Keys to History

The Victoria Skating Rink was built in 1862 between Stanley and Drummond Streets just below St. Catherine Street in Montreal, and opened on December 24th of that year. Not the first indoor rink in the city but certainly the largest, it had an ice surface of 10,000 square feet and its measurements eventually became the standard for hockey rinks in North America. This picture shows the Victoria Hockey Club (foreground goal) playing against the Montreal Hockey Club wearing the "winged wheel" - the official crest of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. The game being played in Montreal's Victoria Skating Rink in 1893 was one in a series which resulted in the M.A.A.A. team becoming the first winners of the Stanley Cup.