Klondikers: Dawson City's Stanley Cup Challenge and How a Nation Fell in Love with Hockey

by Tim Falconer

For readers of The Boys in the Boat and Against All Odds Join a ragtag group of misfits from Dawson City as they scrap to become the 1905 Stanley Cup champions and cement hockey as Canada’s national pastime An underdog hockey team traveled for three and a half weeks from Dawson City to Ottawa to play for the Stanley Cup in 1905. The Klondikers’ eagerness to make the journey, and the public’s enthusiastic response, revealed just how deeply, and how quickly, Canadians had fallen in love with hockey. After Governor General Stanley donated a championship trophy in 1893, new rinks appeared in big cities and small towns, leading to more players, teams, and leagues. And more fans. When Montreal challenged Winnipeg for the Cup in December 1896, supporters in both cities followed the play-by-play via telegraph updates. As the country escaped the Victorian era and entered a promising new century, a different nation was emerging. Canadians fell for hockey amid industrialization, urbanization, and shifting social and cultural attitudes. Class and race-based British ideals of amateurism attempted to fend off a more egalitarian professionalism. Ottawa star Weldy Young moved to the Yukon in 1899, and within a year was talking about a Cup challenge. With the help of Klondike businessman Joe Boyle, it finally happened six years later. Ottawa pounded the exhausted visitors, with “One-Eyed” Frank McGee scoring an astonishing 14 goals in one game. But there was no doubt hockey was now the national pastime.

Genres: Sports, History, Hockey, Canada, Nonfiction

376 pages, Paperback

Published October 5, 2021

About the author

Tim Falconer’s latest book, Windfall: Viola MacMillan and Her Notorious Mining Scandal, came out in February 2025. A prospector and mine developer, MacMillan had it all: success, money and respect. Influence, even. But in 1964, after three decades in the mining industry, one of the most fascinating women in Canadian business history was the central character in one of the country’s most famous stock scandals.

Fakconer is the author of five previous non-fiction books. Klondikers: Dawson City's Stanley Cup Challenge and How a Nation Fell in Love with Hockey tells the story of an unlikely team of dreamers and their audacious journey from the Yukon to Ottawa to play for the Stanley Cup in 1905. Their quest showed how quickly hockey—a niche, regional sport when Lord Stanley donated the trophy a dozen years earlier—had become the national pastime. Klondikers: made the Globe and Mail's Top 100 of 2021 list.

Bad Singer: The Surprising Science of Tone Deafness and How We Hear Music follows Falconer’s quest to overcome tone deafness and sing in tune. Along the way, he learns about human evolution and music, the brain science behind tone-deafness, and what we really hear when we listen to music. Bad Singer made the Globe and Mail's Top 100 of 2016 list and was a finalist for the Lane Anderson Award. The New York Times called it “fascinating and fun.”

Falconer is also the author of That Good Night: Ethicists, Euthanasia and End-of-Life Care, Drive: A Road Trip through Our Complicated Affair with the Automobile and Watchdogs and Gadflies: Activism from Marginal to Mainstream. And he helped popular parenting guru Dr. Alex Russell write Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the Age of Entitlement.

Reviews

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish to thank the author and publisher for the gifted copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review. It was a treat to read.

I am not a sports nut, and do not know much about hockey, so this may not seem like the right book for me. However, I love true, inspirational stories that combine aspects of sport alongside the wider history and social events of the time. And this book does all of that beautifully.

Focusing on a group of men living in Dawson City, playing hockey out of a passion for the sport, and living under the harsh conditions of the Yukon. The book combines insightful observations about the gold rush and outlines the country's newfound obsession with the sport. I found myself totally engaged in the lives of these people, and anxious to see where they went in life. I turned to wikipedia on numerous occasions just to learn even more.

It is impossible to read about this small team of athletes and their efforts to compete for the Stanley Cup without admiration. Just the journey to arrive in Ottawa is mind-blowing and I don't want to spoil a moment of it.

[Adrian]

A history of the early years of hockey, the creation of the Stanley Cup as a challenge trophy and the futile fight against professionalism in the game. This was always a hypocritical fight since team owners have charged for and made money through gate receipts since the game's inception- it was only players that weren't supposed to make money by playing the game. The book ends with Dawson City Yukon's 1905 challenge for the Cup. They travelled 4,000 miles in a few weeks by foot, bicycle, boat and train (but no dogsled) to reach Ottawa mid January. They got plowed in the best of three series by Frank McGee and the Silver Seven but this might have been the beginning of this country's love for the Stanley Cup.

[Chris Goldie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. It blends broader social and historical detail covering the end of the 19th century with plenty of very entertaining stories about the early days of hockey. Which were not dull, if this book is any indication. The characters were colourful but it's clear interest in hockey was soaring and the tale at the heart of the book - an epic journey to play for the Cup - is rewarding to read. The author's eye for detail really makes it hum.

[Dayton Reimer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish it because the parts about the history of the Klondike wore me down. I loved the building of the Senators, but it was so interspersed with other parts I didn't enjoy that I just have up.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is far more than the story of the Dawson City hockey club's Stanley Cup challenge. Indeed, in a 330 page book the Cup games only come up around page 300, and are over quite quickly. Instead, Falconer covers a lot more in this book, looking at everything from the development of hockey, to the Klondike gold rush, to the development of professionalism in Canadian sports. It is a really engrossing read, and brings to life one of the most famous Stanley Cup matches in history.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

How could you not love this book! If you are Canadian, you likely have some knowledge of the hockey universe. This book is the story of how hockey became Canada's beloved pastime.
It begins with a group of untrained hockey players from Dawson City, who travelled for three and a half weeks to play for a championship in Ottawa. This captured the hearts and minds of people, and it started the whole hockey religion.
The information was well researched, and the minutiae is fascination., the story just so well written. Even if you aren't a hockey person, you would love this book.

