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Victoria Skating Rink (Montreal)

An indoor skating rink inaugurated in 1862 in Montreal’s Golden Square Mile, the Victoria Skating Rink was a major social hub, a centre for sporting and cultural activities, and above all the birthplace of modern hockey, thanks to the first organized indoor hockey game in history, held on March 3, 1875. From 1884 onward, it became one of Montreal’s first large public buildings to be illuminated by electricity, reinforcing its status as a technological and social icon.

1. Overview

The Victoria Skating Rink is one of the foundational sites in the history of sport in Canada. Its exceptional ice surface, elegant vaulted structure, elevated promenade and central role in the social life of the Golden Square Mile made it a unique venue. Modernized as early as 1884 with electric lighting, it also became a technological showcase for Montreal. The rink hosted the first indoor hockey game (1875), the formation of the AHAC (1886), and the first Stanley Cup playoffs (1894).

2. Construction & opening (1862)

In 1862, the Victoria Skating Club undertook the construction of a vast covered skating rink measuring approximately 250 feet in length and 100 feet in width, featuring a promenade, seating areas, and an ice surface of 204 × 80 feet—then the largest in the country. The Montreal Gazette praised the structure as “one of the most elegant ever erected in our city.”

The inaugural evening of December 24, 1862 was announced the previous day by the Montreal Herald and Daily Commercial Gazette, which noted that music would be provided by the 47th Regiment Band: “The band of the 47th Regiment will be in attendance.” The notice added: “No admittance without Tickets” and “Doors open at seven o’clock.” The opening, described as “brilliantly illuminated,” drew an elegant crowd and immediately established the venue’s reputation.

3. Early years & social life

From 1862 to 1865, the Victoria served as a major social crossroads: evening skating, masquerade balls, artistic competitions, charitable events, and McGill student activities followed one another. Drawn largely from the anglophone elite, the public viewed the rink as a true winter salon at the heart of a rapidly expanding Montreal.

4. Military concerts (1863–1865)

Beginning in 1863, the Victoria also functioned as a concert venue. Bands from the 16th Regiment, the Prince’s Band, and the 47th Regiment Bugle Band performed there regularly. Among the announcements:

  • Feb. 20, 1863: “The Band of the 16th Regiment will play…”
  • Feb. 23, 1863: “Prince’s Band will play…”
  • March 16, 1863: “The Bugle Band of the 47th Regiment will play this afternoon…”

These concerts reinforced the venue’s cultural role and its close ties to the British garrison.

5. Horticultural exhibitions & summer uses

During the summer months, the Victoria Rink became a multipurpose exhibition hall. In August 1863, it hosted a major horticultural exhibition “open to all Canada,” featuring fruit, flowers, vegetables, songbirds, competitions, and agricultural displays. This function was essential in a city that then possessed few large public exhibition spaces.

6. Electrification of the Victoria Rink (1884–1885)

The Victoria Rink was among the first large public buildings in Montreal to adopt electricity. On February 1, 1884, the Montreal Star reported that the American Electric and Illuminating Company had been awarded the contract to light both the interior and exterior of the building. In September 1884, an announcement in the Montreal Herald described the venue as “beautifully lighted by Electric Lights,” confirming that the installation was in operation.

On January 26, 1885, the Montreal Herald further noted that electric illumination was now supplied by the Royal Electric Company, confirming a regular electrical connection. This modernization placed the Victoria Rink at the technological forefront of Montreal’s public buildings.

7. The first hockey game (1875)

On March 3, 1875, James George Aylwin Creighton organized the first structured indoor hockey game at the Victoria. He introduced a wooden puck, defined teams, a referee, and formalized rules. A violent altercation broke out among spectators, testifying to the passion the sport would soon inspire. This event is recognized as the birth of modern hockey.

8. Development of hockey (1881–1894)

The Montreal Victorias took up residence at the rink in 1881. In 1886, the first organized league—the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC)—was founded there. In 1894, the rink hosted the first Stanley Cup playoffs. The dimensions of the Victoria had a lasting influence on North American standards for ice surfaces.

“Guess who might have hung the flags and garlands when the Victoria Skating Rink hosted the very first Stanley Cup final in March 1894? My great-grandfather, Philorum Simard, was then working as a decorator for Maison Beulac, a firm specializing in the organization and decoration of major public festivities in Montreal at the end of the nineteenth century.”

