The Pittsburgh Keystones were a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

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 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 ...

, and was involved in allowing Harry Peel become the first admitted professional hockey player in 1902.

History

The Keystones' history can be traced to the Keystone Bicycle Club, which was organized in 1879. The bicycle club attempted to branch into hockey in 1899 when it applied to be the new member of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, which was expanding from three to four teams. Although the Pittsburgh Bankers were admitted instead, the Keystone club had only to wait another year before the Western University of Pennsylvania withdrew from the league, allowing the Keystones to fill the vacancy. In forming its team the Keystones heavily recruited from Canada, a practice that was soon copied by the other teams in the WPHL. The Keystone club made an auspicious debut by beating the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Athletic Club in the opening game of the WPHL's 1900–01 season. Keystone continually strengthened its team during the season but finished second to the PAC, which did not lose another league game on its way to a third consecutive title. Aside from league play, the WPHL teams also played exhibition games against some of the best amateur teams from North America. During the 1901–02 season, goaltender Riley Hern, a future member of the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

, began his professional career with the Keystones. In his first season, Hern led the league in victories, with nine in 14 games and was named to the WPHL All-Star Team. Joining Hern on the team in 1901 was Arthur Sixsmith who moved to Pittsburgh and turned professional with the Keystones. The Keystones went on to win the 1901–02 WPHL championship title, finally ending the reign of the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. However, the Keystones reversed their fortunes in the following season, with a last-place finish and with Hern this time leading the league in losses.

First admitted professional player

In the summer of 1902 Harry 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. According to Peel " he Keystonesmake no bones whatever about paying men. If they do not pay them, they give them fake positions." Peel was later suspended by the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

and his appeal was rejected on December 10, 1903 and again on November 30, 1904. However, by the 1902–03 season the WPHL was known as a fully professional league.

Decline

The next season, the Portage Lakes Hockey Club of

Houghton, Michigan Houghton (; ) is the largest city and seat of government of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-largest city in the Uppe ...

began a professional league which continued to play professional exhibition game against the WPHL's Pittsburgh Bankers. However the exposure given by playing Portage Lakes raised the profiles of some of the Pittsburgh players, who were lured away after the season for the promise of better pay in Michigan. The team soon raided Pittsburgh’s teams for top players like Riley Hern and Bruce Stuart. This led the Keystones to withdraw from the league on January 17, 1904. Their players were then redistributed among the three other WPHL teams.

Prominent Players

Keystones players inducted into the

: * Riley Hern (1963)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittsburgh Keystones (Ice Hockey)

Keystones A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, all ...

Defunct ice hockey teams in Pennsylvania

1900 establishments in Pennsylvania 1904 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Ice hockey clubs established in 1900 Sports clubs disestablished in 1904