Prince's Skating Club

Prince's Skating Club
A print depicting skating at Princes.
Location	Knightsbridge, London
Opened	November 7, 1896
Closed	1917
Owner	Prince's Club
Surface	Ice
Tenants	Princes Ice Hockey Club (1896–1914) London Canadians (1902–1904) Oxford Canadians (1906-1914)
Capacity

An illustrated depiction of the February 6, 1903, match between the Canadian Rugby Club and the London Canadians, from the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.

Prince's Skating Club was an ice rink in the Knightsbridge area of London, England. It saw a number of firsts for ice hockey in Britain and Europe.

The rink was opened on Montpelier Square on 7 November 1896 by the Princes Sporting Club. It operated on a membership-only basis and was aimed at the elite of British figure skaters who wished to practice on uncrowded ice.

Prince's was the second large rectangular rink in Britain after Stockport, its ice measuring 210 by 52 feet. This made it an ideal venue for the developing sport of ice hockey.

The rink closed in summer 1917. The building was later used by Daimler Hire, and ultimately demolished.

Ice hockey

The rink was owned by Admiral Maxse, who granted Peter Patton permission to form Princes Ice Hockey Club at the rink at the end of 1896. It began playing challenge matches in early 1897, initially against the three existing teams in England: Niagara, Brighton and the Royal Engineers.

In 1900, the rink hosted the Ice Hockey Varsity Match to be played since 1895, although Oxford insisted on playing with bandy sticks and a lacrosse ball. The next year, another Varsity Match was held, this time using a puck and hockey skates.

In 1902, London Canadians was founded as a second ice hockey team at the rink. They and Princes participated in Europe's first ice hockey league, which they contested against Argyll and the Amateur Skating Club, both based at Hengler's Ice Rink, and Cambridge University. The league started in November 1903 and was completed in February 1904 after eight games. Canadians won the tournament, with Princes taking second place.

The league was not repeated, as Hengler's closed. Instead, Princes began undertaking annual European tours (as did London Canadians' successors, Oxford Canadians), while teams such as SC Lyon, Club des Patineurs de Bruxelles and Club des Patineurs de Paris came to play the London-based teams. The 1908 match with Paris was the first under Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (international) rules in Britain; it was also notable as Thomas Sopwith played in goal.

In March 1910, the first England-Scotland ice hockey match was held at the rink, but the sport was suspended at the start of World War I. Despite this, the British Ice Hockey Association was founded at the rink in 1914.

Figure skating

In October 1908, the figure skating events of the Olympics were held at the rink - the first ice sport ever included in the Olympics and the only occasion Olympic ice events have been held in Britain.

Notable Matches

This is a list of noteworthy games to take place at Prince's.

• February 13, 1897: Princes 6 - "Fenwick's Team" 3 (first match to be played at rink)
• March 16, 1900: Oxford 7 - Cambridge 6 (Varsity Match)
• March 17, 1900: Varsity Combination 7 - Princes 2
• February 6, 1901: Princes 13 - Oxford 4
• March 6, 1901: Princes 8 - Oxford 7
• March 15, 1901: Cambridge 6 - Oxford 5 (Varsity Match)
• March 16, 1901: Princes 10 - Varsity Combination 6
• February 19, 1902: Princes 9 - Cambridge 9
• March 15, 1902: Cambridge 9 - Princes 5 (Maxse Cup)
• 1902: Cambridge 5 - Princes 0
• November 1902: Oxford/Cambridge Combination tied Princes
• January 31, 1903: Cambridge 7 - Princes 7
• February 6, 1903: Canadian Rugby Club 5 - London Canadians 3
• November 17, 1904: London Canadians 8 - Amateur SC 5 (Ice Hockey League)
• November 21, 1904: Princes 9 - Cambridge 6 (Ice Hockey League)
• February 24, 1904: London Canadians 6 - Princes 3 (Ice Hockey League)
• March 20, 1906: Princes 8 - Oxford Canadians 4
• March 21, 1906: Oxford Canadians 4 - Princes 3
• December 5, 1906: Princes - Oxford Canadians
• December 12, 1906: Princes - Oxford Canadians
• March 16, 1907: Oxford Canadians 3 - Princes 2 (Maxse Cup)
• December 3, 1907: Princes 9 - Oxford Canadians 1 (also reported as 8-1)
• December 11, 1907: Oxford Canadians 8 - Princes 4
• February 19, 1908: Princes 10 - Oxford Canadians 2
• March 17, 1908: Princes 7 - Oxford Canadians 2 (Maxse Cup)
• December 2, 1908: Princes 7 - Oxford Canadians 7
• November 26, 1910: Oxford Canadians 7 - Princes 5
• March 1911: Princes 5 - Manchester 2
• 1912: Princes 4 - Manchester 1
• December 13, 1913: Princes 5 - Manchester 0
• December 1913: Princes 12 - Royal Engineers 3
• December 1913: Princes 9 - Cambridge 2
• March 1914: Princes 10 - Royal Engineers 5
• March 1914: Princes 10 - Cambridge 0

What in all likelihood was the final match played at Princes took place between members of the Canadian 228th Battalion in April 1917. The players, many of whom had played at the highest level in Canada, divided into "Toronto" and "Montreal" sides. The game ended in a 6-6 deadlock.

Further reading

• Martin C. Harris, Homes of British Ice Hockey

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