every city in Canada for information regarding the rules of hockey, but the result was unsatisfactory, because he could get none, When, shortly after, the Crystals and M.A.A.A. had formed teams, and the Ottawas and Quebecs had come into existence, the first successful matches, played under a code of rules that had been drawn up and accepted, were brought about by the challenge system. The first series of games took place during the first winter carnival, in 1884, and was played on the cold river rink, and the second, during the second carnival, in the Victoria rink, "when," as history relates, "the players were slightly interfered with by the erection of a large ice-grotto in the rink."
In 1887, the challenge system was done away with, and the Victorias, Crystals, Montrealers, Quebecs and Ottawas formed the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, which, in the good effects that it has produced, constitutes the second epoch in the history of the game, because from this date, hockey made rapid strides in its advancement as a popular, scientific sport.
The record of the winning teams is as follows:—
| 1887 | —Crystal of Montreal. |
| 1898–94 | —Montrealers of Montreal. |
| 1894–98 | —Victorias of Montreal. |
| [1]1899 | —Shamrocks of Montreal, who in 1894, obtained the Crystals' franchise. |
- ↑ In 1898, the clubs which formed this league separated from it and organized a new one, called the Canadian Amateur Hockey league.
