The Duquesne Athletic Club was a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team based in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

that played for only one season in 1908–1909. It won the final championship of the

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 ...

(WPHL).

History

In 1908, the newly organized Duquesne Athletic Club (DAC) entered a hockey team in the WPHL for what turned out to be the league's final season of 1908–09. The club secured future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Alf Smith to captain the team and choose its players. Though unable to retain Smith for more than a small part of the season, the DAC finished with a 10–4–1 record to win the league title. The championship came down to the last game of the season in which Duquesne beat the

Pittsburgh Bankers 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 1899–1 ...

4–2. Three of the team's players, Harry McRobie, Tom Westwick and

Joe Dennison Joseph Charles Dennison (February 2, 1888 – September 21, 1958) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Dennison played his first professional season of 1908–09 mostly with the Duquesne Athletic Club of the Wes ...

, jumped their contracts in mid-season to play in Canada but soon changed their minds and returned to the DAC. For this reason, the team was nicknamed the "Prodigals". References to uniform color are in reports of a game played December 19, 1908; the team was referred to in one newspaper as the "brown and white artists" and in another as the "maroon jersey wearers".

References

{{Pittsburgh sports Ice hockey teams in Pittsburgh Defunct ice hockey teams in Pennsylvania Defunct Pittsburgh sports teams Western Pennsylvania Hockey League teams 1908 establishments in Pennsylvania 1909 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Ice hockey clubs established in 1908 Sports clubs disestablished in 1909