— Alain Simard, Je rêvais d’un festival, Les Éditions La Presse, 2010, pp. 19–20. 13

9. Decline & disappearance (1900–1925)

The advent of artificial-ice rinks in the early twentieth century rendered the Victoria obsolete. Following a decline in attendance, it closed in 1925 and was demolished shortly thereafter. An IIHF commemorative plaque now marks the former site of the building.

10. Brief timeline

  • 1862 — Construction.
  • Dec. 24, 1862 — Opening (47th Regiment Band).
  • 1863 — Military concerts.
  • Aug. 1863 — Major horticultural exhibition.
  • March 3, 1875 — First indoor hockey game.
  • 1881 — Montreal Victorias.
  • 1884–1885 — Electrification of the building.
  • 1886 — Founding of the AHAC.
  • 1894 — First Stanley Cup playoffs.
  • 1925 — Closure & demolition.

11. Notes & sources

  1. MONTREAL GAZETTE, December 20, 1862 — article “Victoria Skating Rink.”
    MCPA use: description of construction, building dimensions and ice surface, and contemporary assessment of the rink’s architectural elegance. Supplementary sources: Holman, Canada’s Game; McGill Archives.
  2. MONTREAL GAZETTE, February 3, 1863 — article “Skating at the Victoria.”
    MCPA use: account of social attendance, practices, and the role of the Victoria Skating Rink as a centre of winter sociability in the Golden Square Mile. References: Poutanen (2015); Young (1996).
  3. MONTREAL GAZETTE, December 25, 1862 — article “Opening of the New Rink.”
    MCPA use: confirmation of the official opening date of the Victoria Skating Rink (December 24, 1862) and description of the inaugural evening.
  4. MONTREAL HERALD AND DAILY COMMERCIAL GAZETTE, December 23, 1862 — public notice.
    MCPA use: official announcement of the opening night, mention of the 47th Regiment band, admission conditions and opening hours.
  5. THE GAZETTE, March 12, 1925 — article “Old Victoria Rink to Be Demolished.”
    MCPA use: documentation of the decline, closure, and demolition of the Victoria Skating Rink. Supplementary cartographic sources: Goad fire insurance plans.
  6. MONTREAL GAZETTE, March 4, 1875 — article “A Game of Hockey.”
    MCPA use: contemporary account of the first indoor hockey game held on March 3, 1875, including rules, play, and public reaction. References: Wong (2005); Creighton Papers.
  7. MONTREAL GAZETTE, February–March 1863 — various notices.
    MCPA use: documentation of military concerts held at the Victoria Skating Rink by the 16th Regiment, Prince’s Band, and 47th Regiment Bugle Band.
  8. MONTREAL GAZETTE, August 26, 1863 — notice “PRIZES OPEN TO ALL CANADA….”
    MCPA use: description of the summer horticultural exhibition held at the Victoria Skating Rink, illustrating the building’s multifunctional use outside the skating season.
  9. RÉMILLARD & MERRETT, 1999; LOVELL’S DIRECTORY (various years).
    MCPA use: urban contextualization of the Victoria Skating Rink within the Golden Square Mile and documentation of its residential and institutional surroundings.
  10. COLEMAN (1966); PODNIEKS; HOCKEY CANADA ARCHIVES.
    MCPA use: historical data on the Montreal Victorias, the founding of the AHAC (1886), and the first Stanley Cup playoffs (1894).
  11. THE MONTREAL STAR, February 1, 1884; MONTREAL HERALD, September 11, 1884; MONTREAL HERALD, January 26, 1885.
    MCPA use: documentation of the progressive electrification of the Victoria Skating Rink (interior and exterior lighting), identification of the companies involved, and confirmation of regular electrical service.
  12. NOTMAN PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVES (McCord); BIBLIOTHÈQUE ET ARCHIVES NATIONALES DU QUÉBEC; MCPA COLLECTION (2024).
    MCPA use: iconographic sources illustrating the architecture, uses, and environment of the Victoria Skating Rink.
  13. ALAIN SIMARD, 2010, Je rêvais d’un festival, Les Éditions La Presse, pp. 19–20.
    MCPA use: memoir testimony referring to the role of Philorum Simard, the author’s great-grandfather and a decorator associated with Maison Beulac, in the decoration of major public festivities in late-nineteenth-century Montreal, notably during events held at the Victoria Skating Rink.

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