The 1897 Amateur Hockey Association of Canada season lasted from January 9 until March 6. Each team played 8 games, and Montreal Victorias

Montreal Victorias

The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. The club played at its own rink, the Victoria Skating...

 were again first with a 7–1 record, retaining 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...

. The club won the Stanley Cup back from the Winnipeg Victorias

Winnipeg Victorias

The Winnipeg Victorias were a former amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, organized in 1889. They played in the Manitoba Hockey Association in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...

 prior to the season. This was their third-straight league championship.

Executive

• J. A. Findlay, Montreal (President)
• J. H. Dunbar, Quebec (1st. Vice-Pres.)
• W. C. Young, Ottawa (2nd. Vice-Pres.)

At the annual meeting on December 12, 1896, the secretary reported that the association had lost all of its records in a fire, except for its minutes

Minutes

Minutes, also known as protocols, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting, starting with a list of attendees, a statement of the issues considered by the participants, and related responses or decisions for the issues.Minutes may be...

.

Rule Changes

• No more than a 15 minute delay during a game
• No raising the stick above the shoulder except for 'lifting.'
• Executives were given the power to suspend club or player for foul play.
• Protests of games had to be made within two days.

Season

Clare McKerrow of Montreal HC

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...

 set a new record with six goals in the opening game against Quebec on January 9.

The Ottawa

Ottawa Senators (original)

The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...

 club moved to new Dey's Arena

Dey'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...

.

Final Standing

Team	Games Played	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals For	Goals Against
Montreal Victorias Montreal Victorias The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. The club played at its own rink, the Victoria Skating...	8	7	1	0	48	26
Ottawa	8	5	3	0	25	18
Montreal 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...	8	5	3	0	31	26
Quebec Quebec Bulldogs The Quebec Bulldogs were a men's senior-level ice hockey team officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club, later as the Quebec Athletic Club. Their recorded play goes back as far as the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1889, although the Quebec Hockey Club is known to have played since 1880...	8	2	6	0	22	46
Montreal Shamrocks Montreal Shamrocks The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886, merging with the Montreal Crystals club in 1896. They won the Stanley Cup ice hockey championship in 1899 and 1900...	8	1	7	0	27	37

Victorias vs. Winnipeg at Winnipeg

Prior to the season, Victorias would defeat the Winnipeg Victorias

Winnipeg Victorias

The Winnipeg Victorias were a former amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, organized in 1889. They played in the Manitoba Hockey Association in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...

 of the (Manitoba Hockey Association

Manitoba Hockey Association

The Manitoba Hockey Association was an early men's senior ice hockey league playing around 1900 in Manitoba, Canada. The league started as an elite amateur league in 1892, became professional in 1905, had a professional and an amateur league in 1908–09 and only an amateur league from 1909 until...

) 6–5, on December 30, 1896, to reclaim the Cup they had lost in the previous season to Winnipeg.

Date	Winning Team	Score	Losing Team	Location
December 30, 1896	Montreal Victorias	6 – 5	Winnipeg Victorias	Granite Rink, Winnipeg

Montreal	(6)	at	Winnipeg	(5)
Gordon Lewis		G	George Merritt
Harold Henderson		P	Rod Flett
Mike Grant		CP	Charles Johnstone
Robert McDougall		F	Colin "Tote" Campbell
Grham Drinkwater	1	F	Jack Armitage	1
Shirley Davidson	2	F	Attie Howard Tom Howard (ice hockey) Thomas Acheson "Attie" Howard was a Canadian amateur ice hockey player in the era before professional ice hockey. He was a member of the 1896 Winnipeg Victorias Stanley Cup championship team...	2
Ernest McLea	3	F	Dan Bain	2

Referee - Wendy Young, Ottawa

Umpires - A. Shearer, Montreal; D. Clark, Winnipeg

Exhibitions

Montreal played the Halifax Wanderers in Halifax, Nova Scotia on February 25, 1897. The Wanderers defeated Montreal 4–3 on a second-half goal after the teams were tied 3–3 at half-time.

Schedule and results

Month	Day	Visitor	Score	Home	Score
Jan.	9	Shamrocks	1	Ottawa	4
	9	Quebec	2	Montreal	8
	12	Montreal	4	Victorias	5
	16	Quebec	1	Ottawa	4
	16	Shamrocks	2	Montreal	3
	23	Victorias	6	Shamrocks	4
	23	Montreal	4	Quebec	2
	30†	Ottawa	0	Montreal	1
	30	Victorias	9	Quebec	4
Feb.	6	Victorias	4	Ottawa	2
	6	Quebec	1	Shamrocks	9
	10	Montreal	5	Shamrocks	1
	13	Ottawa	3	Victorias	1
	13	Shamrocks	3	Quebec	6
	17‡	Ottawa	4	Montreal	0
	20	Montreal	4	Ottawa	3
	20	Quebec	2	Victorias	8
	27	Victorias	7	Montreal	3
	27	Ottawa	1	Quebec	4
Mar.	3	Shamrocks	4	Victorias	8
	6	Ottawa	4	Shamrocks	3

† Protested by Ottawa who scored the tying goal in last few seconds but the goal was disallowed by the referee. The protest was upheld and the game replayed.

‡ Replay of January 30 protested game.

Goalkeeper averages

Name	Club	GP	GA	SO	Avg.
Chittick, Fred	Ottawa	8	18	1	2.3
Lewis, Gordon	Victorias	8	26		3.3
Collins, Herb	Montreal	8	26		3.3
Pagnuello, E.	Shamrocks	8	37		4.6
Stocking, Frank	Quebec	6	25		5.8

Scoring Leaders

Name	Club	GP	G
McKerrow, Clare	Montreal	8	12
Smith, Alf Alf Smith Alfred Edward Smith was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators, and Kenora Thistles. He had two brothers who played senior-level hockey Harry Smith and Tommy Smith...	Ottawa	8	12
Barlow, Billy	Montreal	8	10
McLea, Ernie	Victorias	8	8
Dobby, John	Shamrocks	8	7
Swift, Arthur E.	Quebec	8	6
Westwick, Harry	Ottawa	8	6
Davidson, Cam	Victorias	6	5
Doyle, Pat	Quebec	8	5
Horsfall, Herbert	Montreal	8	5

Members of Montreal Victorias who won the Stanley Cup on December 30, 1896

Montreal Victorias 1897 Stanley Cup champions