Rideau Skating Rink The Rideau Skating Rink was an indoor skating and curling rink located in Ottawa , Ontario , Canada . It was one of the first indoor skating rinks in Canada , opened in January 1889 . It was located on Theodore Street , ( now Laurier Avenue ) at Waller Street , at the present location of the Arts Hall of the University of Ottawa , near the Rideau Canal . While it was also used for figure skating and skating championships and curling , it is possibly most notable for its ice hockey usage . It was the site of the first recorded organized women ' s ice hockey game on March 8 , 1889 . It was also the site of the first Ontario men ' s ice hockey championship game on March 7 , 1891 . History . Skating was popular in the 1880s in Ottawa . Ottawans would skate on the Rideau and Ottawa rivers and the Rideau Canal , and at covered rinks such as the Royal and Dey ' s Rink . As in Montreal , costume skating carnivals were highlights of the social scene . By 1887 , the Royal Rink had been converted into a roller rink and the demand for ice time on the Dey ' s Rink was greater than the rink could supply . Due to the lack of ice time available , the Ottawa Hockey Club became dormant . Local investors , together with the Capital Skating Club decided to build a new rink , finer than Montreal ' s Victoria Skating Rink . The new rink was also to be used for curling , so the enterprise became known as the Rideau Skating and Curling Club . The project was sponsored by Lord Stanley , the Governor - General , who took shares in the project . The rink had separate skating and curling surfaces , and was laid out in an ' L ' plan , with one entrance on Theodore and one on Waller . The entrance on Theodore had a cupola . The roof was supported by 42 foot high arches . The construction was not without incident and the incomplete building collapsed in a windstorm on November 16 , 1888 , but the building was ready for skating in January 1889 . Lord Stanley participated in its formal opening festivities on February 1 , 1889 with a fancy dress carnival . Organized ice hockey activities began with a game on February 14 , 1889 , played between members of the Ottawa and Rideau social clubs . James Creighton captained the Rideau team and P . D . Ross captained the Ottawa team . The next day Ross and Creighton would officiate at a match between civilian and military teams . In 1894 , the rink was " improved and repaired " in time for an exhibition game on December 27 , 1894 between the Montreal Hockey Club and the Ottawa Hockey Club , won by Ottawa 5 – 1 . Starting in 1904 , the rink was used by the Minto Skating Club . Several Canadian figure skating championships were held there by the Minto Club , although the first official Canadian championship took place in 1914 in Montreal . In 1907 , a fire occurred at the rink , causing the cancellation of a planned Canadian figure skating championship . In 1916 , the rink was taken over by the federal government for World War I purposes . The curling club moved to Victoria Street , on the approximate location of today ' s Supreme Court of Canada building . In 1922 , a new Rideau rink was built nearby on Waller Street , to the east of today ' s ' Rideau Centre ' shopping centre . The new rink was eventually taken over by the Minto club exclusively and renamed the Minto Rink . The Minto Rink was destroyed by fire in 1949 . The club would build a new rink on Henderson Avenue . The original Rideau Rink was demolished to build the Fine Arts Building of the University of Ottawa . Ice hockey . First recorded women ' s games . Played on March 8 , 1889 , " Ottawa Evening Journal " reported that the lineups were : The " Government House " team won . The score was not reported . A seven - a - side game was recorded in the " Ottawa Citizen " on February 11 , 1891 at the rink : A ladies ' hockey match was played at the Rideau Rink yesterday between teams as follows : < br > No . 1 : Miss M . Mackintosh , captain ; Miss L . Wise , Miss Munro , Miss A . Ritchie , Miss Cambie , Miss Jones , Miss White . < br > No . 2 : Miss H . Wise , captain ; Miss A . Mackintosh , Miss M . Ritchie , Miss McClymont , Miss Burrows and the Misses Gordon . < br > Number two team won by two goals to 0 . First Ontario championship . The first championship game of the new Ontario Hockey Association was held on March 7 , 1891 between the Ottawa Hockey Club and Toronto St . George ' s . Ottawa won the game 5 - 0 . The game was attended by 1 , 000 fans . Lineups . The teams would later play an exhibition two weeks later in Toronto , which Ottawa won 4 - 0 at the Mutual Street Rink . Ottawa would play the same day against Osgoode Hall at the Toronto Victoria Rink , winning 6 - 2 . Other Hockey . The rink is known to have been used in Amateur Hockey Association of Canada men ' s play by the Ottawa Hockey Club in the years 1889 until 1895 . The club also returned to it for one season in 1898 . The Ottawa City Senior League held matches at the rink . References . Notes