pseudonym of James Lewis, a British East India Company soldier and reporter, independent explorer and pioneering archaeologist and numismatist. He was the first European to discover the ruins of Harappa nea ...

of the Victorias, who was acquitted when witnesses at the trial stated that other Ottawa hockey players had hit McCourt in the head prior to Masson's blow. Sources: A few of the players involved in the March 6, 1907 game: File:Owen McCourt.jpg, Owen McCourt File:Charles Masson, Ottawa Victorias.jpg, Charles Masson File:Art Throop, Ottawa Victorias.jpg, Art Throop File:Don Smith, Renfrew Hockey Club.jpg, Don Smith, while with Renfrew

1907–1909

The 1908 season saw the Federal League return with only three teams, all professional. Brockville, unable to field a competitive team, hired the

Renfrew Creamery Kings The Renfrew Hockey Club, also known as the Creamery Kings and the Millionaires, was a founding franchise in 1909 of the National Hockey Association, the precursor to the National Hockey League. The team was based in the founder Ambrose O'Brien's ...

club to play as the Brockville entry. This was unacceptable to the Ottawa Victorias, which refused to play the Renfrew players, causing the league to suspend operations. The final season, 1909, saw the Renfrew Creamery Kings become a full member of the league. Ottawa's new entry, officially called the Senators, was organized by players who resigned from the ECHA's (and former FAHL) Ottawa "Senators/Silver Seven" HC. The league dissolved in 1909, with only Renfrew continuing professional play when the team joined the

Teams

† Stanley Cup winner * The three 'multi-year' (1904–05, 1905–06, 1906–07) seasons started with a late December game, the 'single-year' seasons started in January. * After the 1904 season,

joined the CAHL. * After the 1904-05 season,

and

Ottawa HC The Ottawa Senators were an ice hockey team based in Ottawa, which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League (NHL) and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934. The ...

joined the

ECAHA The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) was a men's amateur – later professional – ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with the top clubs from two other leagues: four ...

References

General

Notes

Bibliography

*{{cite book , author=Coleman, Charles L , title=The Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1, 1893-1926 inc. Defunct ice hockey leagues in Canada