Los Angeles Monarchs
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The Los Angeles Monarchs were a professional
The Monarchs played their home games in the
Early L.A. Monarchs hockey clubs
The first Los Angeles Monarchs team was part of the Pacific Hockey League (PHL) in the 1920s. The PHL was more of an amateur-level league made up of young and old players from Canada and the Northeastern United States. The teams were formed by local athletic clubs and league games were more like weekend recreational games, rather than a competition of professional contenders. By 1929, at the dawn of the Great Depression, most of the teams folded. Only a few schools, most notably the University of Southern California, the University of California, Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University still supported local hockey programs.[2]
Beginning in 1930, after a large ice arena was built in
It wasn’t until 1938, with the opening of the
Los Angeles joins the Pacific Coast Hockey League
The Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL) existed twice before, from 1928 to 1931, and from 1936 to 1941. The league first folded due to the Great Depression. In 1941, U.S. and Canadian involvement in World War II forced it to shut down. The teams were all based in Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.[1]
In 1944, as signs indicated the war would be ending soon, and citizens would be able to resume normal life again, league owners decided to start the PCHL back up again. The Monarchs joined the reborn PCHL in 1944. By this time there was a much larger number of people living in Southern California – in order to support the war industries and military bases – who had transplanted from the northeast U.S., where hockey was very popular. These transplants created a much larger demand for ice hockey entertainment. The league wanted to expand south and take advantage of the growing economic and hockey fan base in California. Combined with the availability of larger ice rinks like the Pan Pacific (in Los Angeles) and the Cow Palace (in South San Francisco), ice hockey games could be offered to spectators in larger numbers and at more convenient hours.[1]
Bringing Los Angeles its first hockey championship
The Monarchs were competitive during their years in the PCHL. Playing the majority of their games within their region reduced travel strains and helped keep the team better rested for play. Games results do reveal how travel affected the team, with most of its biggest losses coming on the road. The Monarchs won the President’s Cup for the league championship on April 5, 1947.[1]
The Monarch's championship title had some controversy, however, due to an illegal goaltender substitution earlier in the playoffs. While facing their cross-town rival Hollywood Wolves, in game four of the best-of-five Southern Division title series, the Monarchs lost their goaltender to injury. The Monarchs then borrowed San Diego Skyhawk goaltender Ron Pickell to face the Wolves in game four. Professional hockey etiquette of that period mandated a team to get their opponent's approval of borrowing a player from another team – especially from a team that was also in the playoffs. The Monarchs picked up Pickell without doing this.[1]
The goalie substitution incident was soon forgotten once the Monarchs eliminated the Wolves. They then went on to sweep the Portland Eagles, four games to none, in the PCHL final and won the President's Cup. After winning the PCHL championship they traveled east to face the minor league champion Boston Olympics for the U.S. Amateur Cup. The Monarchs lost that series but gained great respect among fans and peers in the hockey world. They almost won the President's Cup (now called the Lester Patrick Cup and awarded to the Western Hockey League champion) again in 1950 before losing in the final to the New Westminster Royals.[1]
Professional hockey leaves L.A
As ice hockey was in its infancy in California during the 1940s, most of the teams had trouble breaking even financially. Monarchs owner Charlie Cord, however, did well financially. When facing local rivals like the Hollywood Wolves, Pasadena Panthers, and San Diego Skyhawks, the Monarchs often filled the 6200 seats in the Pan Pacific arena. Gate receipts were the mainstay of paying players and keeping the team financially afloat.[1]
However, when the U.S. economy took a downturn in 1949, fewer fans had extra cash to go watch live hockey. As a result, every team in the league suffered during the 1949–50 season. Things started to unravel when the Fresno Falcons decided to fold after the 1950 season, and the San Diego Skyhawks were considering the same. The Monarchs had already lost their cross-town rivals in Pasadena (1945) and in Hollywood (1947). The Monarchs needed opponents based close to Los Angeles. The team was financially strong enough to continue in the league, in spite of the fact that they faced a more grueling road schedule playing teams in the Pacific Northwest.[1]
After meeting on August 30, 1950, the PCHL board decided to disband the Southern Division, and not keep the Monarchs in the league. After the 1951-52 season, the league changed its name to the Western Hockey League to reflect the addition of teams from the Canadian prairies. Hockey fans in Los Angeles had to wait until 1961 to get another hockey team. That was when the PCHL’s descendant, the Western Hockey League (WHL) expanded south and added the Los Angeles Blades.[1]
So notable is the Monarchs' legacy that when the National Hockey League decided to expand to include a team in Los Angeles in 1967, the Los Angeles franchise would become known as the Kings.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Woolman, Forrest. "Before the Kings, there was the L. A. Monarchs[permanent dead link]", The California Courier, June 11, 2009.
- ^ Interview with Frank Dunigan, former PCHL player, March 1992
- Stott, Jon C. Ice Warriors, p. 25-37, Vancouver: Heritage House Publishing, 2008