When Toronto won its first Stanley Cup

On March 11, 1914, the city laid claim to hockey’s most coveted trophy for the first time.

The 1914 Stanley Cup–winning Toronto Hockey Club pose for a team photo — The Toronto Hockey Club — known as the Torontos or Blueshirts — won their city’s first Stanley Cup in 1914. (Wm. Notman & Son, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

The team technically doesn’t exist anymore. Sadly, neither does its home arena. But the fact remains: Toronto won its first Stanley Cup on March 11, 1914.

On that date, the Toronto Hockey Club beat the Montreal Canadiens 6–0 at Arena Gardens, then an arena on Mutual St. between Dundas St. E. and Shuter St. It was the final game of a two-game championship series, which Toronto won 6–2 on aggregate to earn hockey’s most coveted trophy for the first time.

But wait: The Stanley Cup was awarded in two-game series back then? In March? Not always, as it turns out.

The Challenge Cup Era

It was the final days of the Challenge Cup era, which had been going on since 1893. At the time, the Cup changed hands whenever a defending team lost either its league title or a game or series for which a formal challenge had been accepted. As such, the Cup could be won more than once a year — in fact, the Montreal Wanderers won it a record five times in a single year in 1908.

The Toronto Hockey Club — known colloquially as the Torontos or Blueshirts — didn’t have to wait long to defend their title. As champions of the National Hockey Association (NHA), they were set to play the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) champion Victoria Aristocrats for the Cup in what would become an annual tradition between the two leagues.

On March 14, they began a three-game sweep of the Aristocrats to cement their second Cup victory.

Arena Gardens interior — Arena Gardens was the staging ground for Toronto’s first Cup, and the original home of the Maple Leafs. (Alexandra Studios, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

An Ending, and a New Beginning

The end of the Challenge Cup era was just the beginning of a period of change for pro hockey — both in Toronto and North America as a whole.

The original Blueshirts were left out of the founding of the National Hockey League in 1917 due to a feud between owners (long story), but a new Toronto Hockey Club team was created and brought into the mix. This team was made up almost entirely of Blueshirts players, and won the Stanley Cup in 1918 — again at Arena Gardens.

Some other quick facts:

The new NHL Toronto Hockey Club became known as the Arena Hockey Club of Toronto (or “the Arenas”) before the start of the 1918–19 season, then the St. Patricks in 1919, and then finally the Maple Leafs in 1927.
The 1918 Stanley Cup is considered the Maple Leafs’ first. They don’t claim the Cups won by the NHA franchise.
Originally opened in 1912, Arena Gardens continued to be the home of the Maple Leafs until 1931, when the construction of Maple Leaf Gardens was completed.
Arena Gardens eventually became known as Mutual Street Arena and then The Terrace, and stood until 1989. A residential complex and public greenspace (known as Arena Gardens) now sit on the same plot of land.

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