John Wilson is Chair of VHLS
VICTORIA – If all goes as planned, Victoria will finally get its Stanley Cup parade in honour of the last team from B.C. to win the coveted trophy 100 years earlier.
In 1925, the Western Canada Hockey League’s Victoria Cougars faced the National Hockey League’s Montreal Canadiens in a four-game series. Victoria won its first game at Patrick Arena, which used to exist on the corner of Cadboro Bay Road and Epworth Street in Oak Bay. Montreal tied the series at Vancouver’s Denman Arena but the Cougars prevailed in games three and four at home in Oak Bay.
The centennial celebration is being planned by the Victoria Hockey Legacy Society, which hosted the highly successful Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada in downtown Victoria earlier this year.
The VHLS will host activities in Oak Bay and across the region — including a parade — leading up to and throughout the weekend of March 28-30, 2025. Organizers are also working to facilitate an appearance by the Stanley Cup for public viewing.
“This a great local event for the Victoria Hockey Legacy Society to get behind and we look forward to a new generation of fans celebrating and learning about our region’s hockey history,” VHLS Chair John Wilson said. “We’re also hoping to announce our next major international event soon.”
The B.C. Hall of Fame website notes that the 1924-25 Victoria Cougars were the second B.C. team to capture the Stanley Cup, a decade after the Vancouver Millionaires won the first. The Cougars were also the last non-NHL team to win the Cup. No other team from B.C. has won it since.
To get to the finals, Victoria won its first-round series against Saskatoon, and its second against Calgary.
Members of the Victoria Cougars 1925 team engraved on the Stanley Cup include owner/coach Lester Patrick and players Jocko Anderson, Frank Frederickson, Frank Foyston, Wally Elmer, Harold Gizzy Hart, Harry Meeking, Jack Walker, Clem Loughlin, Gord Fraser, Haldor Halderson and Harry Hap Holmes.
The Canadiens featured hockey legends such as Howie Morenz, Georges Vezina and others.
John Wilson is Victoria Hockey Legacy Society Board Chair
