Allan Cup

Allan Cup

Allan Cup, trophy emblematic of the senior amateur hockey championship of Canada. It was donated by Sir Hugh Andrew Montagu Allan shortly after the Stanley Cup became the trophy of professional hockey.

After the organization of the National Hockey League, senior players who did not turn professional generally retired from the game. The Allan Cup was presented at this time to encourage amateurs to keep playing. It was made a challenge trophy open to any senior amateur club which had won the championship of its league that year. The cup was presented to the Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, to be defended by the champion of its league that year. Interest mounted to the point that challenges became too numerous, so the trustees arranged regional elimination.

In 1914 a meeting to form a governing body resulted in the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. In 1928 the Allan Cup was donated outright to the CAHA. In 1920 and 1924 the trustees financed the cost of sending a team to compete in the Olympic Games, and through the 1950s Allan Cup-winning teams such as the Trail Smoke Eaters, Whitby Dunlops and Penticton Vs represented Canada at world championship events.

See also Ice Hockey.