Montreal Victorias
Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal

- Amateur Hockey Association of Canada / AHAC Senior Championship Trophy Winners 1896

Team Roster
Front Row L to R - Robert Jones (goalie), Reg Wallace.

Middle Row - Robert MacDougall, Shirley Davidson, Frank Howard Wilson (honorary vice-president), Fred Meredith (honorary president), Graham Drinkwater, Hartland MacDougall.

Top Row - Stanley Willett, P.M. Desterneck (secretary treasurer), Dave Gillelan, Harold Henderson, Mike Grant, Ernie McLea, Watson Jack (president), William Grant (vice-president), Cam Davidson.

The Montreal Victorias had won the AHAC championship for the 1895 season with a 6-2 record and were awarded the Stanley Cup as league champions.

The 1896 AHAC season started on January 3rd with a 7-5 Victorias win over Montreal Hockey Club. The Victorias had a 5-1 record when they played a Stanley Cup challenge match vs Winnipeg Victorias on February 14, 1896, at Victoria Skating Rink, losing 2-0 and the Stanley Cup. They finished the 1896 season with a 7-1 record, winning the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada / AHAC Senior Championship Trophy ..... seen here.

Robert MacDougall was the AHAC scoring leader with 10 goals in 6 games.

This photo is often referred to as the 1896 Stanley Cup champions, but they had not reclaimed the cup at the time of this photo, only the AHAC Senior Championship trophy.

NOTE
Before the start of the 1897 AHAC season, the Montreal Victorias submitted their challenge for the Stanley Cup on November 11, 1896, and travelled to Winnipeg, arriving on December 27 for the one-game challenge on December 30 at the Granite Rink, winning 6-5.

This was the 1st time a Stanley Cup challenge match was played outside of Montreal, which attracted media interest throughout the Dominion (Canada), which sent the price of $1 tickets to $5, with reports of tickets being sold for over $10.

Ernie McLea, Shirley Davidson, Robert MacDougall, Graham Drinkwater, Mike Grant, Harold Henderson, and Geordie Lewis (goalie) are the players that represented Montreal.

Ernie McLea scored a hat-trick in the game, including the Stanley Cup winning goal with 2 minutes left in the game.
McLea's three goals were the first hat trick in Stanley Cup history.