Historic Hockey - 2025: A History Lesson on Ice

                                                                       

     Game action from 2025 Historic Hockey Series                                            2025 Champions - Queen's University                                             (Photos courtesy of Ian MacAlpine)

In 2025, the 55th Annual Historic Hockey Series was held for the second consecutive year - indoors!  On Saturday February 8th the Slush Puppie Place had to host this years event due to scheduling conflicts at the Springer Market Square. Spectators watched how the game was played and the rules that were used in 1886 in Kingston's first organized game between Queen's and RMC. The three traditional teams took part from Queen's University, RMC and RCHA Petawawa.

At this years event, the Queen's University team were the series champions - for the first time since 2019. Queen's opened the series with a 2-2 tie with RCHA before winning their second game 7-2 over RMC to clinch the title. RMC lost both of their contexts while RCHA had one win, one loss on the day. The Series MVP in was Caelan Baron who tallied a hat trick in the deciding game against RMC.  Baron became the first hometown Kingston player to win the Len Coyle MVP award in several years.  

The Original Hockey Hall of Fame would like to thank Colonel John Scott and Chief Warranty Officer Lori Flowers for dropping the puck for the ceremonial opening faceoff as well as handing out the RCHA Brigade Association Trophy to this years champions from Queen's University. Special thanks, as always, goes out to the RCHA Club for hosting the pre-game and post-game ceremonies. Another key contributor to the 2025 event were game day sponsors.  Boston Pizza provided the entire post game meal which is greatly appreciated.  Metro grocery store and Tim Horton's both provided pre-game food for the players. Thanks to the City of Kingston staff and arena staff for use of the Slush Puppie Place facility for this years games.    

The Historic Hockey Series is a re-enactment of the first organized games played on the Kingston harbour in the 1880s. Presented and organized each year by the Original Hockey Hall of Fame, it is a three-team round-robin series featuring Queen's University, Royal Military College of Canada, and the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, 2nd Regiment, from Petawawa, Ontario. The latter represents the British garrison soldiers who played "shinty" on the harbour as early as 1843.

The RCHA Brigade Association provides the championship trophy and this unique series offers a brief glimpse of how hockey got started and how the great frozen game has evolved. It's truly a history lesson on ice!

We hope to see you rinkside at next year's games!                                           

Historic Hockey Facts

Square Puck

Square pucks, made of wood or rubber, were used in hockey's earliest games. The original puck used in the first organized games in Kingston on March 10, 1886 (on display at the Original Hockey Hall of Fame), was made from a cut down lacrosse ball. It looks like a lump of coal, is made from soft rubber, and bounces far more than a modern hockey puck.

First and Only Goal

Queen's University's Lennox Irving scored the first and only goal in the initial RMC-Queen's game played on the Kingston harbour ice in 1886. 

The Cannon Roars

A nine-pound cannon, manned by the gun crew from 2RCHA Petawawa, Ontario, is part of what makes Historic Hockey so unique and special. The gun crew, resplendent in dress uniforms, fires a special charge each time 2RCHA scores.

Old Time Goal Posts

When the games were played on the Kingston harbour, wooden posts were frozen into the ice, six feet apart. The top of each four-foot post is marked by a flag, usually in the colours of the home team. Goals with nets were introduced in 1899, but the first patented net with crossbar did not arrive until 12 years later.

Goal Judge Flags

There was no red light to signal goals in the early days of hockey. Goal umpires, wearing white smocks, stand behind the goal posts, dodge pucks and wave a white flag to signal a goal.

The Referee's Bell

A hand bell, rather than a whistle, is used by the referee to stop play in Historic Hockey. Whistles had a habit of freezing on the outdoor harbour, so the referee rings his bell to signal a stoppage in play.

 

The Story of Historic Hockey

The Historic Hockey Series got its start in 1969, spearheaded by a great community promoter, the late Phil Quattrocchi. It became part of the Kingston Winter Carnival.

A few hundred spectators would gather in front of the Shoal Tower on the frozen Kingston basin to watch Queen's and RMC play a re-enactment game from the 1880s. The players, seven per side, were garbed in toques, turtle-necked sweaters, white knickerbockers and carried short field-hockey-type sticks. In that first match Queen's won 1-0 and the RMC team was actually represented by soldiers from 2RCHA in Petawawa.

The following year, in 1970, the Hockey Hall of Fame became involved and the RMC cadets participated, making it a three-team round robin tournament. The gunners from 2RCHA prevailed that year. In 2005, the series was moved from the harbour to the artificial ice surface at Springer Market Square. 

Where did the idea for Historic Hockey come from? Following the Second World War, a group of Kingston hockey players recreated the first shinny hockey game played by British garrison soldiers in the 1840s. They donned military-type uniforms, supplied by a costume company, and played a short game near the Shoal Tower. It was captured on film by Associated Screen News for a movie called Hockey Cavalcade that was shown across Canada.