Early British champions

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Champions have been crowned in British ice hockey since 1898. Some of the English Club Championships were awarded to the team that had the best results in games versus other squads at the end of the season. In other years, a final match was arranged to crown the champion. If no challenger appeared, the winner from the previous season would retain the championship "unchallenged".

Beginning with the first championship in 1898, the club champion was awarded the Admiral Maxse Challenge Cup (also referred to as the Prince's Challenge Cup), donated by Princes Ice Hockey Club owner, Admiral Maxse.

Other early competitions included the New Niagara Challenge Cup, played at the Niagara Ice Rink from 1897-1899, and the London Ice Rink Hockey Challenge Cup, hosted by Hengler's Ice Rink in 1903 and 1904.

In 1903, the English Ice Hockey League - the first organized hockey league in all of Europe - was founded. It was composed of five teams and ran for one season, 1903-04, with the London Canadians winning the league title and the Maxse Cup.

After the demise of the English League, champions were once again crowned via the Challenge Cup format. In 1911, a one-off "British Championship" was contested between Princes Ice Hockey Club and the Oxford Canadians. It was won by Oxford 11-2.

Club championships then continued through 1914, when hockey was put on hiatus due to World War I. After the war, no club champions were crowned again until 1928, when the United Services won the first of their two titles.

In 1930 the British Championship was contested for the first time. The winners of the Northern and Southern League championships played off for the Patton Cup. The London Lions defeated Glasgow in the final to claim the trophy. The British Championship would not be repeated again until 1960.

The London Lions became club champions in 1931, finishing the season undefeated. After this season, the winner of the English League came to be regarded as English champion. Scotland also crowned their own champions from their national league.

Champions

See also

Sources

  • International Ice Hockey Encyclopaedia 1904-2005
  • Canada: An Illustrated Weekly Journal for All Interested in the Dominion (article by B.M. Patton)
  • Chambers, Michael A. (ed.) (November 2000). Nottingham Panthers Statistical Guidebook 1946–2000. ISBN 0-9539398-0-4. 
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