Treasures FROM THE HALL

CAHA | ORIGINAL MINUTE BOOK

MORE THAN 100 YEARS ago, a few dozen hockey men came together at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa and created the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, which is the forerunner to today’s Hockey Canada. These men were the trustees of the Allan Cup, awarded to the top amateur hockey team in Canada. Since the Stanley Cup evolved into an award given to the top professional team, the Allan Cup was created in 1909 to honor amateur players and teams. But an association was required to make sure things moved along smoothly. So Claude Robinson pitched the CAHA to trustee members and a group evolved to govern amateur hockey in the country.

The original minute book is a formal record of the organization being established. So why is such an iconic documentation handbook in such bad shape? Probably because it was constantly being referred to over the years by executives such as William Northey, Leo Dandurand, Murray Costello, Gordon Juckes, and now Tom Renney, who reviewed bylaws and regulations dating back to that first meeting. Today, updated CAHA annual articles are available online and exceed 200 pages.

The CAHA Minute Book is stored at the Hall of Fame’s Doc Seaman Hockey Resource Centre in Etobicoke. It occasionally makes an appearance at the Hall of Fame in downtown Toronto, most recently during Hockey Canada’s 100-year anniversary in 2014.

The Allan Cup was created as a challenge trophy open to any amateur senior team that won its league title. It was determined at that first meeting that surplus proceeds after expenses be donated to charities. The Ottawa Cliffsides were presented with the first Allan Cup in 1909. But a month after the presentation, they lost a challenge to Queen’s University.