Team History
The Shamrocks were founded on December 15, 1886 at a meeting of the Shamrock Lacrosse Club to organize an ice hockey club. The Shamrock Lacrosse Club of Montreal predated the hockey team by twenty years, founded in 1867 by J. B. L. Flynn. In its inaugural season of play, the Shamrocks had both a junior and senior team. The Shamrocks standard of play increased leading to the club playing in two Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) challenges, in 1891 and 1892. In 1895, the Montreal Crystals' hockey club merged with the Shamrocks, ending a successful existence of 15 years.
The club rose to be the pre-eminent senior amateur hockey club in North America by the turn of the twentieth century, winning the Stanley Cup in 1899 and 1900 before losing a Stanley Cup challenge in 1901. Following the retirement of its stars, including Hall of Famers Harry Trihey and Arthur Farrell, the Shamrocks faded from prominence and never again had a winning season. They were eventually done in around 1910 by the growth of professionalisation in hockey. Unable to compete financially, and with the myriad splits and feuding in elite-level hockey (which lead to the formation, disbandment, and formation of new leagues), the Shamrocks folded their professional team.
The Shamrocks re-entered competitive play as an amateur team in the Interprovincial Amateur Hockey Union for the 1911–12 season. The club then entered the Montreal City Hockey League in 1912.
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