Kenora Thistles
Donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, the Stanley Cup was originally awarded to the top amateur team in Canada, who would then accept challenges from the winners of other leagues. From its inception until 1912, the Cup was nearly always won by teams from Montreal, Winnipeg, and Ottawa. In 1903 Ottawa won the Cup, after finishing the season tied for first in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League with the Montreal Victorias. They played a two-game, total-goal series for the league championship. The Montreal Hockey Club, who had held the Cup, finished third in the league and therefore lost the right to keep it.
History of the National Hockey League (1917–1942)
In its first years, the NHL continued the NHA's split season format. The first-half champion Canadiens fell to the second-half champion Toronto team in the 1918 playoffs for the O'Brien Cup by a combined score of 10–7 in a two-game, total goals series. The victory gave Toronto the right to face the Pacific Coast Hockey Association's champion, the Vancouver Millionaires, in the Stanley Cup final. The Torontos defeated Vancouver to become the first NHL team to win the Cup.