Princes Ice Hockey Club were one of the most influential early European

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 ...

teams and is sometimes considered the first ice hockey club in Britain. Founded in late 1896, the team was based at

Prince's Skating Club Prince's Skating Club was an ice rink in the Knightsbridge area of London, England. It saw a number of firsts for ice hockey in Britain and Europe. The rink was opened on Montpelier Square on 7 November 1896 by the Prince's Sporting Club. It ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

. They initially played three other teams founded around the same time,

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. London Canadians were founded at the same rink in 1902, and both teams participated in Europe's first ice hockey league, held from November 1903 to February 1904. Princes took second position in the five-team league. The team began taking on European opposition in 1906, playing Sporting Club de Lyon. In 1907, they played Lyon again, and also Brussels Club des Patineurs. In 1908, they faced C. P. P. Paris in the first match in Britain under Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (international) rules. That winter, they entered the first international ice hockey tournament, held in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, as "

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

", beating

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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In January 1909, again playing as England, they won a further international tournament held in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

, beating France in the final after forty minutes of overtim

Over the next few years, along with London Canadians' successors,

Oxford Canadians The Oxford Canadians were an English amateur ice hockey team, originally formed from Rhodes Scholars who were attending Oxford University. They were the first ice hockey team representing Canada to wear a red maple leaf on their uniform. They enjo ...

, Princes began taking European tours to popularise the game and encourage the standardisation of rules. However, with the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Princes Skating Club closed, and with it the ice hockey team. In 1927, a new Princes team were founded, playing out of the Westminster rink. They moved to Queens in 1930 and entered the first season of the English League the following year, but in 1932 merged into

Queens Ice Hockey Club Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

References

*Martin C. Harris, ''Homes of British Ice Hockey'' {{British ice hockey Ice hockey clubs established in 1896 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1914 Ice hockey teams in London Defunct ice hockey teams in the United Kingdom Sport in Hammersmith and Fulham 1896 establishments in England 1914 disestablishments in England