Rideau Skating Rink
Encyclopedia
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
rink
Rink
Rink may refer to:* Ice rink, used for ice skating* Ice hockey rink*Curling rink, used to refer to both a curling team and the playing surface*a roller rink, used for roller skating or roller hockey...
located in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, 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 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
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, near the Rideau Canal
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal , also known as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today, with most of its...
.
While it was also used for figure skating
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
and skating championships and curling, it is possibly most notable for its 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...
usage. It was the site of the first recorded organized women's 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...
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 RinkDey's Arena
Dey's Arena, also known as Dey Brothers Rink, Dey's Skating Rink and The Arena, were a series of ice rinks and arenas located in Ottawa, Ontario, that hold importance in the early development of the organized sport of ice hockey in Canada...
. 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.
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
. The roof was supported by 42 feet (12.8 m) 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
Philip Dansken Ross
Philip Dansken Ross was a Canadian journalist, newspaper publisher, sportsman and ice hockey pioneer builder....
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
Montreal Hockey Club
The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team is notable for winning the first Stanley Cup in 1893, and in a...
and the Ottawa Hockey Club, won by Ottawa 5–1.
Starting in 1904, the rink was used by the Minto Skating Club
Minto Skating Club
The Minto Skating Club is a competitive figure skating club in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1904. The Club is a member of the Skate Canada figure skating organization in Canada, and was a founder of the predecessor organization to Skate Canada, the "Figure Skating Department" of the Amateur...
. 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
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
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
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
.
First recorded women's games
Played on March 8, 1889, Ottawa Evening Journal reported that the lineups were:- Government House -- Miss Lister (captain), Mrs. Bagot, Hon. Isobel StanleyIsobel StanleyIsobel Stanley was the daughter of former Governor General of Canada Lord Stanley of Preston. While living in Canada, Stanley helped to popularize ice hockey and is considered one of the first women to play the game....
and Miss Kingsford - Rideau Skating club -- Mrs. Jones (captain), Mrs. Crombie and the two Miss Scotts
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:
No. 1: Miss M. Mackintosh, captain; Miss L. Wise, Miss Munro, Miss A. Ritchie, Miss Cambie, Miss Jones, Miss White.
No. 2: Miss H. Wise, captain; Miss A. Mackintosh, Miss M. Ritchie, Miss McClymont, Miss Burrows and the Misses Gordon.
Number two team won by two goals to 0.
First Ontario championship
The first championship game of the new Ontario Hockey AssociationOntario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the...
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
| Ottawa | Toronto St. George's |
|---|---|
|
|
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Referee - A. Z. Palmer |
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The teams would later play an exhibition two weeks later in Toronto, which Ottawa won 4-0 at the Mutual Street Rink
Mutual Street Rink
The Mutual Street Rink also known as the Caledonian Rink was a curling and skating rink located on Mutual Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the primary site of the sport of ice hockey in Toronto from the 1880s until 1912 when it was replaced by the Arena Gardens...
. 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 Hockey LeagueOttawa City Hockey League
The Ottawa City Hockey League was an amateur ice hockey league with junior, intermediate and senior level men's teams in Ottawa, Canada dating from 1890. It is considered the second ice hockey league to form in Canada. The senior league operated until 1945 and the junior league operated until 1957...
held matches at the rink.