Victoria Cougars | |
---|---|
City | Victoria, British Columbia |
League | PCHA (1911–1924) WCHL (1924–1926) |
Operated | 1911–1926 |
Home arena | Patrick Arena |
Colours | Blue and Yellow |
Head coach | Lester Patrick |
Franchise history | |
1911–1913 | Victoria Senators |
1913–1916 | Victoria Aristocrats |
1916–1917 | Spokane Canaries |
1918–1922 | Victoria Aristocrats |
1922–1926 | Victoria Cougars |
Championships | |
League champions | 4 (1913, 1914, 1925, 1926) |
Stanley Cups | 1 (1925) |
The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the Western Canada Hockey League) in the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1924 to 1926. The team was based in Victoria, British Columbia, and won the Stanley Cup in 1925, becoming the final non-NHL team to win the Cup.
The original Victoria franchise of the PCHA, the Victoria Senators, were formed in 1911, and became the Victoria Aristocrats in 1915. [1] The Aristocrats challenged the Toronto Blueshirts for the Stanley Cup the following year, but lost. In 1916 the team was forced to move to Spokane, Washington, after having their arena (Patrick Arena) commandeered by the Canadian military. The club folded the following year as the Spokane Canaries. [2]
A new team was formed in 1918 and again were dubbed the Victoria Aristocrats, with players from the folded Portland Rosebuds. In 1922 they changed their name to the Victoria Cougars. Led by coach Lester Patrick, the Cougars would win the Stanley Cup in 1925 against the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Cougars were the last non-NHL team to hoist the Stanley Cup as well as the last west coast team to win it until the Anaheim Ducks did so in 2007. They would attempt to repeat as champions in 1926 but they were unsuccessful as they lost the final series to the NHL's Montreal Maroons.
The WHL dissolved after the season. That spring, a group of businessmen from Detroit won an NHL expansion franchise and bought the rights to many of the players from the Stanley Cup finalist Cougars. The new NHL franchise would retain the nickname "Cougars" in tribute. The Detroit Cougars would later be renamed the Detroit Falcons, and would ultimately be renamed the Detroit Red Wings.
Among the notable players who played for the Cougars were Hall of Famers Hec Fowler (goaltender), Frank Foyston, Frank Fredrickson, Hap Holmes (goaltender), Clem Loughlin, Harry Meeking and Jack Walker.
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Season | Name | League | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Finish | Playoffs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1912 | Senators | PCHA | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 81 | 90 | 3rd | - |
1912–13 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 68 | 56 | 1st | - | ||
1913–14 | Aristocrats | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 80 | 67 | 1st | Lost Stanley Cup playoff to Toronto Blueshirts | |
1914–15 | 17 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 64 | 116 | 3rd | - | ||
1915–16 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 74 | 102 | 4th | - | ||
1916–17 | Canaries | 24 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 89 | 143 | 4th | - | |
- | Team folded after previous season in Spokane. Victoria arena still in use for war-time military training. | |||||||||
1918–19 | Aristocrats | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 44 | 81 | 3rd | - | |
1919–20 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 57 | 71 | 3rd | - | ||
1920–21 | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 21 | 72 | 3rd | - | ||
1921–22 | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 61 | 71 | 3rd | - | ||
1922–23 | Cougars | 30 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 94 | 85 | 2nd | Lost in PCHA playoff | |
1923–24 | 30 | 11 | 18 | 1 | 78 | 103 | 3rd | - | ||
1924–25 | WCHL | 28 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 84 | 63 | 3rd | Won WCHL, Won Stanley Cup | |
1925–26 | WHL | 30 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 68 | 53 | 3rd | Won WHL, Lost Stanley Cup Finals |
Curtis Lester Patrick was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with his brother Frank Patrick and father Joseph Patrick, he founded the PCHA and helped develop several rules for the game of hockey. Patrick won the Stanley Cup six times as a player, coach and manager.
The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was considered to be a major league of ice hockey and was important in the development of the sport of professional ice hockey through its innovations.
The Seattle Metropolitans were a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle, Washington, playing in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1915 to 1924. During their nine seasons, the Metropolitans were the PCHA's most successful franchise, as they went 112–96–2 in their nine years as a franchise. The Metropolitans also won the most regular season PCHA championships, winning five times, with Seattle finishing second on three other occasions. The Metropolitans played their home games at the 2,500 seat Seattle Ice Arena located downtown at 5th and University.
The Toronto Hockey Club, known as the Torontos and the Toronto Blueshirts, were a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They were a member of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The club was founded in 1911 and began operations in 1912. The club won its sole Stanley Cup championship in 1914.
