Princes Ice Hockey Club
Princes Ice Hockey Club was one of the most influential early European ice hockey teams and is sometimes considered the first ice hockey club in Britain.
The club was founded in December 1896 when Admiral Maxse granted Major Peter Patton permission to form an ice hockey team based at Prince's Skating Club in Hammersmith. Some of the other founding members included C.I. Napier, C. and R. French Brewster, and Vane Pennell. Princes initially played three other teams founded around the same time, Niagara, Brighton and Royal Engineers. Princes played against Hockey Club de Paris in Paris in a match using hockey sticks and a puck in December 1897.
London Canadians were founded at the same rink in 1902, and both teams participated in Europe's first ice hockey league, held from November 1903 to February 1904. Princes took second position in the five-team league.
They also played bandy hockey at the Davos International Bandy Tournament and the Grindelwald Cup. Charles Napier (a Canadian) described having to learn playing bandy "the old fashioned style" for these tournaments.
The team also faced the French Sporting Club de Lyon in a series of matches from 1904-1907. In 1908, they also played against FPB Brussels and several Swiss clubs. The same year, Princes faced Club des Patineurs de Paris in the first match in Britain under Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (international) rules. That winter, they entered the first international ice hockey tournament, held in Berlin, defeating the Berliner Hockey Club and Club des Patineurs de Paris to win the championship.[1] In January 1909, they won an international tournament known as the Chamonix Cup, defeating France in the deciding match after forty minutes of overtime.[2]
Over the next few years, along with London Canadians' successors, Oxford Canadians, Princes began taking European tours to popularize the game and encourage the standardization of rules. However, with the outbreak of World War I, Princes Skating Club closed, and with it the ice hockey team.
In December 1926, a new Princes team were founded, playing out of the Westminster rink. They moved to Queens in 1930 and entered the first season of the English League the following year as Princes and Queens, but in 1933 merged into Queens Ice Hockey Club.
Championships
- International: Davos International Bandy Tournament (1903-1904), Grindelwald Cup (1907-1909), 1908 Berlin International Tournament, 1909 Coupe de Chamonix, 1914 Les Avants Tournament
- Domestic: English Club Championship (Maxse Cup): 1899, 1900, 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1912, 1914.
Photographs
References
- Martin C. Harris, Homes of British Ice Hockey
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