Page:Hockey, Canada's Royal Winter Game.djvu/11

 Winnipeg the glorious game is played; most of our neighboring American cities boast of a hockey club, and even in distant Europe, teams have been organized in Glasgow, London and Paris. It is a regular occurrence for clubs to send their representatives thousands of miles to meet their adversaries in a friendly match. Teams from Manitoba and Nova Scotia have repeatedly visited Montreal, and clubs from the latter place have returned the compliment. Nearly all of Canada's leading sevens have delighted audiences in different cities of the United States, and we have had American players cross the border to chase the puck with us. Indeed, it will not be surprising if, some day, an enterprising Canadian team sails the broad Atlantic to cross sticks with an English or Parisian aggregation. The year 1899 saw hockey the most universally popular game in Canada. With the erection in Montreal, of the Arena rink, of whose interior an excellent picture is given on the opposite page, new blood was infused into the old clubs, and young ones sprang into life like rabbits in California.

The infatuating influence of the game drew together in this vast auditorium the largest crowds that ever assembled to witness a hockey match, and the wildest. Reports from every city in Canada told encouraging tales of