The 1926–27 NHL season was the tenth season of the National Hockey League. The success of the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Pirates led the NHL to expand further within the United States. The league added three new teams: the Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Cougars, and New York Rangers, to make a total of ten, split in two divisions. This resulted in teams based in Canada being in the minority for the first time. To stock the teams with players the new teams brought in players from the Western Hockey League, which folded in May 1926. This left the NHL in sole possession of hockey's top players, as well as sole control of hockey's top trophy, the Stanley Cup, which was won by the Ottawa Senators. This was the original Senators' eleventh and final Stanley Cup win. The Senators' first was in 1903.
The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926.
Frank Corbett "Flash" Foyston was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Foyston was a member of Stanley Cup championship teams three times: with the Toronto Blueshirts in 1914, the Seattle Metropolitans in 1917, and the Victoria Cougars in 1925. While with the Metropolitans, he twice led the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) in goals. His performance in the 1919 Stanley Cup Finals set or tied 7 NHL records that remain unbroken over a century later. After his retirement from playing, Foyston became a minor league head coach. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.
Sigurdur Franklin Fredrickson was an Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player and aviator. As a player and coach, he was significant to both the amateur and professional ice hockey as it evolved in North America in the early 20th century. Fredrickson's career was interrupted by military service during the First World War and prematurely ended by a knee injury in 1931.
Harry George "Hap" Holmes was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. As a professional, Holmes won the Stanley Cup four times, with four teams. He tied the record of his 1914 Stanley Cup winning Toronto Blueshirts teammate Jack Marshall, who also won Cups with four teams. No other player has duplicated this record.
John Phillip "Jack" Walker was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Toronto Blueshirts, Seattle Metropolitans, Victoria Cougars, and Detroit Cougars. He played in all the big professional leagues at the time: the National Hockey Association (NHA), Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), and National Hockey League (NHL).
Francis Alexis Patrick was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, head coach, manager, and executive. Along with his brother Lester, he founded the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the first major professional hockey league in Western Canada. Patrick, who also served as president of the league, took control of the Vancouver Millionaires, serving as a player, coach, and manager of the team. It was in the PCHA that Patrick would introduce many innovations to hockey that remain today, including the blue line, the penalty shot, and tracking assists, among others.
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 1925 Stanley Cup Finals saw the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) champion Victoria Cougars defeat the National Hockey League (NHL) champion Montreal Canadiens three games to one in a best-of-five game series. The Canadiens were substitute NHL representatives, as the final series to decide the NHL champion was not played.
Clement Joseph Loughlin was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played hockey for the Victoria Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League, and the Detroit Cougars and Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League. He was captain when the Victoria Cougars won the Stanley Cup in 1925. Clem Loughlin also coached the Chicago Black Hawks for three seasons starting with the 1934–35 season.
Haldor Halderson was an Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.
The 1926–27 Detroit Cougars season was the first season of National Hockey League (NHL) hockey in Detroit, Michigan. The Detroit Cougars scored 28 points, finished at the bottom of the American Division as well as the league and failed to make the playoffs in their inaugural year.
The 1917–18 Montreal Wanderers season was the 15th and final season of play of the Montreal Wanderers ice hockey club. Along with the Canadiens, Ottawa and Quebec, the club voted to suspend the National Hockey Association (NHA) and form the National Hockey League (NHL) to freeze out the Toronto NHA franchise owner. On the ice club still had difficulties fielding a competitive club, and when the Montreal Arena burned down, owner Sam Lichtenhein elected to suspend the club. The team is officially credited with having played six games, though they only actually played the first four; the other two were declared forfeit.
The 1914 Stanley Cup Finals was a series between the Victoria Aristocrats, champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), and the Toronto Hockey Club, champions of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The Torontos defeated the Aristocrats in three games to win the best-of-five series. It was the first officially sanctioned series for the Stanley Cup between the two leagues, starting the "World's Series" era where the NHA champion played off against a PCHA or Western league champion annually for the Stanley Cup. It was also the final series of the "challenge" era, where inter-league series for the Stanley Cup were sanctioned by the Stanley Cup trustees. An anticipated follow-on challenge series between Toronto and Sydney, champions of the Maritime League did not take place as Sydney abandoned their challenge for the Cup.
Portland Rosebuds was the name of two professional men's ice hockey teams in Portland, Oregon. Both teams played their home games at the Portland Ice Arena. The first Rosebuds are notable for being the first American-based team to be allowed to compete for the Stanley Cup. The second Rosebuds are notable in that their roster was used to build the NHL expansion Chicago Blackhawks.