PM pays tribute to the "father" of organized hockey

On May 22, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that McGill Law alumnus James George Aylwin Creighton (B.C.L. 1880), the “father” of organized ice hockey, would be honoured as a Canadian of National Historic Significance.

The Prime Minister made his comments at a commemoration ceremony held at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

J.G.A. Creighton is credited with organizing the world’s first indoor hockey game at Montreal’s famed Victoria Skating Rink on March 3, 1875.

He went on to captain a team that played regularly, inspiring others to do the same, and thus laying foundations for the rapid development and popularization of organized hockey.