The Victoria Skating Rink was a sports arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which opened on December 24, 1862. It holds the distinction of having hosted the first-ever organized indoor ice hockey match on March 3, 1875, set up by James Creighton. The game qualifies for this title due to the presence of several factors which establish its link to modern ice hockey: it featured two teams, goaltenders, a referee, a puck, and the score was recorded. ARENA may refer to either: Nationalist Republican Alliance, a political party in El Salvador. ... Nickname: Motto: Concordia Salus (in unity, prosperity) Coordinates: , Country Canada Province Quebec Founded 1642 Established 1832 Government  - Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area [1][2][3]  - City 365. ... Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Capital Quebec City Largest city Montreal Official languages French Government - Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault - Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 75 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area Ranked 2nd - Total 1,542,056 km² - Water... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Ice hockey, known simply as hockey in areas where it is more common than field hockey, is a team sport played on ice. ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (63rd in leap years). ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... James Creighton James George Alywin Creighton (Born: 1850 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - Died: ???) was one the men originally responsible for the early popularization of ice hockey. ...

After years of neglect in the 1920s, the arena finally closed in 1937 before being bought and renovated as a parking garage. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The building still stands today and is currently owned by the Webster family, a prominent Montreal family, but is now leased to National, a car rental agency. It is located at 49 Drummond street, just south of St. Catherine Street and bordered by Stanley Street on the east and Dorchester Street (now Rene Levesque Boulevard) on the south. It sits adjacent to the Sheraton Hotel and is just a slapshot away from the Bell Centre to the south, home of the Montreal Canadiens, a franchise team in the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens (French: ) are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... “NHL” redirects here. ...

The Victoria Skating Rink had an ice surface of 10,000 square feet, a long gallery for spectators all the way around the ice, and was lit by 5,000 gas jets, set in colored glass globes.

The building was designed by Lawford & Nelson, Architects, and was originally a long (252' x 113'), two-story brick ediface with a pitched roof, 52-feet high, supported on the interior by elegantly curving wooden trusses springing from the ground and spanning the entire width. The ice surface measured 202' x 85' (dimensions which became the standard for today's NHL arenas) and was surrounded by a 10-foot wide platform or promenade, raised about a foot above the ice, on which spectators could stand or skaters rest. Tall round-arched windows punctuated its long sides and illuminated its interior, while evening skating was made possible by hundreds of gas, and later electric, fixtures. The basic requirement for this type of building was a shed covered by a long, wide-span roof. Possible models that architects might have looked to for inspiration are military drill sheds, first constructed in Toronto, Hamilton and London beginning in 1863, and train sheds, which by the mid-1800s had reached spans of nearly 100 meters.

On March 3, 1875 the rink hosted the first-known indoor, organized hockey match - the game was played on a confined area called a rink with a size, which basically defined the game, as we know it today. By moving this game indoors, the dimensions of the rink initiated a major change from the outdoor version of the game, limiting organized contests to a nine-man limit per team (there were no substitutions permitted in that era). This first game was pre-announced to the general public through The (Montreal) Gazette and was played between two informal teams, which included a number of McGill University students, under a pre-written set of rules, with a recorded score. In order to limit injuries to spectators and damage to glass windows, the game was played with a square wooden puck instead of a lacrosse ball, the first time such an object was used. A post-game story appeared in The (Montreal) Gazette the following day. McGill University is a publicly funded, co-educational research university located in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ...

By about 1880, membership in the Victoria Skating-Rink, "the largest and best skating rink in Europe or America," had reached 2,000, mostly drawn from Montreal's upper classes, who had the leisure time to participate in the fancy-dress balls which were a regular feature at the rink.

The Victoria Skating Rink was home to the Amateur Hockey Association's Montreal Victorias, who played there and hosted the first Stanley Cup matches in 1893. By that time, the building had gained an elevated balcony for additional spectators and a projecting loge, precursor of today's luxury boxes. This article is part of the Evolution of the NHL series. ... Montreal Victorias was an hockey team which played first in 1883 at the Montreal Winter Carnival. ... The Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (French: ) is the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL), the major professional ice hockey league in Canada and the United States. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

On July 2, 2002, the International Ice Hockey Federation issued a press release, announcing that it will actively pursue the idea to acknowledge the site of the Victoria Skating Rink with a “a commemorative plaque or other historical site marker to remind the passers by of the existence of the Victoria Skating Rink, the birthplace of organized hockey.” For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) was founded in 1908 as the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace and is the worldwide governing body for ice hockey and in-line hockey. ...

In 2007 the IIHF announced creation of the Victoria Cup, a trophy named for the arena, for which -- along with 1 million Swiss francs -- one NHL team and two champions from European leagues will play off annually beginning in September 2008. Part of the inaugural Victoria Cup ceremonies will be the erection of the historical plaque at the Victoria Rink site. 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

External links

• IIHF recognizes Victoria Skating Rink as birthplace of hockey
• Information on venue