In 1873,
James Creighton, a member of the Victoria Skating Club and a figure skating judge, started organizing sessions of
shinny at the rink, played informally between members of the Club and friends. The rules used were developed from the informal rules of the outdoor game played in
Nova Scotia where Creighton was born and raised, and adapted to the indoor setting and the rink's size.
First game On March 3, 1875, the Rink hosted what has been recognized as the first organized ice hockey game, The match lays claim to this distinction because of factors which establish its link to modern ice hockey: it featured two teams (nine players per side) with a recorded score. Games prior to this had mostly been outdoors. In order to limit injuries to spectators and damage to glass windows, the game was played with a "flat block of wood" instead of a
lacrosse ball. The two teams, members of the club, included a number of McGill University students. Sticks for this game were imported from Nova Scotia. This first game was pre-announced to the general public in the pages of
The Montreal Gazette: ;Announcement Victoria Rink – A game of Hockey will be played at the Victoria Skating Rink this evening, between two nines chose from among the members. Good fun may be expected, as some of the players are reputed to be exceedingly expert at the game. Some fears have been expressed on the part of intending spectators that accidents were likely to occur through the ball flying about in too lively a manner, to the imminent danger of lookers on, but we understand that the game will be played with a flat circular piece of wood, thus preventing all danger of its leaving the surface of the ice. Subscribers will be admitted on presentation of their tickets. ;Game report HOCKEY – At the Rink last night a very large audience gathered to witness a novel contest on the ice. The game of hockey, though much in vogue on the ice in New England and other parts of the United States, is not much known here, and in consequence the game of last evening was looked forward to with great interest. Hockey is played usually with a ball, but last night, in order that no accident should happen, a flat block of wood was used, so that it should slide along the ice without rising, and thus going among the spectators to their discomfort. The game is like Lacrosse in one sense – the block having to go through flags placed about 8 feet apart in the same manner as the rubber ball – but in the main the old country game of
shinty gives the best idea of hockey. The players last night were eighteen in number – nine on each side – and were as follows: – Messrs. Torrance (captain), Meagher, Potter, Goff, Barnston, Gardner, Griffin, Jarvis and Whiting. Creighton (captain), Campbell, Campbell, Esdaile, Joseph, Henshaw, Chapman, Powell and Clouston. The match was an interesting and well-contested affair, the efforts of the players exciting much merriment as they wheeled and dodged each other, and notwithstanding the brilliant play of Captain Torrance's team Captain Creighton's men carried the day, winning two games to the single of the Torrance nine. The game was concluded about half-past nine, and the spectators then adjourned well satisfied with the evening's entertainment. The nine-man per side practice would last until 1880, when it was reduced during the
Montreal Winter Carnival ice hockey tournaments.
After-game fight Not reported in the
Gazette, but reported elsewhere was that there was fighting after the game. This fighting was not between the on-ice combatants, rather, it was between the hockey players and spectators and members of the Skating Club. Members of the Skating Club were opposed to the use of the skating rink for hockey as it took away hours from other skating activities and it damaged the ice. According to the Kingston, Ontario,
Daily British Whig "Shins and heads were battered, benches smashed and the lady spectators fled in confusion." ==IIHF recognition==