Western Pennsylvania Hockey League
Sport | Duquesne Garden (1899–1909) |
---|---|
Last champion(s) | Duquesne Athletic Club |
Most titles | Pittsburgh Athletic Club (3) |
The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL) was an originally amateur and later professional ice hockey league founded in 1896 and existing through 1909. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the league became the pre-eminent ice hockey league in the United States.[1] It was the first league to openly hire and trade players.
Pittsburgh hockey before 1896
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In 1895, Pittsburgh officials, constructed the
League history
1896–1904
The city quickly realized that in order to make money they would need to have more events than just
The league played at the Casino twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday nights.[5] The first "big league" season game was November 17, 1896 between Duquesne and Pittsburgh ('Casino'), won by Duquesne 2–1.[6] Play continued until December 16, when the Casino rink was destroyed by fire, along with the hockey equipment of most of the teams.[7] The league dissolved without a championship.[8]
The league would remain dormant until 1899 and the erection of a hockey rink at the
In 1900, the Keystone Bicycle Club was admitted to the league, replacing Western University. The Keystones were instrumental in changing the league from amateur to professional, and were the first WPHL team to recruit heavily from Canada. The Pittsburgh Athletic Club won its third consecutive championship, although the Keystones were instantly competitive.[4] Arthur Sixsmith, a former member of the Ottawa Senators, came to the WPHL in 1901 and soon convinced several Canadian players, including his brother Garnet Sixsmith, to join him.[11] In one memorable game that occurred during this era, the WPHL's Garnet Sixsmith scored 11 goals in a game at Duquesne Garden.[11]
First professional players
The
The league lured players from Canada with promises of high-paid employment and small cash incentives, which was around $30 a week.[12] At this time all Canadian associations were still amateur, and since many of the players had been already expelled from hockey in Canada for being professionals.[13] However, according to Garnet Sixsmith, who played in the league between 1902 and 1909, the players were paid between $10–$15 a week and each were given jobs on the side. Each team, consisted of a manager who was paid a lump sum of money to have a team on the ice. The less money the manager had to pay his players, the more money that manager got to keep.[11] As a result, the Pittsburgh teams were able to get many great players such as future Hall of Famers Alf Smith, Hod Stuart and Riley Hern. These players played for pay in Pittsburgh, eventually forcing the Canadian leagues to go pro in 1907, a development that led directly to the formation of the National Hockey League in 1917.[14]
However, in the summer of
Suspension of the league: 1904–1906
The champion of the WPHL competed against Houghton, Michigan's Portage Lakes Hockey Club for the "Pro Championship of the United States" prior to the formation of the International Professional Hockey League for the 1904–05 season. Portage Lakes played off with the Pittsburgh Bankers. Portage Lakes won the four game series 2–1 with a game tied, but they were outscored 11–6.[16] The next season, Portage Lakes continued to play Pro exhibition games, but raided Pittsburgh's teams for top players like Riley Hern and Bruce Stuart.
Despite these losses the WPHL started with the same four clubs, but the Keystones withdrew from the league on January 17, 1904. The team's players were then dispersed to the other three teams. Many other promising young players took their place and three different Pittsburgh teams challenged Portage Lakes for the U.S. Pro title that year. The league champion Victorias put up the best battle, losing two games to one.[15]
In 1904, the first inter-city professional league was formed called the
The WPHL revived: 1907–1908
Within two years of play, professional leagues were now popping up all over Canada and most of the great players went back home for a better pay day, so the IHL folded. It was decided to revive the four team WPHL for the
First pro hockey trades
In what might have been the first trades involving professional hockey players, the Lyceum dealt Harry Burgoyne to the Bankers for Dutch Koch in December 1907[17] and returned Koch to the Bankers in exchange for Fred Young in early January.[18] A bigger trade occurred on January 27, 1908, when the Pirates sent James MacKay, Edgar Dey and Dunc Taylor to the Bankers for Joseph Donnelly and Bert Bennett.[15][19] Later, on January 31, the Pirates also purchased Gordon McGuire from the Bankers.[20]
Decline: 1909
By
Many players initially signed up for the WPHL because the league played all of its games on Duquesne Garden's artificial ice and was not dependent on cold weather to provide a naturally frozen surface.[citation needed] As winter began and Canadian rinks became available, some players flocked north to teams closer to home. The WPHL saw the mid-season defections of stars like Tommy Smith, Albert Kerr, Harry Smith, Cyclone Taylor and Con Corbeau to Canada.[citation needed]
