| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1903 |
| Inaugural season | 1904 |
| Country(ies) | Canada |
| Ceased | 1909 |
| Last champion(s) | Renfrew Creamery Kings |
| Most titles | several teams won it once |
The Federal Amateur Hockey League was a Canadian men's senior-level ice hockey league that played six seasons from 1904 to 1909. The league was formed initially to provide a league for teams not accepted by the rival Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL). One team, the Montreal Le National, was the first francophone ice hockey team to play against anglophone clubs. The league's membership varied year by year, and suspended play once in mid-season. The league was a professional league for its last two years and was known as the Federal Hockey League. The league dissolved with the formation of the National Hockey Association (NHA).
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The league was formed December 5, 1903, at a meeting held at the Savoy hotel in Montreal.
The first executive officers were:
The first franchises were granted to the Wanderers, the Capitals, Cornwall and the Le National. Three of the four teams had been rejected for membership by the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL), while the fourth —the Montreal Wanderers— was composed of disillusioned players from two Montreal-based CAHL teams. Montreal Le National, a francophone athletic organization, which also operated a lacrosse club, had operated an intermediate team in the CAHL. Only the Cornwall team would still be a member of the league by the end of the 1906–07 season.
The league adopted the constitution of the CAHL, except that new teams could join on a majority vote, unlike the unanimity required by the CAHL; and that any players who played in another league would be permanently suspended from play in the FAHL. Games in Montreal would be played on week-nights, at the Montagnard and Victoria rinks to not conflict with the Saturday games of the CAHL.[1]
The Stanley Cup-champion Ottawa HC, aka Ottawa Silver Seven jumped from the CAHL to the FAHL for the 1904–05 season, while the Montreal Nationals went in the opposite direction and joined the CAHL.
The 1906–07 season ended early following the death of Owen McCourt of Cornwall, after an on-ice brawl in a game March 6, 1907 between Cornwall and the Ottawa Victorias. This led to criminal charges of manslaughter against Charles Masson of the Victorias, however he was acquitted as witnesses stated at the trial that other Ottawa hockey players had hit Mr. McCourt in the head prior to Mr. Masson's blow.
In 1907-08 the Federal League returned with only three teams, all professional. Brockville, unable to field a competitive team hired the Renfrew Creamery Kings club to play as the Brockville entry. This was unacceptable to the Ottawa Victorias, which refused to play the Renfrew players, causing the league to suspend operations.
The final season of 1908-09 saw Renfrew become a member of the league on its own. Ottawa's entry, called the Senators, was organized by former players of the Ottawa Hockey Club, such as Alf Smith, Bouse Hutton, Arthur Moore and Rat Westwick who no longer played for the first team. [2]
The league dissolved in 1909, with Renfrew joining the National Hockey Association. The Senators declined to continue when offered a place in the NHA.
| Season | Teams | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1904 | Cornwall, Montreal Le National, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Capitals | Montreal Wanderers (best record), Ottawa HC(winner of playoff) |
| 1904-05 | Brockville, Cornwall, Montreal Montagnards, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa HC† | Ottawa HC(best record) |
| 1905-06 | Brockville, Cornwall, Montreal Montagnards, Ottawa Victorias, Smiths Falls | Smiths Falls(best record) |
| 1906-07 | Cornwall, Montreal Montagnards, Morrisburg, Ottawa Victorias | Ottawa Victorias (awarded championship after Montagnards and Cornwall resigned from league) |
| 1907-08 | Brockville Invincibles, Cornwall, Ottawa Victorias | No champion |
| 1909 | Cornwall, Ottawa Senators, Renfrew Creamery Kings, Smiths Falls | Renfrew[3] |
† Stanley Cup winner