The Pittsburgh Athletic Club ( PAC ) was one of the earliest professional ice hockey teams. It was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from around 1895 until 1905 and again from 1907 to 1909.
54-740: The team was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League , which was formed in 1896. In 1895, Pittsburgh officials, constructed the Schenley Park Casino which featured the first artificial ice-making plant in North America . The 1895–96 winter season also saw the first introduction of hockey in the city. On December 30, 1895, the Pittsburgh Press made mention of a “great international hockey and polo tournament” opening game at
108-582: A bankers' association, were admitted to the league, while the Pittsburgh Athletic Club repeated as champions. 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
162-714: A better pay day, so the IHL folded. It was decided to revive the four team WPHL for the 1907–08 season , which started several weeks before the Canadian leagues, since there were no artificial ice rinks in Canada until 1911 . The WPHL was revived in 1907. The league consisted of the Pittsburgh Lyceum, Pittsburgh Athletic Club, Pittsburgh Bankers and the newly formed Pittsburgh Pirates . The revived league still had some great stars like Albert Kerr and Art Throop , but many of
216-660: A federal election that December, and meet the club in Ottawa. Some historians have since questioned why Dawson City was even granted a chance at the Cup, as Dawson City had won no championships and did not belong to any recognized senior league. On the other hand, Ottawa had considerable championship experience, having defeated all challengers since winning the Stanley Cup in March 1903. To get to Ottawa, 4,000 miles (6,400 km) away,
270-503: A game-high four goals. The game left a poor taste in the Yukoners, who claimed that several goals were offside . After the game, Watt was quoted as saying that "[Frank] McGee doesn't look like too much", as McGee had only scored once in the first game. In the second game of the series on January 16, McGee scored 4 goals in the first half and 10 in the second half, leading Ottawa to a 23–2 series-clinching win. This game was, and remains,
324-528: A group of local players from Western University (today the University of Pittsburgh ) and Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost (today Duquesne University ) and a half-hour of exhibition of hockey was played before the polo match. The paper noted that 2,500 to 3,000 fans showed up to watch the game, despite claims of bad weather. No score or records were reportedly kept but the paper did note that
378-482: 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. 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
432-471: A team known as Pittsburgh, or the 'Casino' team. The PAC was managed by Charles S. Miller, who became the league's president. The league played at the Casino twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday nights. The first "big league" season game was November 17, 1896 between Duquesne and Pittsburgh ('Casino'), won by Duquesne 2–1. Play continued until December 16, when the Casino rink was destroyed by fire, along with
486-715: Is still a strong suspicion that hockey players were paid before 1904, when the first pro league was officially formed. 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
540-520: The Hockey Hall of Fame . The first game started decently for Dawson, being down only 3–1 at the half, but things turned ugly afterwards. Norman Watt of Dawson tripped Ottawa's Art Moore, who retaliated with a stick to the mouth of Watt. Watt promptly knocked Moore out, hitting him on the head with his stick. The game ended 9–2 for Ottawa (the Frank McGee entry says 9-3), with Alf Smith scoring
594-631: The Pittsburgh Professionals , to play in the International Professional Hockey League . In 1904–05, a re-formed PAC team played a handful of exhibition games, including a series against the Dawson City Nuggets . The Pittsburgh Post described this version of the team as made up of "interscholastic players, skate boys from the Garden and has-beens of former years". The WPHL, along with the Pittsburgh Athletic Club team
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#1732766016191648-424: The Schenley Park Casino which featured the first artificial ice-making plant in North America . The 1895–96 winter season also saw the first introduction of hockey in the city. On December 30, 1895, the Pittsburgh Press made mention of a “great international hockey and polo tournament” opening game at the Casino. The newspaper reported that a team consisting of ten players from Queen's University played against
702-525: The 1890s and Randy McLennan who had played for Queen's College against the Montreal Victorias in the challenge of 1895. Other players were selected from other Dawson City clubs. Dawson City's challenge was accepted in the summer of 1904 by the Stanley Cup trustees, scheduled (inauspiciously) to start on Friday, January 13, 1905. It was to be a best-of-three series. The date of the challenge meant that Young had to travel later, as he had to work in
756-666: The Casino's management decided to organize two leagues at the rink; an inter-scholastic league for high schools, and a senior ice hockey amateur league named the Western Pennsylvania League. The league played its first season in 1896–97 at the Casino, with four teams—the Pittsburgh Athletic Club (PAC), the Duquesne Country & Athletic Club , Western University of Pennsylvania (the University of Pittsburgh today) and
