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History
The Pacific Coast Hockey Association was
a professional ice hockey league in western Canada, operating
from 1911 to 1924 when it merged with the Western Canada Hockey League.
During this time, the PCHL was considered
to be one of the major leagues of hockey.
The PCHA was founded by Frank Patrick and Lester Patrick with
three teams: the New Westminster Royals, the Victoria Aristocrats, and the
Vancouver Millionaires. Although they did not challenge for the Stanley
Cup the first year, the defeat of the 1913 Stanley Cup champion Quebec
Bulldogs in an exhibition series (it would have been an official series
had the
Bulldogs decided to put the Cup on the line) by the Aristocrats gave the
league a good deal of status. An agreement between the National Hockey
Association and the PCHA was made in 1915 where the two league champions
would face
each other for the Stanley Cup. That year also saw the first Stanley Cup
champions from the PCHA, when the Millionaires defeated the Ottawa
Senators in a
best-of-five series.
1916 saw the first American team, the Portland Rosebuds
(formerly the Royals) playing for the Stanley Cup, while the Seattle
Metropolitans was
the first American team to win the Stanley Cup the following year.
In 1921, the Western Canada Hockey League, another western major
league of hockey, was formed, and the Stanley Cup playoffs was modified to
include teams from the WCHL. The following two years, which would turn out
to
be the last two years of the PCHA, the league played interleague games
with the
WCHA. Interestingly, the last year of the PCHA had the three remaining
teams all finish with under-.500 records.
In 1924, the Vancouver Maroons folded, and the two remaining teams joined
the Western Hockey League (formerly the WCHL), ending the life of
the PCHA. The Victoria Cougars would win the Stanley Cup in 1925, but this
win
would be the last by a non-NHL team, and the last by a team from the west
for
a long time. This new league would also not last long, as the WHL were
unable
to match the
NHL's American expansion and their player salaries, which led
the Patrick brothers to sell players or, in the case of the Portland
Rosebuds (not to be confused with the Rosebuds of the PCHA) and the
Victoria
Cougars, the team itself. The Rosebuds would become the present-day Chicago
Blackhawks, while the Cougars became the modern-day Detroit Red Wings.
Teams
New Westminster Royals (1911-1914)
Portland Rosebuds (1914-1918)
Seattle Metropolitans (1915-1924)
Spokane Canaries (1917-1918)
Vancouver Millionaires (1911-1924)
Victoria Aristocrats (1911-1916, 1918-1922)
Victoria Cougars (1922-1924)
List of Pacific Coast Hockey Association
Champions
1911-12 - New Westminster Royals
1912-13 - Victoria Aristocrats
1913-14 - Victoria Aristocrats
1914-15 - Vancouver Millionaires
1915-16 - Portland Rosebuds
1916-17 - Seattle Metropolitans
1917-18 - Vancouver Millionaires
1918-19 - Seattle Metropolitans
1919-20 - Seattle Metropolitans
1920-21 - Vancouver Millionaires
1921-22 - Vancouver Millionaires
1922-23 - Vancouver Maroons
1923-24 - Vancouver Maroons
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questions please contact scott@portlandbuckaroos.com
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