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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

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. I ...

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. It ...

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

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

and

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

. 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, as "

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

", beating

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

, beating France in the final after forty minutes of overtim

Over the next few years, along with London Canadians' successors, Oxford Canadians, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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.

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 the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 1896 establishments in England 1914 disestablishments in England