The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team that played in the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in Western Canada and the Western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was cons ...

(PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921–22 WCHL season, 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. ...

) in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

(WHL) from 1924 to 1926. The team was based in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, and won the Stanley Cup in 1925, becoming the final non-NHL team to win the Cup.

History

The original Victoria franchise of the PCHA, the Victoria Senators, were formed in 1911, and became the Victoria Aristocrats in 1915. The Aristocrats challenged the

Toronto Blueshirts The Toronto Hockey Club, known as the Torontos and the Toronto Blueshirts, were a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They were a member of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The club was founded in 1911 and began operations in 191 ...

for the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () 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, and the International Ic ...

the following year, but lost. In 1916 the team was forced to move to

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

, after having their arena (

Patrick Arena Patrick Arena (1911–1929) was the main sports arena located in the Greater Victoria, British Columbia area. The wood construction, brick-faced arena was located in the suburb municipality of Oak Bay, on the northeast corner of Cadboro Bay Roa ...

) commandeered by the

Canadian military The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defence Act'', t ...

. The club folded the following year as the Spokane Canaries.

A new team was formed in 1918 and again were dubbed the Victoria Aristocrats, with players from the folded Portland Rosebuds. In 1922 they changed their name to the Victoria Cougars. Led by coach

Lester Patrick Curtis Lester Patrick (December 31, 1883 – June 1, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA; Western Hockey League (WHL) after ...

, the Cougars won the Stanley Cup in

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

against the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). The Cougars were the last non-NHL team to hoist the Stanley Cup as well as the last west coast team to win it until the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Confere ...

did so in 2007. They attempted to repeat as champions in

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

but they lost the final series to the NHL's

Montreal Maroons The Montreal Maroons (officially the Montreal Professional Hockey Club) were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They played in the NHL from 1924–25 NHL season, 1924 to 1937–38 NHL season, 1938, winning the Sta ...

. The WHL dissolved after the season. That spring, a group of businessmen from

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

won an NHL expansion franchise and bought the rights to many of the players from the Stanley Cup finalist Cougars. The new NHL franchise adopted the nickname "Cougars" in tribute. The Detroit Cougars were later renamed the Detroit Falcons, and were ultimately renamed the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. Among the notable players who played for the Cougars were Hall of Famers

Hec Fowler Norman Boswell "Hec" Fowler (October 14, 1892 – July 30, 1987) was a two-sport athlete from Canada. He was a professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and National Hockey League between 1916 and 1925. ...

(goaltender),

Frank Foyston Frank Corbett "Flash" Foyston (February 2, 1891 – January 19, 1966) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Foyston was a member of Stanley Cup championship teams three times: with the Toronto Blueshirts in 1914, the Seattle Met ...

Frank Fredrickson Sigurdur Franklin Fredrickson (Sigurður Franklín Friðriksson; June 3, 1895 – May 28, 1979) was an Icelandic Canadian, Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player and aviator. As a player and coach, he was significant to both the amateur and profess ...

Hap Holmes Harry George "Hap" Holmes (February 21, 1888 – June 27, 1941) was a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. As a professional, Holmes won the Stanley Cup four times, with four teams. He tied the record of his 1914 Stanley Cu ...

(goaltender),

Clem Loughlin Clement Joseph Loughlin (November 15, 1892 – January 28, 1977) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played hockey for the Victoria Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League, and the Det ...

Harry Meeking Henry Arthur "Hurricane Howie" Meeking (November 4, 1894 – December 13, 1971) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played three seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Arenas, Detroit Cougars and Boston Bruins. He was ...

and

Jack Walker Jack Walker (19 May 1929 – 17 August 2000) was a British industrialist and businessman. Walker built his fortune in the steel industry, amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. He then went on to become the owner and benefactor of Blac ...

Seasons

''Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against''

Victoria Cougars: 1925 Stanley Cup champions

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* "Victoria Cougars 1925 Stanley Cup championship has family meaning" a
Times Colonist

Victoria Aristocrats of the PCHA (1911–16, 1918–22)
at

HockeyDB HockeyDB, originally known as the Internet Hockey Database, is a Canadian-American website dedicated to the specialization of statistics behind the game of ice hockey. It is one of the largest repositories of hockey data on the internet, gather ...

Victoria Cougars of the PCHA (1922–24)
at

Victoria Cougars of the WCHL/WHL (1924–26)
at

{{Victoria Sports Defunct ice hockey teams in British Columbia History of the Detroit Red Wings Pacific Coast Hockey Association teams

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, '' KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North, Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed wild ...

Ice hockey clubs established in 1911 1911 establishments in British Columbia Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1926 1926 disestablishments in British Columbia