1896 AHAC season

The 1896 Amateur Hockey Association of Canada season lasted from January 3 until March 7. Each team played 8 games, and Montreal Victorias were first with a 7–1 record. During the season, on February 14th the Victorias hosted a Stanley Cup challenge match with the Winnipeg Victorias club. Winnipeg won 2–0 to win the Cup.
==Executive==
* W. Jack, Victorias (President)
* Weldy Young, Ottawa (1st. Vice-Pres.)
* Clarence Mussen, Montreal (Sec.-Treasurer)
==Season==
The Crystals were allowed to change their name to Shamrocks, which matched their new affiliation with the Shamrock A.A.A.
===Highlights===
The Victorias were truly the class of the league and only lost once, 3–2 to Ottawa. Their regular season team goal total was nearly double that of Ottawa.
===Final Standing===
Team 	Games Played	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals For	Goals Against
Montreal Victorias	8 	7 	1 	0 	41 	24
Ottawa HC 	8 	6 	2 	0 	22 	16
Quebec 	8 	4 	4 	0 	23 	23
Montreal HC 	8 	2 	6 	0 	24 	33
Montreal Shamrocks	8 	1 	7 	0 	16 	30
===Results===
Month	Day	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Score
Jan. 	3 	Victorias	7 	Montreal 	5
Jan. 	4 	Ottawa 	2 	Shamrocks	1
Jan. 	10 	Montreal 	5 	Shamrocks	3
Jan. 	11 	Victorias	7 	Quebec 	5
Jan. 	18 	Montreal 	1 	Ottawa 	3
Jan. 	18 	Quebec 	2 	Shamrocks	1
Jan. 	25 	Ottawa 	2 	Quebec 	5
Jan. 	25 	Shamrocks	1 	Victorias	5
Feb. 	1 	Ottawa 	3 	Victorias	2
Feb. 	1 	Montreal 	1 	Quebec 	3
Feb. 	5 	Shamrocks	5 	Montreal 	3
Feb. 	8 	Shamrocks	1 	Quebec 	4
Feb. 	8 	Victorias	3 	Ottawa 	2
Feb. 	15 	Ottawa 	3 	Montreal 	2
Feb. 	22 	Quebec 	2 	Montreal 	3
Feb. 	25 	Montreal 	4 	Victorias	7
Feb. 	29 	Shamrocks	2 	Ottawa 	3
Feb. 	29 	Quebec 	2 	Victorias	4
Mar. 	4 	Victorias	6 	Shamrocks	2
Mar. 	7 	Quebec 	0 	Ottawa 	4
===Goalkeeper Averages===
Name 	Club 	GP	GA	SO	Avg.
Chittick, Fred 	Ottawa 	8 	16	1 	2.0
Stocking, Frank 	Quebec 	8 	23	 	2.9
Jones, Robert 	Victorias	8 	24	 	3.0
Drysdale, J. 	Shamrocks	8 	30	 	3.8
Hamilton, G. 	Montreal 	2 	8 	 	4.0
Collins, Herbert	Montreal 	6 	25	 	4.1
===Scoring Leaders===
Name 	Club 	GP	G
McDougall, Robert 	Victorias	6 	10
McKerrow, Clare 	Montreal 	6 	8
Davidson, Shirley 	Victorias	7 	8
Swift, Arthur E. 	Quebec 	8 	8
Westwick, Harry 	Ottawa 	8 	8
Drinkwater, Graham	Victorias	8 	7
Smith, Alf 	Ottawa 	8 	7
Doyle, Pat 	Quebec 	8 	6
Gillilan, David 	Victorias	3 	5
Mussen, Adurey 	Montreal 	5 	5
==Playoffs==
There were no playoffs as Montreal won first place exclusively.
==Exhibitions==
After the season, Montreal and Shamrocks played exhibition games in the United States:
; Washington, March 7, 1896
:
Shamrocks 3, Montreal 1
;Baltimore, March 9, 1896
:
Montreal 6, Shamrocks 5
; New York, March 10, 1896
:
Montreal 1, Shamrocks 1 ( completed March 11 with Shamrocks winning 2–1)
==Stanley Cup challenge==
===Victorias vs. Winnipeg at Montreal===
The first successful challenge to the Cup came in February 1896 by the Winnipeg Victorias, the champions of the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA). On February 14, Winnipeg beat defending champion Montreal Victorias, 2–0, becoming the first team outside the AHAC to win the Cup.
Date 	Winning Team 	Score	Losing Team 	Location
February 14, 1896	Winnipeg Victorias	2 – 0	Montreal Victorias	Victoria Rink
Winnipeg at Montreal
Winnipeg 	(2)	at 	Montreal 	(0)
George Merritt 	 	G 	Robert Jones 	
Rod Flett 	 	P 	Harold Henderson 	
Fred Higginbotham 	 	CP 	Mike Grant 	
Jack Armytage 	 	F 	Robert McDougall 	
Colin "Tote" Campbell	1 	F 	Shirley Davidson 	
Dan Bain 	1 	F 	Ernest McLea 	
Attie Howard 	 	F 	Reg Wallace 	
 	 	sub	Hartland McDougall	
Referee - A. F. Martin
According to The Globe, in its report on the game:
The westerners started in with a rush and scored the two games; one in ten minutes and one in nine minutes before the Vics seemed to waken up. For the rest of the first half, the honors were even. In the second half, the Winnipeggers were strictly on the defensive. Shot after shot was fired on their goal but the Vics could not score due to the superb work of Merritt, the visitor's goalkeeper. The match ended 2 to 0 in favour of the visitors. Both sides were dissatisfied with the work of Mr. Alexis Martin of Toronto as referee; claiming he was utterly ignorant of the rules, an opinion which seemed to be shared by the spectators.
==Winnipeg Victorias 1896 Stanley Cup champions==
*Defence
*Rod Flett(point),
*Fred Higginbotham (coverpoint),
* Charles Johnston(coverpoint)
*Forwards
*Dan Bain(center),
*Jack Armytage(Captain),
*Colin "Tote" Campbell,
*Attie Howard
*Goaltenders
*George Merritt
*E. B. Nixson (President), Abe Code (Vice President/Manager), J, Carter (Trainer/Mascot)
*(Two on non-players first name are unknown.)
*Engraving-notes
*VICTORIAS
*-- of --
*WINNIPEG
*-- 1896 --
==Game Ads==
1896WinVic.jpg|Winnipeg Victorias
==Game Ads==
96AHACQuebecGameAd.jpg|Quebec City
Category:Amateur Hockey Association of Canada seasons
Category:1896 in ice hockey
Category:Stanley Cup