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The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in three incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952.
The first incarnation of the PCHL had four teams and lasted three seasons. Brothers Frank Patrick and Lester Patrick, financed by their wealthy lumberman father Joseph Patrick, founded it and operated franchises in Vancouver and Victoria, with Frank, one of the founders of the earlier Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) as president. [1] The Vancouver Lions won the league's championship all three seasons and played in all five seasons of the second version of the league, winning its final two championships in 1940 and 1941. The Victoria Cubs arena, Patrick Arena, was destroyed by fire in 1929, after which the club continued for one season as a traveling team before being moved to Tacoma, Washington to become the Tacoma Tigers. [2]
From 1932 to 1935, no league called the PCHL existed, although teams from the first PCHL joined the Western Canada Hockey League or the North West Hockey League. In 1936, the Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver franchises of the North West Hockey League joined with the Oakland Clippers to re-form the Pacific Coast Hockey League. The Clippers relocated to Spokane in their first year. The Spokane Clippers disbanded for the 1939–40 season, but reappeared the next year as the Spokane Bombers.
The league disbanded after the 1941 season, primarily as a result of World War II.
1937: Portland Buckaroos
1938: Seattle Seahawks
1939: Portland Buckaroos
1940: Vancouver Lions
1941: Vancouver Lions
The final incarnation of the league was managed by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, and grew out of combining teams from the Southern California Hockey League and the Northwest International Hockey League. The PCHL was founded as an amateur loop, partly because the National Hockey League recognized Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) founder Lester Patrick as the territorial rights holder for professional hockey in Vancouver, Portland, and Seattle. In 1948, however, the ten team league voted to turn pro, and was recognized as such by the NHL.
Before the start of the 1951–1952 season, the PCHL had dwindled to a six team league. The neighbouring Western Canada Senior Hockey League (WCSHL), which played minor senior hockey on the Canadian prairies, had also dwindled, to just three franchises. The three WCSHL franchises turned professional and joined the PCHL for 1951–1952. One year later, the PCHL renamed itself the Western Hockey League before the start of the 1952–1953 season.
The PCHL championship trophy was the President's Cup.
1945: Seattle Ironmen
1946: Vancouver Canucks
1947: Los Angeles Monarchs
1948: Vancouver Canucks
1949: San Diego Skyhawks
1950: New Westminster Royals
1951: Victoria Cougars
1952: Saskatoon Quakers
The San Francisco Seals were a minor league hockey team which played in the Western Hockey League from 1961 to 1967.
The Western Hockey League (WHL) was a minor professional ice hockey league based in Western Canada that operated from 1952 to 1974. The league was managed for most of its history by Al Leader, and had roots in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League. The championship trophy of the WHL was the Lester Patrick Cup.
Denman Arena was an indoor arena located in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. The arena was located at 1805 West Georgia Street at the northwest corner with Denman Street. It opened in December 1911 and was destroyed by fire in 1936. Its primary use was for ice sports such as ice hockey. It was the home ice rink of the Vancouver Millionaires professional ice hockey team, and was the location of 1915 Stanley Cup championships. The arena was also used for other sports, musical performances and public assemblies. It was an assembly point for Canadian servicemen during World War I. The 10,500 seat arena was the largest in Canada at the time, and introduced mechanically frozen or "artificial" ice to Canada.
Patrick Arena (1911–1929) was the main sports arena located in the Greater Victoria, British Columbia area. The wood construction, brick-faced arena was located in the suburb municipality of Oak Bay, on the northeast corner of Cadboro Bay Road and Epworth Street. Built in 1911 at a cost of $110,000 with a capacity for 4,000 spectators, it officially opened with public skating on December 25, 1911. More than 600 skaters enjoyed the thrill of opening day. The owners, Frank and Lester Patrick, built the arena primarily to accommodate their hockey team in the newly formed Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). The Patrick Arena was destroyed by fire in 1929.
The New Westminster Royals was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in New Westminster, British Columbia, first established in 1911 for the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). Though nominally based in New Westminster, the team played its home games at the Denman Arena in nearby Vancouver, as an arena was not available; the team would never play a PCHA home game in New Westminster as a result. They won the inaugural PCHA championship in 1912, though financial difficulties saw the team relocated to Portland, Oregon in 1914 and become the Portland Rosebuds.
The Saskatoon Quakers were an ice hockey team that was based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team played in various senior ice hockey leagues, and later played in minor league professional hockey. The Quakers represented Canada in 1934 World Ice Hockey Championships held in Milan, Italy where they won Gold. In 1952, they captured the President's Cup as Pacific Coast Hockey League champions.
The Portland Buckaroos was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in Portland, Oregon.
The North West Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed from 1933 to 1936. It was formed from the Calgary and Vancouver franchises of the Western Canada Hockey League and three new teams.
Gordon Walter Fashoway was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and [[coach (sports)|coach]. He played 13 games in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1950–51 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1945 to 1964, was mainly spent in the Western Hockey League. After his playing career Fashoway worked as a coach, and coached the Oakland Seals for 10 games in the 1967–68 season. He was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.
The Northwest War Industries League and American Football League were two closely related professional football minor leagues based on the West Coast of the United States that played for two nonconsecutive seasons during World War II.
The Los Angeles Monarchs were a professional ice hockey team, active from 1944–1950, in the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL). The Monarchs are the first professional ice hockey team to win a league championship for the city of Los Angeles. They played in the southern division of the PCHL, alongside teams from the neighboring cities such as the Pasadena Panthers, the Hollywood Wolves, and the San Diego Skyhawks. The southern division also included the San Francisco Shamrocks, Oakland Oaks and, in 1947, the Fresno Falcons.
Roy McBride was a former professional ice hockey player and coach.
The Portland Eagles were a minor league professional hockey team located in Portland, Oregon. They were known as the Portland Penguins for one season.
The Pacific Coast International League was a minor league baseball league that played between 1918 and 1922. The Class B level league franchises were based in the Northwest United States and British Columbia.
The 1928–29 PCHL season was the first season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey League, a minor professional league with teams in the western United States and western Canada. It consisted of four teams: Vancouver Lions, Seattle Eskimos, Portland Buckaroos and Victoria Cubs.
The 1929–30 PCHL season was the second season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey League, a minor professional league with teams in the western United States and western Canada. It consisted of four teams: Vancouver Lions, Seattle Eskimos, Portland Buckaroos and Victoria Cubs.
The 1930–31 PCHL season was the third season of the professional men's ice hockey Pacific Coast Hockey League, a minor professional league with teams in the western United States and western Canada. It consisted of four teams: Vancouver Lions, Seattle Eskimos, Portland Buckaroos and Tacoma Tigers.
Ice hockey in Seattle, Washington includes professional teams as early as 1915, such as the Seattle Metropolitans, the first United States-based team to win the Stanley Cup. The city has been represented by various teams in the iterations of the Western Hockey League since 1944, of which the major junior Seattle Thunderbirds are the latest. Presently, the city has a National Hockey League franchise, the Seattle Kraken, who began play in the 2021–22 season.
The 1969–70 WHL season was the 18th season of the Western Hockey League. Seven teams played a 74-game schedule, and the Vancouver Canucks were the Lester Patrick Cup champions, defeating the Portland Buckaroos four games to one in the final series. The Salt Lake Golden Eagles joined the WHL as seventh team.