page_title: Victoria Skating Rink
section_title: Decline
hierarchical_section_title: Victoria Skating Rink / History / Decline
caption_attribution_description: Victoria Skating Rink location, Montreal, from Stanley, today
context_page_description: The Victoria Skating Rink was an indoor ice skating rink located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened in 1862, it was described at the start of the twentieth century to be "one of the finest covered rinks in the world". The building was used during winter seasons for pleasure skating, ice hockey and skating sports on a natural ice rink. In summer months, the building was used for various events, including musical performances and horticultural shows. It was the first building in Canada to be electrified.
  The rink hosted the first-ever recorded organized indoor ice hockey match on March 3, 1875. The ice surface dimensions set the standard for today's North American ice hockey rinks. It was also the location of the first Stanley Cup playoff games in 1894 and the location of the founding of the first championship ice hockey league, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1886. Frederick Stanley, the donor of the Stanley Cup, witnessed his first ice hockey game there in 1889. In 1896, telegraph wires were connected at the Rink to do simultaneous score-by-score description of a Stanley Cup challenge series between Montreal and Winnipeg, Manitoba teams, a first of its kind.
context_section_description: By 1906, the building needed repairs and rather than spend money on rebuilding the Rink, the Victoria Skating Club sold the site to J. William Shaw, a piano merchant, who planned to build a concert hall on the site. Shaw planned to rebuild the structure into an auditorium of 2,000 to 2,500 capacity, suitable for orchestra or opera concerts. Shaw deferred his plans due to the high cost of construction and a low expectation of profits. He continued the use of the building for skating and hockey matches, introducing a summer use for car parking.
  Smaller hockey leagues continued to use the Rink, such as the Commercial and Steamship League, the Inter-School Hockey League and the Manufacturers' League. McGill University also occasionally used the rink. The final game of any note reported by the Montreal Gazette was a semi-final of the Canadian National Railway Hockey League (CNR) between Car Department and General Office on March 3, 1925, exactly fifty years after the first game. The playoff final game of the CNR league was not held at the Victoria; it was held at the Forum which had opened that season. The CNR game drew 1,200 spectators.
  During the summer months, dog shows, vaudeville performances, the horticultural show and various trade exhibitions continued at the Rink. By the 1920s, the building had deteriorated and the gallery became unsafe to use. Shaw sold the site in 1925 for $250,000 to the Stanley Realty Corporation to build a parking garage. The Victoria closed and a parking garage was built in its place.
caption: View from Stanley
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