810-470: The Casino, with four teams, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, the Duquesne Country & Athletic Club , Western University of Pennsylvania (the University of Pittsburgh today) and a team known as (All-)Pittsburgh, or the "Casino" team. The Pittsburgh Athletic Club team was managed by Charles S. Miller, who became the league's president. The league played at the Casino twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday nights. The first "big league" championship (season) game
864-415: The Casino. The newspaper reported that a team consisting of ten players from Queen's University played against a group of local players from Western University (today the University of Pittsburgh ) and Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost (today Duquesne University ) and a half-hour of exhibition of hockey was played before the polo match. The paper noted that 2,500 to 3,000 fans showed up to watch
918-493: The Dawson City club would have to get to Whitehorse (which was approximately 600 km away) by sled, catch a train from there to Skagway, Alaska, then catch a steamer to Vancouver, and a train from there to Ottawa. On December 18, 1904 several players set out by dog sled and the rest left the next day by bicycle for a 330-mile trek to Whitehorse. At first the team made good progress, but the weather turned warm enough to thaw
972-539: The Keystones were instantly competitive. 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. In one memorable game that occurred during this era, the WPHL's Garnet Sixsmith scored 11 goals in a game at Duquesne Garden. The 1901–02 season is considered the first season whereby
1026-713: The Klondikes) were an ice hockey team from Dawson City , Yukon, that challenged the reigning champion Ottawa Hockey Club , aka "the Silver Seven", in January 1905, for the Stanley Cup . The Dawson City team was composed of hockey players from the city, most of whom did not have any elite hockey experience. The Nuggets made the 4,000 mile (6,400 km) journey to Ottawa over several weeks, travelling by dog sled , bicycle, foot, train, and ship. They arrived in time to play
1080-576: The Nuggets team played a series of exhibition games in the east before returning to the Yukon. Shortly before a 1997 re-enactment, Michael Onesi, a Whitehorse newspaper columnist, wryly commented that had the Dawson team triumphed in 1905, they would have had the longest dynasty in Stanley Cup history. Challenges normally took place in the cup-holder's town, and visiting teams could not effectively play, after
1134-606: The Pirates sent James MacKay, Edgar Dey and Dunc Taylor to the Bankers for Joseph Donnelly and Bert Bennett. Later, on January 31, the Pirates also purchased Gordon McGuire from the Bankers. By the 1908–09 season , the WPHL found that it could no longer rely on salaries as novelty to attract Canadian talent, since professionalism had spread into Canada. The start of the season brought promise, with Alf Smith , Arthur Sixsmith , Lorne Campbell and goalie James MacKay in charge of
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#17327660161911188-592: The Pittsburgh Athletic Club team disbanded. Western Pennsylvania Hockey League 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 . It was the first league to openly hire and trade players. In 1895, Pittsburgh officials, constructed
1242-415: The best-of-three game series. In the first game, Ottawa defeated Dawson City 9–2. In the second game, Ottawa defeated Dawson City 23–2 to win the series. The second game remains the most lopsided game in Stanley Cup playoff history. Ottawa's Frank McGee scored 14 goals alone in the second game, which is a record for a player in a Stanley Cup playoff game. The Nuggets issued a Stanley Cup challenge against
1296-506: The brutal journey by overland coach to Dawson, their bodies blacker than a hockey puck from all the bruises of a dog sled ride. In 1997, a team from Dawson competed against Ottawa Senators alumni in a re-enactment of the 1905 match, this time at the Corel Centre , complete with organ music, spotlights, and other such hullabaloo. The team symbolically recreated the trip to Ottawa, though train service no longer ran between Whitehorse and
1350-491: The fact of Forrest's presence in the Dawson goal the score against them might have been a great deal larger. Ottawa simply skated away from them at the whistle, and continued to pile up the goals with a merciless monotonous regularity which was farcical in the extreme. Ottawa celebrated its victory by hosting Dawson at a banquet at the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Association clubhouse, after which
1404-451: The first hockey player to use aluminum skates, after he noticed that they were used by speed skaters. Wanting more speed in his game, Garnet then had aluminum ice skates custom-made with a shorter blade, for himself. The skates costs $ 15, even though his brother and several others told him they would never become popular. The skates eventually helped him earn his reputation as a fast skater. The type skate developed for Garnet soon became used by
1458-560: The formation of the National Hockey League in 1917. However, in the summer of 1902 Harry Peel , a Keystones player in 1901–02 , admitted that he was paid $ 35 a week to play in the so-called amateur league and so no amateur teams would play against these teams again without being suspended by either Canadian, or U.S. officials. Peel was suspended by the Ontario Hockey Association and an appeal
