Next year, lovers of Canada's national pastime will parade the Stanley Cup down Oak Bay Avenue to celebrate the storied history of a now-defunct Island hockey team.
100 years ago, the Victoria Cougars battled a hockey powerhouse for the Stanley Cup 鈥� and won.
鈥淥f all the many great sports moments that hockey has enjoyed on Vancouver Island, the Victoria Cougars victory over the Montreal Canadiens is the greatest,鈥� said Victoria Hockey Legacy Society (VHLS) co-chair John Wilson, who announced the 2025 event at the Penny Farthing Pub on Dec. 10.
Organized by the VHLS, the parade, slated for March 30, will allow the Victoria team to bask in the public spotlight again.
Founded in 1911, the Cougars played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association 鈥� a league that included Western Canadian and American teams 鈥� until 1924. Over the years, the Victoria squad played under a variety of names 鈥� including the Senators, Aristocrats and Canaries 鈥� and joined the Western Hockey League in 1925, after the Pacific Coast Hockey Association merged with the Western Canada Hockey League.
Until 1926, teams from several leagues competed against their NHL counterparts, which made the Cougars the last non-NHL team to win the prestigious trophy. A century later, no other B.C. has hoisted hockey's holy grail.
"The moment was recognized by the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1972," said Wilson. "More recently, the 1925 Cougars were inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame."
The Cougars clinched the series at Patrick Arena, which used to stand at the corner of Cadboro Bay Road and Epworth Street in Oak Bay. In 1929, the 4,000-seat building was destroyed by fire. Today, a monument at the site of the former rink marks the team's historic win.
Though the Cougars folded at the end of the 1926 season, the team's legacy continued.
鈥淎fter winning the cup, the Cougars would go on to become the Detroit Cougars and then the Falcons, before rebranding as the Red Wings,鈥� said Wilson.
In addition to spawning the original-six outfit, which would go on to win the Stanley Cup 11 times, the Cougars also changed the way hockey is played, thanks to the team鈥檚 coach Lester Patrick, who the Canadian Encyclopedia credits with helping build the world's first artificial ice rink in Victoria.
According to one of Patrick鈥檚 relatives, Gary Scott, hockey was different in the early 1900s than it is today.
鈥淭he game was kind of played like rugby before. There was no blue line. There was no forward passing at all,鈥� he explained at the Penny Farthing event. 鈥淭hey went down the rink like Canadian geese in a 鈥榁鈥� and passed it back to each other. It was complicated. There was too much whistle-blowing.鈥�
Scott added that Patrick pushed to incorporate a blue line into play, which allowed players to pass forward. Later, the NHL would adopt this rule.
鈥淚 don't know if people really realize Victoria's role as an important part of hockey history,鈥� added Scott.
The Stanley Cup returned last year for Scotiabank's Hockey Day in Canada, which took place in the Inner Harbour. The VHLS was formed to host the 2024 event, which generated almost $4 million in economic activity, according to the organization. It hopes the 2025 parade will help generate even more economic activity in the region.
To coincide with the Stanley Cup鈥檚 return, Oak Bay will host a number of other events next March, including a ball hockey tournament, minor hockey skating clinics, and a gala at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel. A songwriting contest will challenge hockey aficionados to write a song to honour the Cougars,and the winner will be awarded $5,000.
For more information about the event, visit: .
