First Recorded Ice Hockey Game on March 3, 1875

On March 3, 1875, the first known recorded indoor ice hockey game had taken place. It was on this day that Montreal, Quebec, Canada at Victoria Skating Rink hosted what it is recognized as the first recorded hockey game.

The game itself was organized by James Creighton where nine players were on team composed of members from the Victoria Skating Club. Before this game, a number of players that could fit on a frozen pond could play. With moving the game indoors, it limited the number of players used on each side to nine.

Victoria Skating Rink opened in 1862, and was largely used for ice skating in the winter months up until this game. The ice surface for the rink was 204 ft(62 m) x 80 ft(24 m) which is similar in size to today's NHL rinks across the league.

Previously, members used a lacrosse-style ball which was replaced by a flat, rounded piece of wood that is now referred to as a puck. The sticks and skates that were to be used for this game came from Nova Scotia, where Creighton was from. Rules that were used in a game played Nova Scotia adapted to the indoor game played at Victoria Skating Rink.

Another similarity to lacrosse was the puck had to go through two flags on the opponent's end that were 8 feet apart just like before when the lacrosse-style ball was used.

Creighton captained one team against another that had Charles Torrance as their captain. According to eye witness accounts and the Montreal Gazette newspaper, the game was a competitive one with Creighton's team winning 2-1. Most of the 18 players involved in the game were McGill University students.

After the game, reports of fighting had been mentioned. Many members of the Skating Club protested the use of the ice since it took away their time to skate as well as what the game did to the ice in general. It took place between the players and members according to reports with head and shin injuries to both as well as structural damage to the facility being reported, too.

The number of players on the ice wasn't reduced until the Montreal Winter Carnival Hockey Tournament took place in the 1880s when seven were allowed for each team. It wasn't until after the turn of the century that it was reduced to the current six players on ice for each team at a time.

Hockey began to get over with everyone in Canada after this game. By 1877, the first organized hockey club came in existence as Creighton founded a team at McGill University. They played their first organized hockey game in January that year.

Victoria Skating Rink would also be the host for the first ever Stanley Cup playoffs in 1894. Lord Stanley had watched his first hockey game in 1889 as he witnessed the Montreal Victorias defeat the Montreal Hockey Club 2-1. The Stanley Cup is the oldest sports trophy in North America.

On Valentine's Day in 1896, the rink hosted what the first game to be broadcast by wire. It was also the first time a team outside the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada(AHAC) won the Stanley Cup as the Winnipeg Victorias of the Manitoba League defeated Montreal.

Six different Montreal franchises have won the Stanley Cup, and the current NHL team Canadiens have won the most in league history with 24 of them. They are the oldest existing team in the NHL. The NHL organized in 1917, and currently has 30 teams with 24 of them in the U.S. and 6 of them still playing in Canada.

By the 1920s, the rink was no longer used for hockey. It was closed for good by 1937 and a parking garage was built in its place. Today, the garage is still being used at a local branch for National Rental Car.

As for Creighton, he would eventually move to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where he helped to popularize hockey there. In 1882, Creighton was appointed law clerk in the Canadian Senate which was a position he held for the next 48 years until his death in 1930.

In 2002, the International Ice Hockey Federation officially named the rink as the "birthplace of organized hockey". Creighton was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 as "the father of organized hockey".

Despite the recognition, there's been a debate over the years about when and where hockey began. England had played field hockey which many of the rules were adopted by Creighton. The Scottish game of shinty, the Irish game of hurling, and the northern European game of bandy have similarities to hockey as those games were played before.

Hockey is now the sport that is most synonymous with Canada as it has grown on them as a national pastime. Regardless of the debate of when and where hockey game, no other country in the world has embraced the sport more than Canada. This day in 1875 began the evolution of Canada's favorite sport of hockey in Montreal.

Photo is courtesy of William Notman which shows players at Victoria Skating Rink in 1893.

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