Montreal AAA
Encyclopedia
Montreal Amateur Athletic Association is Canada's oldest athletic association, located in Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
. It was renamed as the Club Sportif MAA or just MAA (Montreal MAA) in 1999 after a brush with bankruptcy, but is still widely known as the MAAA. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the MAA was one of the most important sporting institutions in Canada, and North America, with affiliated teams winning ice hockey
's Stanley Cup
and Canadian football
's Grey Cup
and cricket
.
. These founding clubs shared the club space of the Montreal Gymnasium, located at Mansfield Street and de Maisonneuve Boulevard
.
In the 1880s, the MAAA organized the famous annual Montreal Winter Carnival. The Winter Carnival featured a temporary "ice castle" or "ice fort", which would be "stormed" in a mock attack, as well as several events, such as snowshoe races, toboggan slides, skating carnivals and ice hockey tournaments. The Sir Vincent Meredith
Trophy was awarded to the best all-round athlete in the MAAA.
The current clubhouse was opened in 1905, on Peel Street
in downtown Montreal, in the current commercial district. Due to problems with an aging population, the club switched from being solely member-financed during the revival of 1999. The high taxes on the clubhouse property in central Montreal exacerbated their problems.
The Montreal Hockey Club (MHC) was an ice hockey
team that played in the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) 1886-1898, the Canadian Amateur Hockey League
1898–1905 and the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
1905–1908, the Inter-Provincial Amateur Hockey Union
from 1908 afterward. The team won the AHAC title from 1888 until 1894, and won the Canadian Amateur Hockey League title in 1902. It was the first club to be presented with the Stanley Cup
, in 1893. They won again in 1894, March 1902 and February 1903.
The 1902 team was known as the "Little Men of Iron". After the 1903 season, players from the team formed the core of the Montreal Wanderers
professional club, who took on the "Little Men" nickname. After withdrawing from play with professional teams, the MHC club continued as an amateur club after 1908, winning the Allan Cup
in 1930. The club eventually became the Montreal Royals
ice hockey team.
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It was renamed as the Club Sportif MAA or just MAA (Montreal MAA) in 1999 after a brush with bankruptcy, but is still widely known as the MAAA. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the MAA was one of the most important sporting institutions in Canada, and North America, with affiliated teams winning ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
's Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
and Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
's Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
.
History
The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association came into existence June 1881 and began as a confederation of three sporting clubs: The Montreal Snow Shoe Club, The Montreal Bicycle Club, and The Montreal Lacrosse ClubMontreal Lacrosse Club
The Montreal Lacrosse Club was a lacrosse club in the Canadian city of Montreal, Quebec. The Club is notable in the history of lacrosse as it was responsible for establishing the first set of written rules of the game....
. These founding clubs shared the club space of the Montreal Gymnasium, located at Mansfield Street and de Maisonneuve Boulevard
De Maisonneuve Boulevard
De Maisonneuve Boulevard is a major westbound boulevard located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is named after the founder of Montreal, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve. De Maisonneuve Boulevard is about 11 kilometres long and begins on Havre Street in the east end, and ends in the...
.
In the 1880s, the MAAA organized the famous annual Montreal Winter Carnival. The Winter Carnival featured a temporary "ice castle" or "ice fort", which would be "stormed" in a mock attack, as well as several events, such as snowshoe races, toboggan slides, skating carnivals and ice hockey tournaments. The Sir Vincent Meredith
Vincent Meredith
Sir Vincent Meredith, 1st and last Baronet of Montreal , was a Canadian banker and philanthropist; President of the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts...
Trophy was awarded to the best all-round athlete in the MAAA.
The current clubhouse was opened in 1905, on Peel Street
Peel Street, Montreal
Peel Street is a major north-south street located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Street links Pine Avenue, near Mount Royal, in the north and Smith Street, in the Southwest borough, in the south. The street's southern end is at the Peel Basin of the Lachine Canal...
in downtown Montreal, in the current commercial district. Due to problems with an aging population, the club switched from being solely member-financed during the revival of 1999. The high taxes on the clubhouse property in central Montreal exacerbated their problems.
Ice hockey
The Montreal Hockey Club (MHC) was an ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team that played in the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) 1886-1898, the Canadian Amateur Hockey League
Canadian Amateur Hockey League
The Canadian Amateur Hockey League was an early men's amateur hockey league founded in 1898, replacing the organization that was formerly the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada before the 1898–99 season. The league existed for seven seasons, folding in 1905 and was itself replaced by the Eastern...
1898–1905 and the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association was a men's amateur, later professional ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with six clubs: four from the Canadian Amateur Hockey League and two from the Federal Amateur Hockey League, to bring...
1905–1908, the Inter-Provincial Amateur Hockey Union
Inter-Provincial Amateur Hockey Union
The Interprovincial Amateur Hockey Union was the premier amateur ice hockey league in Canada after the split between the amateur and professional ice hockey teams of the Eastern Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1908.-History:...
from 1908 afterward. The team won the AHAC title from 1888 until 1894, and won the Canadian Amateur Hockey League title in 1902. It was the first club to be presented with the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
, in 1893. They won again in 1894, March 1902 and February 1903.
The 1902 team was known as the "Little Men of Iron". After the 1903 season, players from the team formed the core of the Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
professional club, who took on the "Little Men" nickname. After withdrawing from play with professional teams, the MHC club continued as an amateur club after 1908, winning the Allan Cup
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. It has been competed for since 1909. The current champion is the Clarenville Caribous hockey club of Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:...
in 1930. The club eventually became the Montreal Royals
Montreal Royals (ice hockey)
The Royal Montreal Hockey Club, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, better known as the Montreal Royals is a defunct ice hockey club. The Club was formed in 1932 and operated various teams in men's junior and senior leagues until 1961...
ice hockey team.
Athletic achievements
- 1893 - Montreal Hockey Club wins its first Stanley Cup.
- 1894 - Montreal Hockey Club wins its second Stanley Cup.
- 1902 - Montreal Hockey Club wins its third Stanley Cup.
- 1903 - Montreal Hockey Club wins challenge to part-holder of title for 1903 Stanley Cup.
- 1904 - Étienne DesmarteauEtienne DesmarteauCompetitor for CanadaÉtienne Desmarteau was a Canadian athlete, winner of the weight throwing event at the 1904 Summer Olympics...
wins the gold medal in weight-throwing at the 1904 Summer Olympics1904 Summer OlympicsThe 1904 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the III Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States from 1 July 1904, to November 23, 1904, at what is now known as Francis Field on the campus of Washington University...
. He is frequently incorrectly credited as the first Canadian Olympic gold medalist. - 1912 - George HodgsonGeorge HodgsonGeorge Ritchie Hodgson was a Canadian swimmer of the early 20th century, and considered by many to be the greatest swimmer in Canadian history.He was born and died in Montreal....
wins two gold medals in the 1912 Olympics - 1920 - Russell Wheeler, becomes the Canadian Speed SkatingSpeed skatingSpeed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
Champion - 1930 - M.A.A.A. ice hockey team wins the Allan CupAllan CupThe Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. It has been competed for since 1909. The current champion is the Clarenville Caribous hockey club of Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:...
- 1931 - M.A.A.A. football club wins the Grey CupGrey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...