A Touch Of History

I'm in the midst of renovations once again on HBIC Headquarters, so keeping a finger on the pulse of the hockey world has been a little more challenging than normal. That being said, I still do occasionally check social media for a quick update on what's happening. It was there where I discovered the tweet you'll see below that led to this article being written as I think it's an amazing bit of hockey history that deservedly needs a little more context to the story. Like the picture above, let's bring this story to life by filling in a few key details about the image found in the tweet!

We'll start with the tweet put out by The Hockey Samurai because it's a beauty. If you're on Twitter and not following The Hockey Samurai, I highly recommed you do as the posts on that account are fascinating.

1912 Allan Cup Championship game face-off. Shea's Amphitheater in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg Victorias vs Toronto Eatons.

Note where the City Band is seated. Beats any private box of today.

Allan Cup was ordered to best amateur team in 🇨🇦 & is now given out to the best team in Sr AAA pic.twitter.com/7TTBv8um1i

— The Hockey Samurai 侍 (@hockey_samurai) August 21, 2022

The historical aspects alone in this tweet needed some context, but that's an incredible image that The Hockey Samurai posted. If you're familiar with Winnipeg, you may be asking "where is this Shea Amphitheater" considering this image is now mor than a century old. Winnipeg has, indeed, changed since 1912 when it comes to some famous buildings and structures, so the location of this venue may look entirely different now.

Before we get to where, the structure itself is rather incredible. As pointed out by The Hockey Samurai, the box where the band was seated is pretty incredible, but Shea Amphitheater doesn't really look like any historic hockey rink when looking at the bigger picture. Usually, seats would surround the rink with people sitting behind the nets, but it's pretty clear that wasn't the case in 1912. So what gives?

Well, Shea Amphitheater was constructed between 1908 and 1909 by architectural firm of Pratt and Ross for horse shows in the city! During winters when horse shows paused, the venue was flooded and used as an indoor skating facility where hockey games were often played. The rink itself was an odd size compared to what we see in the NHL as it measured 220 feet in length by 86 feet wide - twenty feet longer and a foot wider by today's standards!

What made Shea Amphitheater unique, though was that it was, for a short time, the only artificial ice surface between Toronto and Vancouver following the 1919 renovation that was undertaken inside the building to increase seating from 5000 to 6000 seats. The extra seats were vital to the amphitheater's survival as it began to be the epicenter for a lot of Winnipeg's events - horse shows, rodeos, gardening shows, public concerts, festivals, boxing matches, Shriners shows, and more!

Of course, hockey was the main event in the winter with the amphitheater being the official arena for a number of hockey clubs as early as 1910 including the aforementioned-in-the-tweet Winnipeg Victorias. The Winnipeg Monarchs, the 61st Battalion, and the Winnipeg Falcons, who won the first Olympic ice hockey gold medal in 1921, all called Shea's Amphitheater home throughout its time as a hockey venue in Winnipeg.

The Heritage Winnipeg website features a blog about Shea's Amphitheater, and it mentions some rather incredible hockey moments that happened in Winnipeg before the likes of the WHL or WHA rolled into town.

"By the 1930s, teams were now at the Amphitheatre vying for a chance to win the Memorial Cup. Junior championship games were also held at the Amphitheatre, drawing in local teams like the Elmwood Millionaires, St. Boniface Seals, Portage Terriers and the Brandon Wheat Kings. Sometimes even professional teams paid a visit, even though Winnipeg lacked their own professional hockey team at the time. It was not unusual, recalled Vince Leah in 1955, for teams to line up outside the building in freezing weather just for a chance to get tickets to an exciting championship game. In 1949, tickets for a sudden death match between Brandon and Montreal were on sale for only 22 minutes, and many hockey fans had been waiting outside for over twelve hours for a chance to buy them. The police were called to manage the disgruntled crowds."

As the Heritage Winnipeg site states, the amphitheater was flagged for fire safety concerns with it being called "one of the most flammable buildings in Winnipeg". Thankfully, the old barn never caught fire, but the city did tear down Shea's Amphitheater in 1955 when the city opened Winnipeg Arena for hockey on the edge of the St. James neighbourhood beside Winnipeg Stadium. One of the first indoor artificial ice rinks in Canada was no more.

To take this one step further, though, The Hockey Samurai did a great job in unearthing this photo, but we need to credit the photographer as well. The Heritage Winnipeg site has this information at the bottom of the image, and it seems that "Lyall Photo" is who is credited with capturing the image! For those asking, this image is publicly displayed at the Hockey Hall of Fame as well!

As for the game shown above, this was the second series of games contested for the Allan Cup in 1912. The first challenge saw the defending Manitoba Hockey League and 1911 Allan Cup champions in the Winnipeg Victoria defend their Allan Cup title against the Calgary Athletic Club in a two-game series at Shea's Amphitheater. Winnipeg won both games - 11-0 and 8-6 - to capture the two-game total-goals series at a 19-6 score to hold onto the Allan Cup through this first challenge.

The next challenge came from the Toronto Eatons as they travelled to Winnipeg, and they too were sent home empty-handed as the Victorias defeated Toronto 8-4 and 16-1 to win that two-game series by a 24-5 count in total goals. Ironically, the Victorias became the 1911 Allan Cup champions after the Toronto St. Michael's Majors refused to play the Victorias after being challenged, and were stripped of the Allan Cup as it was awarded to Winnipeg. Winnipeg would defeat the Kenora Thistles in a later challenge in 1911 to retain the Allan Cup prior to defeating Calgary in 1912.

A final challenge was issued by the Regina Capitals in 1912, and that game was played at Shea's Amphitheater as well. In a single-game challenge, Winnipeg downed Regina by a 9-3 score to retain the Allan Cup. With no further challenges against the Winnipeg Victorias made in 1912, the Victorias were crowned the 1912 Allan Cup champions!

I want to give a big stick-tap to The Hockey Samurai for posting this photo on Twitter for all to see, and I hope this quick look back at the story behind the photo gave a little context to what was happening in and around the hockey world at that time to lead to the Eatons and Victorias playing in a place called Shea's Amphitheatre.

For those asking where this rink was, the location of where Shea's Amphitheater used to stand is now part of the parking lot for the headquarters of Canada Life in Winnipeg on the corner of Broadway and Osborne. Canada Life, originally Great-West Life, built their building in 1960 after the Osborne Stadium came down shortly after Shea's Amphitheater had been demolished. And, to bring this full circle, Canada Life now holds the naming rights for the NHL arena in Winnipeg as the Canada Life Centre is located on Portage Avenue and Donald Street!

There's always something that can be discussed from the records of hockey's past, and this was a good one that showed the importance of a new rink to establish and help a hockey community thrive when there were so few indoor artifical rinks. As we've seen, the Allan Cup, the Memorial Cup, Olympic champions, and other great teams all skated there, and this is why I love hockey history.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!