The following is a timeline which marks some of the most famous historical events that were instrumental in the evolvement of the sport of hockey in Canada.   The game was first called shinny or hurly and was played in Nova Scotia by British soldiers and also by immigrants from Iceland.  The word ‘Shinny’ is Canadian slang for an informal or pick-up ice or street hockey game.

1875 – The first recorded hockey game was played in an indoor rink between two teams at Victoria Rink in Montreal.

1892 – The first documented women’s game is held in Barrie, Ontario.

1892 – Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, an avid hockey enthusiast donated a trophy, known today as the Stanley Cup.

1893 – The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association became the first team to win the Stanley Cup.

1894 – A female club team, the Love-Me-Littles, is formed in defiance of the Archbishop at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

1917 – The creation of the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadians and the Toronto Maple Leafs as the initial clubs,  marked a major milestone in the sport’s organization and development.

1924 – The NHL expands into the US with the Boston Bruins joining the league.

1926 – The Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers join the NHL and establish the initial six teams later dubbed the ‘original six’.

1967 – The first major expansion of the NHL doubled the league size by adding 6 more US-based teams: the Los Angeles Kings, the Minnesota North Stars, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the California Seals and the St. Louis Blues.

1970 – The first Canadian expansion team to join the NHL is the Vancouver Canucks along with the border city Buffalo Sabres also becoming a member.

1990 – Canada wins the gold medal in the first Women’s World Hockey Championship; a success the Canadian National Women’s Team repeated in 1992 and 1994.

1994 – Hockey was declared Canada’s national winter sport.

The following infographic brought to you by Tucker Hockey, illustrates more interesting facts about hockey and the NHL including NHL top player salaries, NHL most valuable teams and NHL top scorers for the money!

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Women In Hockey Are Going Places!