Creighton is considered the "father of ice hockey," although he never claimed that honour. After moving to Montreal from Halifax to study and to work in engineering, Creighton sometimes acted as a figure skating judge at the Victoria Skating Club's Victoria Skating Rink. As a member of the club, he organized early morning sessions of informal hockey at the rink with his friends from McGill University and members of the club. It was here that Creighton captained one of the two teams that participated in the first recorded indoor game of organized ice hockey on March 3, 1875. His nine-man team won two "games" (goals) to one over the opposition led by Charles Torrance. According to teammate Henry Joseph, Creighton also organized the game. "It was this exhibition which aroused city-wide interest and gave rise to the formation of other ice hockey teams and to the rapid development of the game," McGill's physical education director Emanuel M. Orlick would write in "The Gazette" in 1943. In 1877, Creighton became the captain of the first known organized ice hockey team, the McGill University Hockey Club.