Western Hockey League [1944-1974] history and statistics

Hockey had been played on the West Coast of the US and Canada for many years. Vancouver, Seattle, Spokane, and Portland had a very long tradition of fielding teams under the moniker of the PCHL, and most teams were professional in nature.

However, a new incarnation of the PCHL formed as an amateur league in 1944-45. They chose to be an amateur league mainly because the NHL had claimed territorial rights to Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland (Lester Patrick had operated in those cities when he ran the PCHA league, and the NHL considered that territory as belonging to Patrick). The NHL demanded a large fee for the territory, and the PCHL objected to paying it.

The PCHL actually grew out of the Southern California Hockey League (which operated from 1942-43 to 1943-44 and included teams in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Pasadena, and San Diego) and the Northwest International Hockey League, which operated in 1943-44 in Vancouver (Washington), Seattle, and Portland. The team... [Click for more]s from these two leagues banded together to form the new league.

The first season of the PCHL was a success. The teams played in three different divisions; Southern, which was made up of former SCHL cities; Central, which housed the Oakland and San Francisco clubs; and Northern, which housed the former NIHL cities. The Southern and Central teams played for the Henderson Cup, which had originated in the SCHL, but winner of theNorthern division was considered to be the PCHL champion by default. A strong Seattle Ironmen team won the PCHL crown, and then the AHAUS championship by defeating the Boston Olympics four games to two.

The league turned international in scope in 1945-46 with the addition of teams in New Westminster BC, and Vancouver BC. The Vancouver WA entry dropped out after a dismal first season in which they won only eight games, Seattle decided it could only support one team, and the Pasadena Panthers were a casualty as well. The entire league played for the Henderson Cup.

Tacoma WA and Fresno CA joined the league for 1946-47, and Hollywood dropped out after 1946-47. The league would occupy the same cities for several years to come.

The San Francisco Shamrocks suffered a major disaster mid-season when the train carrying the team collided with an oil truck. Many of the players were severely burned, and although none were killed the team was incapacitated. Each team in the league loaned players to the Shamrocks until their regular squad was able to return to play.

On January 14, 1948, the owners decided to turn the league professional following the 1947-48 season. Although the players were compensated as amateurs, mostly through housing and jobs,they were free to come and go as they chose, and they frequently jumped between the PCHL (operating under the Amateur Hockey Association of the US) and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. Even though the players were amateur, they would pit the two associations against each other to receive the sweetest deal.

Additionally, Los Angeles and San Francisco had higher aspirations: in 1948 both cities applied for inclusion in the NHL so professional hockey in their cities was seen as a possible stepping stone to the higher league.

When the league turned professional, they did so under a trial arrangement under the NHL's supervision. The teams operated with limited reserve lists (players that the teams had rights over), a condition the NHL imposed on them. The league's first season was a success, and the level of play was much improved from that of the 1944-45 season, even though the playerswere paid roughly the same as when they were amateurs.

The PCHL operated in two divisions; a Southern division which housed the California teams and a Norhern division which housed the remaining US and Canadian teams. Most of the play was within the divisions, but the teams played a handful of games cross-divisionally. The divisional winners met in the playoffs for the Henderson trophy.

Travel in the PCHL was not by bus; it was by automobile. The players ould pile into several limousines to trek to their road games. In the late 40's, there were no interstates, so the trips were long and tiring.

The PCHL even had a franchise known as the Penguins. The Portland team, once known as the Eagles, renamed itself the Penguins for the 1948-49 season. The team even came complete with a mascot, a live penguin which travelled with the team (riding in coach Jimmy Ward's car), making an appearance before the game started.

Eddie Shore had his hand in the PCHL; he owned the Oakland Oaks franchise. He disbanded the team in December 1949 after reporting losses of over $150,000. That was a foreshadowing of problems to come. Fresno withdrew after the 1949-50 season ended, and both San Francisco and San Diego asked for permission to go on a one-year hiatus for the 1950-51 season. That left Los Angeles as the remaining team in the South, and facing prohibitive travel costs they too were forced to disband. The PCHL played on with an all-Northern distribution of teams. Many of the players who didn't catch on with one of the remaining PCHL teams wound up in the Maritime Major Hockey League.

The league thrived under it's newly found geographic distribution. Several more Canadian cities -- Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary, and Saskatoon -- joined the league in the early 1950's. With the geography of the league shifting, it became the more appropriately named Western Hockey League for the 1952-53 season.

Sources: Hendy's Hockey Guides, "Icemen: A History of the Western Hockey League" by John Stott, "Portland is Pens' Place" by Jim Taylor, AHAUS hockey guide (1946-47).