1512-400: The four game series 2–1 with a game tied, but they were outscored 11–6. 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
1566-450: The four teams, but by late December fully one-third of the league's players had accepted offers to play in different leagues. 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. As winter began and Canadian rinks became available, some players flocked north to teams closer to home. The WPHL saw
1620-542: The game, despite claims of bad weather. No score or records were reportedly kept but the paper did note that the team from Queen's University outplayed the Pittsburghers, who had never played the game before. After seeing the excitement and fan appeal of the hockey game, the Casino's management decided to organize a senior league at the rink. The league was strictly amateur and was named the Western Pennsylvania League. The league played its first season in 1896–97 at
1674-573: The hockey equipment of most of the teams. The league dissolved without a championship. The league would remain dormant until 1899 and the erection of a hockey rink at the Duquesne Garden . The league was revived with three teams, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, Duquesne Country & Athletic Club and Western University. The PAC won the league's first championship. The following season the Pittsburgh Bankers , which represented
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1728-399: The league dissolved without a championship. The team and the league were revived by the construction of an artificial ice rink at the Duquesne Garden . The league's second season began on January 24, 1899, when the Garden hosted its first hockey game in a match between the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and Western University of Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Athletic Club would then go on to claim
1782-535: The league was recognized as professional, the first professional ice hockey league. The league had three teams in 1901–02 : Pittsburgh Bankers, Pittsburgh Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Keystones. To fill these teams, many business and organizations imported young Canadians like George "Pinky" Lamb and William "Pud" Hamilton and set up teams. The league lured players from Canada with promises of high-paid employment and small cash incentives, which
1836-488: The league’s first championship. The team then won the next two titles, which resulted in being awarded the $ 500 Trophy , in 1900 and again in 1901 The 1901–02 season is considered the first season in which the league and its teams were recognized as professional. The first professional ice hockey league. To fill the team, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club recruited players from Canada with promises of high-paid employment and small cash incentives of roughly $ 30 per week. Two of
1890-494: The mid-season defections of stars like Tommy Smith, Albert Kerr, Harry Smith, Cyclone Taylor and Con Corbeau to Canada. 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
1944-433: The most lopsided in Stanley Cup playoff history. McGee's 14-goal game, which included eight consecutive goals scored in less than nine minutes, is still the record for the most goals scored by a single player in a Stanley Cup game or any other major senior hockey game. After the second game, The Globe reported: The visiting team was outclassed to-night quite as decisively as the score indicates. In fact had it not been for
1998-502: The most skilled players joining the Pittsburgh Professionals and playing in the International Professional Hockey League. Over half of the players in the league had played in Pittsburgh at one time, so the early league a key pioneer in the development of professional hockey. Around 1904 another milestone was reached by a Pittsburgh player. That year Garnet Sixsmith, who played in the WPHL, became
2052-403: 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. In 1904, the first inter-city professional league was formed called the International Professional Hockey League (IHL). The WPHL was suspended with
2106-548: The players got better offers from the Canadian leagues in late December and the team lineups were patched together at best to complete the season. 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 and returned Koch to the Bankers in exchange for Fred Young in early January. A bigger trade occurred on January 27, 1908, when
2160-608: The players on that team began their careers in the WPHL, including Arthur's brother Garnet Sixsmith. The team lasted on only one season. 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. In 1920, Schooley also put together
2214-512: The players signed by the Pittsburgh Athletic Club were George Lamb and Bill Hamilton . In 1904, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club was captained by Alf Smith , a future Hall of Famer , who won four straight Stanley Cup titles as a player and coach with the Ottawa Silver Seven from 1903 to 1906. The WPHL and its teams lasted until the end of the 1903–04 season , when the league pulled their best players to field one Pittsburgh team,
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2268-629: The players took the Cup and attempted to drop-kick it over the Rideau Canal . The stunt was unsuccessful, with the Cup landing on the frozen ice, to be retrieved the next day. The news got worse for McLennan and Watt, who were employed by the Yukon Territory gold commissioner's office when not playing hockey. The day after the second game, the Yukon Territory announced that the pair would be laid off from work, effective immediately, albeit with pay until June 30, 1905. After playing Ottawa,
