The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club

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 was a member 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) from 1896 to 1901. The team was 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 ...

History

The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club (DC&AC) first played exhibition games of ice hockey in 1895. The Duquesne team then played in the first season of the WPHL at the

Schenley Park Casino The Schenley Park Casino was Pittsburgh, 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 w ...

, with three other teams, the

Pittsburgh Athletic Club 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 Le ...

, a club from Western University of Pennsylvania (the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

today) and a team known as Pittsburgh, or the 'Casino' team. The league played twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday nights. The DC&AC and the WPHL continued play until December 16, when the Casino rink was destroyed by fire. The Duquesne team finished the shortened season of league play with a 2–3 record. The league and the DC&AC resumed play in 1898, with its games moved to the new ice rink at the

Duquesne Garden The Duquesne Gardens (officially Duquesne Garden until 1940 and The Gardens afterward) 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 tr ...

, with league members the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and Western University. Many of the team's players came from

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, with the Pittsburgh-based club owners luring players to the area with the promise of high paying jobs and a living stipend. By early 1901, the broader DC&AC organization, which had been active in multiple sports and fielded a professional football team of national repute, was in financial ruin and lost its clubhouse to foreclosure. The 1900–01 season was the hockey team's last.

History

References

See also