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Library of Congress Research Guides

Pacific Coast Hockey Association: Topics in Chronicling America

The Pacific Coast Hockey Association, with teams in the U.S. and Canada, was created in 1912. This guide provides access to materials related to the “Pacific Coast Hockey Association” in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers.

Introduction

"The Metropolitans of Seattle, fastest ice hockey team in the world. Five of the men are 1914 world champions. Left to right: Wilson and Rowe, forwards; Carpenter, defense; Holmes, goal; Foyston and Walker, forwards. Inset, Cully Wilson, forward on Seattle team and one of the fastest players in Pacific Coast Association." December 8, 1915. The Tacoma Times (Tacoma, WA), Image 2. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.

In the first two decades of the 20th century the popularity of hockey in the US grew rapidly. One product of the sport’s rapid growth was the creation of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association with teams in Western Canada and the American Northwest. The PCHA played by different rules than the NHA or NHL. One of the major differences is that PCHA teams played with seven on the ice as opposed to the modern six. They had all of the modern positions as well as a rover. In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans of the PCHA would become the first American team to win the Stanley Cup. Read more about it!

The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.

The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.

Timeline

December 10, 1912 The PCHA’s inaugural season begins. The rosters of the league’s three teams are made up primarily of players poached from the National Hockey Association (NHA).
October 15, 1915 The PCHA and the NHA cease cooperation after negotiations between the league presidents fail. They had previously cooperated to prevent the stealing players and to divide amateur talent geographically.
December 7, 1915 The Seattle Metropolitans make their debut in the PCHA with a 3-2 win over Vancouver before 2,500 fans.
February 19, 1916 The Portland Rosebuds, led by Ernie “Moose” Johnson, become the first American team to win the league.
November 11, 1916 The PCHA adds a franchise in Spokane, while rejecting a franchise bid from San Francisco.
1916-1917 The Spokane Canaries play a single season in the PCHA. Due to poor attendance Spokane stopped playing home games late in the season.
March 26, 1917 The Seattle Metropolitans beat the Montreal Canadiens of the NHA to become the first American team to win the Stanley Cup.
April 1, 1919 With the Stanley Cup final between the Seattle Metropolitans and the Montreal Canadiens tied 2-2-1, the final game is cancelled because five Montreal players fell ill amid the Influenza Epidemic.
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