Amateur Hockey Association of Canada The Amateur Hockey Association of Canada ( AHAC ) was an amateur league founded in 1886 , in existence until 1898 . It was the second ice hockey league organized in Canada , after one in Kingston , Ontario started in 1883 . It was organized to provide a longer season to determine the Canadian champion . Prior to its founding the Canadian championship was determined in a tournament in Montreal . The 1893 champion of the league , Montreal Hockey Club was the first winner of the Stanley Cup , who were awarded the Cup as the champions of the AHAC since the AHAC was considered the top league of Canada . History . Beginnings . The AHAC was born on December 8 , 1886 when the representatives : of various hockey clubs met at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal at the instigation of the Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal . The first executive was composed of : They agreed that the season should run from the 1st of January until the 15th of March . The constitution would be adapted from a lacrosse league constitution . The teams knew each other . They had competed at four prior tournaments held in Montreal : The game . In that age , ice hockey was a very different game compared to today : the AHAC rules stated that there were six skaters on each side . These were defined as : The left wing , centre and right wing were the forwards , like today . The rover would line up behind the centre , with the point and coverpoint following , in an ' I ' formation towards the goaltender . The face offs were at a right angle to today ' s practice , the centre men facing inwards from the sides of the rink . The goaltenders used no special equipment . There were no goal nets . The goals were two posts , with no crossbar . An umpire would judge the legality of each score . There were no boards along the sides of the ice , and there were no standard dimensions for a rink , although dimensions were instituted for the positioning of the goal out from the ends of the rink . A match was two halves of thirty minutes ( also to note that in the day , " game " meant " goal " by modern definition ) . Sudden - death overtime was also in place , and a match would continue until a goal was scored in the event of a tie after regulation . Players in all positions would normally play the entire 60 minutes . Seasons Format . The AHAC operated on two different systems in its lifetime : the " challenge system " , where a championship team would face a new challenger each week for the championship , and the " series system " , which corresponds to the regular season found in the NHL today . With the exception of 1888 , the challenge system was exclusively used in the AHAC before the advent of the Stanley Cup , while the series system became the norm in 1893 , the first year the Cup was contested . The first championship team of the AHAC was the Montreal Crystals , having unofficially being declared the champions before the AHAC . The first title change occurred on January 14 , 1887 , when the Montreal Victorias defeated the champions 4 – 0 . The Victorias would hold the title until the very last challenge game , when the Crystals won 3 – 2 in their third successive challenge . Because of the Vics ' long run as champions , it was decided to switch to the series system in 1888 . The series system was a success , although a tie atop the standings between the Vics and the Montreal Hockey Club ( Montreal HC ) , and the subsequent scheduling of the tiebreaker game caused much trouble when the game was scheduled at a time when two Victorias players were injured , at the home venue of the Montreal HC . However , teams from outside Montreal incurred huge travelling expenses , which led the AHAC to revert back to the challenge system . First Stanley Cup . In 1893 , the first year since 1888 where the AHAC played under a series system , the Montreal Hockey Club lost their first game against the Ottawa Hockey Club , and proceeded to win their next seven en route to the championship . Lord Stanley announced that his challenge trophy ( later known simply as the Stanley Cup ) for the best amateur hockey team in Canada would be presented to the Montreal Hockey Club on May 15 , 1893 , as initial champion . At the time , the Montreal Hockey Club was in a dispute with its parent organization , the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association ( MAAA ) . The hockey club was adamant about refusing the trophy , while the directors of the MAAA decided to accept the trophy , considering it came from the Governor General of Canada . Thus , the trophy was accepted by the MAAA , but with none of the hockey officials of the hockey club present . After accepting the trophy , the hockey club remained adamant about returning the trophy that was presented to them . In the end , the MAAA investigated into why its hockey club wanted to refuse and return the trophy , even though such an action would damage the reputation of the MAAA . It was believed that the people who were in charge of running their team were , in fact , not representative of the team itself , and when the hockey club asked for a loan of $ 175 in start - up expenses for the 1894 season , it was flatly refused ( the first time the MAAA refused " anything " to the hockey club ) . Inexplicably , the hockey club reversed its position , and the next few months saw a gradual schism between the MAAA and the club . Indeed , the inscriptions on the Cup when it was successfully defended in 1894 only stated " Montreal HC " . The MAAA , at one point , considered the hockey club to have seceded from the organization that bore them . The issue would be finally resolved in later years , after various attempts at reconciliation . Teams . † Stanley Cup winner