The Pittsburgh Winter Garden hockey team was an amateur

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 h ...

team based in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. The team received its name from its home arena, the

Winter Garden at Exposition Hall The Winter Garden at Exposition Hall was a multi-purpose facility, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was designed by Joseph Stillburg. It stood on the current site of Point State Park. The facility consisted of three buildings: Main Hall, Mus ...

, 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 Arthur "Art" Egerton Sixsmith (June 27, 1880 – March 15, 1969) 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 Ottaw ...

and consisted of several players from the defunct

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), 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.

History

Around 1914, public interest in

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

was growing in Pittsburgh and that interest served was the focus for converting the Main Hall of Exposition Hall into the Winter Garden. Hockey was a growing sport in Pittsburgh and had been played at the

Duquesne Gardens 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 ...

, which was located in the city's Oakland neighborhood. However, ice time at the Gardens was scarce while the demand for hockey was growing. In 1915, chiller pipes and concrete were added to the floor of the Main Hall to create an impressive ice surface. The size of the playing surface used for the Exposition's hockey games was x and was bigger than today's international size rinks. By comparison, today's

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

rinks measure x . The increased size wore down visiting opponents and heavily favored the home teams. While the Winter Garden team was formed in late 1915, by Arthur Sixsmith; Roy Schooley, the manager of the Duquesne Gardens, began putting together his " Duquesne Garden hockey team". A feud soon began between the two clubs. The Duquesne and Winter Garden teams each played out-of-town opponents, sometimes on the same night, and in direct competition of one another. On January 24 and 25, 1916, the Winter Garden team played a two-game series against the Sudbury All-Stars, who were considered one of the best teams in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The Winter Garden team defeated Sudbury, 2–0, in the first game. During the game, Pittsburgh's "Kewpie" Young collided with Sudbury's

Shorty Green Wilfred Thomas "Shorty" Green (July 17, 1896 – April 19, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played four seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hamilton Tigers and New York Americans between 1923 and 1927. As ...

, resulting in the loss of several of Young's teeth. Of the opening game, the Sudbury players were reportedly overwhelmed by the size of the Garden's ice surface. However, the Winter Garden team would go on to drop the series' second game to Sudbury, 3–1. Aside from the two games against Sudbury, the Winter Garden team played only two other games, both losses to a team from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Schedule and results

All games were played at the

, Pittsburgh.

References

{{Pittsburgh sports Defunct ice hockey teams in Pennsylvania Defunct Pittsburgh sports teams Ice hockey clubs established in 1915 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1916