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.

History

Origins

In 1895, Pittsburgh officials, constructed the Schenley Park Casino which featured the first artificial ice-making plant in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. 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 Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

tournament” opening game at the Casino. The newspaper reported that a team consisting of ten players from

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

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. After seeing the excitement and fan appeal of the hockey game, the Casino's management decided to organize a senior league at the rink. The league was strictly amateur and was named the Western Pennsylvania League. The league played its first season in 1896–97 at the Casino, with four teams, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, the Duquesne Country & Athletic Club, Western University of Pennsylvania (the University of Pittsburgh today) and a team known as (All-)Pittsburgh, or the "Casino" team. The Pittsburgh Athletic Club team was managed by Charles S. Miller, who became the league's president.

Championship era: 1899-1901

The league played at the Casino twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday nights. The first "big league" championship (season) game was November 17, 1896 between Duquesne Country & Athletic Club and All-Pittsburgh, won by Duquesne 2–1. However the league's season was cut short on December 16, when the Casino rink was destroyed by fire. The "Casino" team, Pittsburgh Athletic Club and Western University teams all lost their hockey equipment in the fire. A fire at the Casino in December 1896 destroyed the only ice hockey rink in Pittsburgh and the league dissolved without a championship. The team and the league were revived by the construction of an artificial 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 ...

. The league's second season began on January 24, 1899, when the Garden hosted its first hockey game in a match between the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and Western University of Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Athletic Club would then go on to claim the league’s first championship. The team then won the next two titles, which resulted in being awarded the

$500 Trophy There are many $5 banknotes, bills or coins, including: * Australian five-dollar note * Canadian five-dollar note * New Zealand five-dollar note * United States five-dollar bill * Hong Kong five-dollar coin * Hong Kong five-dollar note Other curr ...

, in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

and again in

1901 Events January * January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...

The 1901–02 season is considered the first season whereby the league and its teams were recognized as professional. The first professional ice hockey league. To fill their team the Pittsburgh Athletic Club lured players from Canada with promises of high-paid employment and small cash incentives, which was around $30 a week. Two of the players signed by the Pittsburgh Athletic Club were George Lamb and Bill Hamilton. In 1904, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club was captained by Alf Smith, a future Hall of Famer, who won four straight

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

titles as a player and coach with the Ottawa Silver Seven from 1903 to 1906. The WPHL and its teams lasted until the end of the 1903–04 season, when the league pulled their best players to field one Pittsburgh team, the Pittsburgh Professionals, to play in the International Professional Hockey League.

Revival and quick demise

The WPHL, along with the Pittsburgh Athletic Club team was revived for the 1907–08 season. The team now featured several of Canada's top talent such as

Albert Kerr Albert Daniel "Dubbie" Kerr (March 8, 1889 – September 17, 1941) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was a member of the 1909 and 1911 Ottawa Senators Stanley Cup-winning teams. Born in Brockville, Ontario, he started out as a pro ...

Ken Mallen William Kenneth Russell Mallen (October 4, 1884 – April 23, 1930) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He won two Stanley Cups in his career, in 1910 with the Ottawa Senators, and in 1915 with the Vancouver Millionaires. Mallen pl ...

, Garnet Sixsmith and

Cyclone Taylor Frederick Wellington "Cyclone" Taylor, MBE (June 23, 1884 – June 9, 1979) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and civil servant. A cover-point and rover, he played professionally from 1906 to 1922 for several teams, and is most well ...

. However, the WPHL could no longer rely on salaries as novelty to attract Canadian talent, since professionalism had spread into Canada. Many players signed up, particularly since the WPHL played on Duquesne Garden's artificial ice and was not dependent on cold weather to provide a naturally frozen surface, however as winter began and Canadian rinks became available, the players would just flock north to teams closer to home. This jumping effected all of the league's teams. The Pittsburgh Athletic Club itself saw the mid-season defections of stars like Cyclone Taylor and

Con Corbeau Henry John "Harry, Con" Corbeau (May 8, 1885 – June 1, 1920) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman in the National Hockey Association for the Toronto Blueshirts. Corbeau was a member of the Blueshirts when they won the Stanley Cup i ...

to Canada. Finally, after the 1908–09 season the WPHL and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club team disbanded.

Hall of Famers

* Alf Smith (1962) *

(1947)

References

{{Defunct Pennsylvania sports teams Ice hockey teams in Pittsburgh Defunct ice hockey teams in Pennsylvania Athletic Club Athletic Club