2322-595: The reigning champion Ottawa Hockey Club , known at the time as "The Silver Seven", in the summer of 1904. Ottawa accepted the challenge in October. The Dawson City team was sponsored and managed by the Klondike entrepreneur Joseph W. Boyle , and it was composed of men from the mining camps during the tail-end of the Yukon gold rush . Dawson City had two former elite hockey players, Weldy Young who had played for Ottawa in
2376-565: The skate of choice for hockey players and are still in use. However, the Pittsburgh Professionals didn't fare too well during the league's first season . But in 1905–06 , they were part of a great three team race with Portage Lakes and the Michigan Soo Indians for first place. Within two years of play, professional leagues were now popping up all over Canada and most of the great players went back home for
2430-465: The team from Queen's University outplayed the Pittsburghers, who had never played the game before. The city quickly realized that in order to make money they would need to have more events than just speed skating , family skates and costume parties to make money. They decided that since hockey was a relatively new game, it could catch on in Pittsburgh. Sometime between the Queen's game and November 1896,
2484-506: The team. When the steamer reached Vancouver, the area was too fogged in to dock, and the steamer docked in Seattle. The team from there caught a train to Vancouver, and finally left Vancouver on January 6, 1905, arriving in Ottawa on January 11. However Young would not arrive in Ottawa on time to play for Dawson. Despite the difficult journey, the Ottawa squad refused to change the date of the first game, only two days away. Otherwise, Ottawa
2538-455: The trail, meaning the players had to walk several hundred miles. The team spent the nights in roadhouses along the trail. At Whitehorse, the weather turned bad, causing the trains not to run for three days, causing the Nuggets to miss their steamer in Skagway. The next one could not dock for three days due to the ice buildup. The club found the sea journey treacherous, causing seasickness amongst
2592-618: The very first U.S. Olympic ice hockey team . 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 . Teams that played in the WPHL include: * Disbanded during season The following players are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame : Dawson City Nuggets The Dawson City Nuggets (also known as
2646-419: Was November 17, 1896 between Duquesne Country & Athletic Club and All-Pittsburgh, won by Duquesne 2–1; however, the league's season was cut short on December 16, when the Casino rink was destroyed by fire. The "Casino" team, Pittsburgh Athletic Club and Western University teams all lost their hockey equipment in the fire. A fire at the Casino in December 1896 destroyed the only ice hockey rink in Pittsburgh and
2700-403: Was around $ 30 a week. 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. 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
2754-871: Was hospitable. The Klondikers received a huge welcome at the train station, had a welcoming dinner, and used the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Club's rooms for the duration of their stay. Eight men played for each team during the best-of-three series. The Dawson City roster consisted of: goaltender Albert Forrest, point Jim Johnston, cover point Lorne Hannay, rovers Randy McLennan and Dave Fairburn, centre Hector Smith, left winger Norman Watt, and right winger George Kennedy. The Ottawa roster consisted of: goaltender Dave Finnie , points Bones Allen and Harvey Pulford , cover point Art Moore , rover Rat Westwick , centre Frank McGee , left winger Fred White, and right winger Alf Smith . Ottawa's Pulford, Westwick, McGee, and Alf Smith would eventually be inducted into
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#17327660161912808-410: Was not dependent on cold weather to provide a naturally frozen surface; however, as winter began and Canadian rinks became available, the players returned north to teams closer to home. This attrition affected all of the league's teams. The Pittsburgh Athletic Club itself saw the mid-season defections of stars like Cyclone Taylor and Con Corbeau to Canada. Finally, after the 1908–09 season the WPHL and
2862-653: Was rejected on December 10, 1903 and again on November 30, 1904. According to Peel, "They (the teams) make no bones whatever about paying men. If they do not pay them they give them fake (business) positions". However, by the start of the 1902–03 season the WPHL was now a fully professional league with the Pittsburgh Victorias making a fourth WPHL team. More great stars were enticed to come to Pittsburgh as they could accept pay for play. Bruce and Hod Stuart became major stars in 1902–03 . While players like Fred Lake , were already well known to hockey fans. There
2916-405: Was revived for the 1907–08 season . The team now featured several of Canada's top talent, including Albert Kerr , Ken Mallen , Garnet Sixsmith and Cyclone Taylor ; however, the WPHL could no longer rely on salaries as novelty to attract Canadian talent, since professionalism had spread into Canada. Many players signed up, particularly since the WPHL played on Duquesne Garden's artificial ice and
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