Legacy
The WPHL was the first league to openly hire hockey players, and may have been involved in the first trade involving professional hockey players. Several of league's alumni continued to make hockey history on both local and national stage. In 1915, the WPHL's Arthur Sixsmith managed an ice hockey team for Pittsburgh's Winter Garden at Exposition Hall. Several of the players on that team began their careers in the WPHL,[21] including Arthur's brother Garnet Sixsmith. The team lasted on only one season.[11] Also in 1915, Roy Schooley, a referee in the WPHL, formed the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets, which won two United States Amateur Hockey Association titles in 1924 and 1925, before morphing into the Pittsburgh Pirates of the NHL.[22] In 1920, Schooley also put together the very first U.S. Olympic ice hockey team.[14] On November 16, 1935, Garnet Sixsmith dropped the ceremonial first puck, honoring the WPHL, at Duquesne Garden, for the inaugural home game of the Pittsburgh Shamrocks of the International Hockey League.[23]
Teams
Teams that played in the WPHL include:
- All-Pittsburgh / Casino (1896)
- Duquesne Athletic Club (1908–1909)
- Duquesne Country and Athletic Club (1896–1901)
- Pittsburgh Athletic Club (1896–1904, 1907–1909)
- Pittsburgh Bankers (1899–1904, 1907–1909)
- Pittsburgh Keystones(1900–1904)
- Pittsburgh Lyceum (1907–1908)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (1907–1908)
- Pittsburgh Victorias (1902–1904)
- Western University of Pennsylvania(1896–1900)
Seasons
Season | Teams | Champion |
---|---|---|
1896–97 | Pittsburgh AC, Western University, Duquesne C&AC, All-Pittsburgh | none (owing to Casino fire) |
1898–99 | Pittsburgh AC, Western University, Duquesne C&AC | Pittsburgh AC |
1899–1900 | Pittsburgh AC, Bankers, Western University, Duquesne C&AC | Pittsburgh AC |
1900–01 |
Pittsburgh AC, Bankers, Keystones, Duquesne C&AC | Pittsburgh AC |
1901–02 |
Pittsburgh AC, Bankers, Keystones | Keystones |
1902–03 |
Pittsburgh AC, Bankers, Keystones, Victorias | Bankers |
1903–04 |
Pittsburgh AC, Bankers, Keystones*, Victorias | Victorias |
1907–08 | Pittsburgh AC, Bankers, Lyceum, Pirates | Bankers |
1908–09 | Pittsburgh AC, Bankers, Lyceum*, Duquesne AC | Duquesne AC |
* withdrew from league during season.
Prominent players
The following players are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame:
|
See also
Notes
- ^ Mason pg. 28
- ^ "1895-1896 Pittsburgh's Schenley Park Casino". PittsburghHockey.net. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
- ^ Amateur Sport". Pittsburg Press: p. 8. December 20, 1896.
- ^ Pittsburgh Press. p. 35 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ "First Hockey Game". Pittsburg Press. November 8, 1896. p. 6.
- ^ "An Exciting Opening". Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette. November 18, 1896. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- New York Times. December 18, 1896.
- ^ Trietley, Greg (November 1, 2011). "Oakland Once the Hockey Center of Pittsburgh". Pitt News.
- ^ "All The Sporting News". Pittsburg Press: p. 5. April 5, 1899
- ^ "The Bankers' Team". Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette. October 18, 1899. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f Landucci, Fred (September 27, 1961). "First 'Pros' Start League Play in 1902". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 21.
- ^ a b Bouchette, Ed (May 2, 1999). "Ice Age". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C1.
- ^ Mason pg. 3
- ^ New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e Fitzsimmons, Ernie. "1900-10 Early Pro Hockey". PittsburghHockey.net. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Before the NHL: Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, International Professional Hockey League". Crashing the Net. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
- ^ "Bankers and Lyceum Make a Player Trade". The Pittsburg Press. December 21, 1907. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "General Sports". The Pittsburg Press. January 8, 1908. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hockey games for this week" The Pittsburgh Press, February 2, 1908.
- ^ "Icy Inklings" Pittsburgh Press. Feb. 1, 1908 (pg. 8). Retrieved 2021-09-15.
- Pittsburgh Press. November 21, 1915. p. Sports, 6.
- ^ "Roy Schooley is Dead After Long Illness". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 14, 1933. p. 1.
- ^ "1935-36 Pittsburgh Shamrocks". Pittsburgh Hockey.net. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
References and notes
- Mason, Daniel S. (Spring 1998). "The International Hockey League and the Professionalization of Ice Hockey, 1904-1907" (PDF). Journal of Sport History. 25 (1): 1–17.
- Diamond, Dan (1998). Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Hockey League. Total Sports. ISBN 1894963164.