1896 AHAC season

The 1896 Amateur Hockey Association of Canada season was the tenth season of play of the league. Each team played eight games, and Montreal Victorias were first with a 7–1 record. During the season, on February 14 the Victorias hosted a Stanley Cup challenge match with the Winnipeg Victorias club. Winnipeg won 2–0 to win the Cup.
==Executive==
* Watson 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
==Playoffs==
There were no playoffs as Montreal won first place exclusively.
==Exhibitions==
After the season, Montreal and Shamrocks played an exhibition series of 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)
The Montreal Victorias travelled to New York City for an exhibition against the New York Athletic Club. The Athletic Club records the date as March 4, (although the date conflicts with an AHAC game), won by the Vics 6–1.
==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. Winnipeg took a 2–0 lead in the first half of the game on goals by Armytage and Campbell, then played on the defensive in the second half.
Date 	Winning Team 	Score	Losing Team 	Location
February 14, 1896	Winnipeg Victorias	2–0 	Montreal Victorias	Victoria Skating Rink
==Schedule and 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 (6'00 overtime)
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
† Birthday of the Champion.
==Player statistics==
===Goaltending averages===
Note: GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals against average
Name 	Club 	GP	GA	SO	GAA
Fred Chittick 	Ottawa 	8 	16	1 	2.0
Frank Stocking 	Quebec 	8 	23	 	2.9
Robert Jones 	Victorias	8 	24	 	3.0
J. Drysdale 	Shamrocks	8 	30	 	3.8
G. Hamilton 	Montreal 	2 	8 	 	4.0
Herbert Collins	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, Albert 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
==See also==
* 1895–96 MHA season
*List of Stanley Cup champions
*List of pre-NHL seasons
==References==
*
* Podnieks, Andrew Lord Stanley Cup, Fenn Publishing Company, Ltd. 2004
*
*
;Notes
Category:Amateur Hockey Association of Canada seasons
Category:1896 in ice hockey