The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. The trophy was donated in 1909 by Sir H. Montagu Allan as a trophy for amateur teams, to replace the Stanley Cup, whose tournament had become a professional competition.
The trophy was originally presented to the Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal to present to the champion of their league, who then could be challenged by champions of other leagues. The Victorias were founding members of the first season of the Inter-Provincial Amateur Hockey Union (IPAHU). The first IPAHU champion, and by extension, winners of the Cup were the Ottawa Cliffsides, and the first challengers (who were successful) were the Queen’s University club of Kingston, Ontario.
In the early years of the Cup its trustees quickly came to appreciate the difficulties of organizing a national competition in so large a country. In 1914, at the suggestion of one of the trustees, Claude Robinson, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) was formed as a national governing body for the sport. One of the CAHA's first decisions, in 1915, was to replace the challenge system with a series of national playoffs. In 1928 the trustees turned over responsibility for the Cup to the CAHA. In 1994, the CAHA merged with the Canadian Hockey Association to form Hockey Canada.
Since 1984 the Cup has been competed for by teams in the Senior AAA category. The original Cup has been retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a replica is presented to the champions.
The Cup has been won by teams from every province and from the Yukon, as well as by two teams from the United States which played in Canadian leagues. The city with the most Allan Cup championships is Thunder Bay with 10, including four won as Port Arthur before the city's amalgamation.
Contents |
2008 Tournament
- Further information: 2008 Allan Cup
Winners of the Allan Cup
External links
