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The Duquesne Gardens was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during the first half of the 20th century. Built in 1890, the building originally served as a trolley barn, before becoming a multi-purpose arena. The Gardens opened three years after a fire destroyed the city's prior sports arena, the Schenley Park Casino, in 1896. Over the years, the Gardens was the home arena of several of Pittsburgh's historic sports teams, such as ice hockey's Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Hornets. The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which was the first ice hockey league to openly hire and trade players, played all of its games at the Gardens. The arena was also the first hockey rink to ever use glass above the dasher boards. Developed locally by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Herculite glass was first tested in Pittsburgh. Most rinks were using wire mesh before the shatterproof glass was invented. Finally, the Pittsburgh Ironmen, a charter member of the Basketball Association of America, played at the Gardens from 1946 to 1947.
Sports in Pittsburgh have been played dating back to the American Civil War. Baseball, hockey, and the first professional American football game had been played in the city by 1892. Pittsburgh was first known as the "City of Champions" when the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Panthers football team, and Pittsburgh Steelers won multiple championships in the 1970s. Today, the city has three major professional sports franchises, the Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins; while the University of Pittsburgh Panthers compete in a Division I Power Five conference, the highest level of collegiate athletics in the United States, in both football and basketball. Local universities Duquesne and Robert Morris also field Division I teams in men's and women's basketball and Division I FCS teams in football. Robert Morris also fields Division I men's and women's ice hockey teams.
The International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) was the first fully professional ice hockey league, operating from 1904 to 1907. It was formed by Jack "Doc" Gibson, a dentist who played hockey throughout Ontario before settling in Houghton, Michigan. The IPHL was a five team circuit which included Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Calumet, Michigan and Houghton. The IPHL was instrumental in changing the nature of top-level senior men's ice hockey from amateur to professional.
Lorne Douglas Campbell was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 140 games in various professional leagues, including the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL) and International Professional Hockey League (IPHL).
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.
The 1900–01 WPHL season was the fourth season of operation for the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League. Four Pittsburgh-area teams competed in the season, in which all games were played at the Duquesne Gardens. The hockey team of the Keystone Bicycle Club was admitted to the league, replacing Western University. It was final season of the Duquesne Country & Athletic Club's team.
The Schenley Park Casino was Pittsburgh’s first multi-purpose arena. The facility was considered the envy of the sports and entertainment world during the early 1890s, with amenities that were unsurpassed anywhere on the globe. It was built at the entrance to Schenley Park in Oakland near the Phipps Conservatory, the Schenley Bridge and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The University of Pittsburgh’s Frick Fine Arts Building currently sits on the site of the casino. The casino was the first place in Pittsburgh where organized ice hockey was played. The arena's artificial ice surface was the first of its kind in North America.
The Pittsburgh Keystones were a semi-professional ice hockey club, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, the first league to openly hire hockey players, from 1900–1904. The team played all of its games at the Duquesne Garden, and was involved in allowing Harry Peel become the first admitted professional hockey player in 1902.
The 1908–09 WPHL season was the ninth and final season of operation for the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League. Four Pittsburgh-area teams competed in the season, in which all games were played at the Duquesne Gardens.
The Pittsburgh Bankers were one of the earliest professional ice hockey clubs. The club was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, the first league to openly hire hockey players, from 1899–1904 and 1907–1909. The team played all of its games at Duquesne Garden, and was involved in the first known trade of professional hockey players.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were an early professional ice hockey club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and were members of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League for the 1908 WPHL season. The team, and the league, played all of their games at Duquesne Garden. The Pirates made one of the first known trades of professional hockey players.
The Pittsburgh Athletic Club (PAC) was one of the earliest professional ice hockey teams. It was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from around 1895 until 1904 and again from 1907 to 1909.
The Pittsburgh Lyceum Club, or Pittsburgh Lyceum, was a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League from 1907 to 1908 and played all of its games at Duquesne Garden.
Garnet Mosgrove Sixsmith was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. One of the first professional ice hockey players, he played professionally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1902 until 1910. His brother Arthur Sixsmith also played professional ice hockey.
The 1899–1900 WPHL season was the third season of operation for the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League. Four Pittsburgh-area teams competed in the season, in which all games were played at the Duquesne Gardens. While the Pittsburgh Bankers were added to the league and began play, the season marked the final year that an amateur team representing Western University, played in the league. The Pittsburgh Athletic Club repeated as the league champions, for their second league title.
The 1896–97 WPHL season was the first season of championship hockey of Pittsburgh's Western Pennsylvania Hockey League. The season opened on November 17, 1896, and was well underway when brought to an end by the destruction of fire of the league's facility, the Schenley Park Casino ice rink on December 17, 1896.
The 1898–99 WPHL season was the second season of operation for the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League. Four Pittsburgh-area teams competed in the season, in which all games were played at the Duquesne Gardens. The league reconstituted in the newly finished hockey rink at the Duquesne Gardens, after the Schenley Park Casino was destroyed in an 1896 fire that cut short the previous WPHL season. The old venue's in-house, Pittsburgh Casino team, was not reformed and only three teams played in the league.
James Wallace Conant was an amusement manager who later became the manager of the Schenley Park Casino, as well as the first manager of the Duquesne Gardens, the first indoor ice rinks in the city of Pittsburgh. Conant is credited with bringing the sport of ice hockey to Pittsburgh, since the indoor ice rinks lured many Canadian players to the city. Over time several of the Canadian players were actually paid to play hockey first at the Casino, and later at the Gardens. He was also the founder of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, the first hockey league to openly hire and trade players.
The Pittsburgh Winter Garden hockey team was an amateur ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team received its name from its home arena, the Winter Garden at Exposition Hall, and played only four games, winning one and losing three, in its only season of 1915–16. The Winter Garden team was managed and coached by Arthur Sixsmith and consisted of several players from the defunct Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL), which was the first openly professional hockey league. Despite the fact that former professional players were on the team, the club remained strictly amateur. Lorne Campbell and Arthur's brother, Garnet Sixsmith, played on the Winter Garden team and were both alumni of the WPHL.
The Duquesne Athletic Club was a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that played for only one season in 1908–1909. It won the final championship of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL).
References
- ↑ "Red and Black Victory". Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette. February 28, 1900. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Miller, Charles S. (November 24, 1901). "Speed is Hockey's Chief Charm". Pittsburgh Press . p. 35.
- ↑ "Amateur Sports". Pittsburgh Press . December 20, 1896. p. 8.
- ↑ "Amateur Sports". Pittsburgh Press . December 17, 1896. p. 6.
- ↑ "Amateur Sports". Pittsburg Press . December 16, 1896. p. 7.
- ↑ "All The Sporting News". Pittsburgh Press. April 5, 1899. p. 5.
- ↑ "Duquesne C. and A. Club Sold Out". The New York Times. February 18, 1901. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.