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

More about gold and early CDN history and growth of hockey than the actual team, still an informative read.

[Bob Hathway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. Also provides in-depth histories of the STanley Cup, The city of Dawson, hockey in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, and more.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

While many sports books, no matter the sport, do combine history, social events of the time and even national pride while discussing a particular event in the sport's history, this book about a hockey team from the Yukon competing for hockey's most prized trophy, the Stanley Cup, is a masterful combination of all these subjects.

Tim Falconer takes the story of a rag-tag hockey team from Dawson City and follows them not only on their journey to Ottawa to take on the defending Cup champions, but also provides readers with excellent information on the Klondike gold rush that resulted in the formation of Dawson City. He also paints a very good picture of both the social situation in Canada as they were emerging into the 20th century and becoming less influenced by Victorian-era norms.

Not only Canadian history is portrayed in the book – two excellent hockey history subjects are discussed as well. Readers who may not be familiar with either the origin of the Stanley Cup or how the early version of the sport was even rougher than it is today will enjoy learning more about hockey in the early 1900's.

The person most important in the transformation of the Stanley Cup to become hockey's most holy grail, P.D. Ross, is portrayed extensively here as well as Weldy Young, who was the player who was most responsible for the success of Dawson's team and made them believe that their amateur team could compete for the Cup. At the time, amateur teams, not professional, were competing for the trophy as Dawson competed with Ottawa about 15 years before the creation of the NHL and one of the more stubborn Victorian-era traditions still in vogue was the purity of amateurism. While not explicitly stated by Falconer, it was clear that this was still the belief in the country and professional players would somehow taint this image. That quickly came to pass, but the nation's fascination with the voyage that Dawson took to play those two games was clearly a nod to the amateur status.

Unfortunately for Dawson, the weeks-long journey caught up to them and their lack of conditioning resulted in an easy victory for Ottawa. Nonetheless, the entire nation was captivated by the Klondikers and this story is part of the legacy of how hockey became the national sport for Canada. Even after the tourney, Dawson played more games in the east and Maritimes, some with great attendance, in order to not only raise funds for the trip back but also to allow the fans who followed them to see them play.

No matter which aspect of the Klondikers' interests a reader, they are sure to be pleased with this book. It is detailed and will have to be read carefully to fully appreciate all the information, but when all is said and done, this book is well worth the significant amount of time required to invest in it.

I wish to thank ECW Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.


https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...

[Maurice Tougas · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, how could the quixotic quest of Dawson City to win the Stanley Cup in 1905 support a 350-page book?
Turns out, it can't. While Klondikers does tell the story of Dawson City's failed Stanley Cup bid, the boys from the Yukon don't even start their trip until we're 250 pages into the book. Klondikers is, in fact, more of a history of the beginnings of the Stanley Cup, with large doses of the history of the Klondike. Author Falconer simply gets too much in the weeds about the early Stanley Cup, as teams and organizations with a bewildering array of letters (AHAC, CAAA, DAAA, OAAA, WOHA) battle over who should be allowed to challenge for the cup. The good stuff in Klondikers is really good stuff (Falconer quotes liberally from newspapers of the time, which makes for very funny reading, and the trip the Yukoners made to compete for the cup is wild), while the dull stuff can be glossed over. Reading Klondikers is a little like panning for gold; you have to sift through a lot of sand to get to the nuggets. But it's still worthwhile.

[Thomas Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is focused around two different events in Canada, one is the founding of and start of hockey and the development of Dawson City located in the Klondike area when gold was discovered. Dawson grew and developed so much it was known amongst some as the Paris of the North and eventually the residents of Dawson city putting a team together to challenge for the Stanley Cup it was considered David taking on Goliath. This taking place between 1890 and 1910. Can you imagine that one time Lacrosse was a bigger sport then hockey ? Hard to imagine. It was also interesting to learn how hockey was being promoted as way to gain exercise in the winter. Another benefit that hockey developed was to help Canada gain more independence form British culture. It should be no surprise to learn that hockey rinks and method to play for Lord Stanley's Cup were far different then what they are today. There was quite the cast of characters both in Dawson City and in the various hockey players. One who bought all the fresh eggs in Dawson City some costing as much as $2 dollars a piece
just because he was smitten with a lady. The other being a hockey player who sends a letter to a minister in Glasgow with three ladies names and a marriage proposal on his behalf if one would come to Canada and it worked and became a 50 year marriage. While there was a lot of interesting information in this book I felted that it was like walking through mud to try and through it was a real slow read also in my opinion a disappointing ending. Thank to Netgalley and ECW press for an ARC for a fair and honest review.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any hockey fan and/or sports enthusiast. Tim Falconer gives life to this team of under dogs who would face every challenge in their quest to play. My mid 20 year old grandson, a hockey devotee, read this and then had to share with his fellow fan club members. That's one of the best recommendations anyone could have.

[Bob Shepherd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting - Very good piece of hockey history.

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good and enjoyable read about early hockey. The game at the center of this is disappointing and does not live up to its billing but the history of Canadian hockey shines.

[Gordon Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't so so much as a book about the 1905 Stanley Cup Challenge, but one of the early days of, not only hockey, but of the newly formed nation of Canada. An interesting read.

[Philip Mantler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of the early years of the Stanley Cup, but took a long time to get around to the story of the team from Dawson City challenging for it.

[Ken Kingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A excellent account from the creation of the Stanley Cup, the early days of men’s competitive hockey to Dawson’s challenge for the cup. Well researched and an entertaining read.