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.
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 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 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.[2]
League history
1896–1904
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, 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.[3]
Interior of the Casino in 1895. This is the earliest known image of ice hockey in Pittsburgh
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 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.[9]The following season the Pittsburgh Bankers, which represented a bankers' association,[10] were admitted to the league, while the Pittsburgh Athletic Club repeated as champions.[4]
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
Pittsburgh Athletic Club, 1901 WPHL Champions
The 1901–02 season is considered the first season whereby the league was recognized as professional, the first professional ice hockey league.[11] 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 Pittsburgh Keystones, 1902 WPHL Champions
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 FamersAlf 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 1902Harry 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 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".[15] 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.[14] While players like Fred Lake, were already well known to hockey fans.[15] There is still a strong suspicion that hockey players were paid before 1904, when the first pro league was officially formed.[12]
Suspension of the league: 1904–1906
The Pittsburgh Professionals represented the city in the International Professional Hockey League, after the WPHL suspended operations in 1904
The champion of the WPHL competed against Houghton, Michigan'sPortage 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 International Professional Hockey League (IHL). The WPHL was suspended with 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.[16] Around 1904 another milestone was reached by a Pittsburgh player. That year Garnet Sixsmith, who played in the WPHL, became 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 the skate of choice for hockey players and are still in use.[11] 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.[16]
Pittsburgh Bankers, 1908 WPHL Champions
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 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 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.[15]
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 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 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.[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]
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.
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 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 1907–08 WPHL season was the eighth season of operation for the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL) and the first since the league went dormant in 1904. In the intervening three seasons, a team representing Pittsburgh competed in the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL). Four Pittsburgh-area teams made up the revived WPHL, in which all games were played at the Duquesne Gardens. Old WPHL teams Pittsburgh Athletic Club and the Pittsburgh Bankers resumed play in the league. Two teams were added to the league, the Pittsburgh Pirates and a team representing the Pittsburgh Lyceum.
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 team was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which was formed in 1896.
The Pittsburgh Victorias were one of the earliest professional ice hockey teams. The club was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and were members of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, the first league to openly hire hockey players, from 1902–1904. The team folded in 1904, when the WPHL disbanded its teams to form the Pittsburgh Professionals and compete in the International Professional Hockey League.
The Pittsburgh Lyceum Club, or Pittsburgh Lyceum, were a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League from 1907 to 1908, and played all of their games at Duquesne Garden.
The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club ice hockey team was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL) from 1896 to 1901. The team was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Arthur "Art" Egerton Sixsmith was a Canadian professional ice hockey rover and businessman. He played for the Ottawa Hockey Club and later moved to Pittsburgh to play professionally. He was a member of the Ottawa's 1901 CAHL championship team. As one of the first professional ice hockey players, he captained and managed several of the championship teams in the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL). His brother, Garnet Sixsmith, also played professionally in Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Professional Hockey Club, also referred to as the Pittsburgh Professionals and Pittsburgh Pros, were a professional ice hockey team that participated in the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) from 1904 until 1907. The team was based in the Duquesne Garden and was the first inter-city professional hockey team in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pros' line-ups included several important early professional hockey players, the most notable being Hod Stuart, who was considered, in certain hockey circles, to be the "greatest hockey player in the world."
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 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).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United States 
