The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an

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 ...

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

with teams in the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

and

western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

that existed in three incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952.

PCHL 1928–1931

The first incarnation of the PCHL had four teams and lasted three seasons. Brothers Frank Patrick and

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 ...

, financed by their wealthy lumberman father Joseph Patrick, founded it and operated franchises in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, with Frank, one of the founders of the earlier

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) as president. The Vancouver Lions won the league's championship all three seasons and played in all five seasons of the second version of the league, winning its final two championships in 1940 and 1941. The Victoria Cubs 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 ...

, was destroyed by fire in 1929, after which the club continued for one season as a

traveling team In professional team sports, a traveling team (also called a road team) is a member of a professional league that never competes in a home arena or stadium. This differs from a barnstorming team as a barnstorming team competes in exhibition games ...

before being moved to

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, to become the

Tacoma Tigers Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mou ...

Teams

Portland Buckaroos The Portland Buckaroos was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in Portland, Oregon. PCHL/NWHL era (1928–1941) The first incarnation of Portland Buckaroos played their home games at the Portland Ice Arena (Oregon), Portland ...

(1928–1931) *

Seattle Eskimos Ice hockey in Seattle, Washington, includes professional teams as early as 1915, such as the Seattle Metropolitans, the first United States–based team to win the Stanley Cup. The city has been represented by various teams in the iterations of the ...

(1928–1931) *

(1930–1931) *Vancouver Lions (1928–1931) *Victoria Cubs (1928–1930)

Champions

*1929: Vancouver Lions *1930: Vancouver Lions *1931: Vancouver Lions

PCHL 1936–1941

From 1932 to 1935, no league called the PCHL existed, although teams from the first PCHL joined 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. ...

or the

North West Hockey League The North West Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed from 1933 to 1936. It was formed from the Calgary and Vancouver franchises of the Western Canada Hockey League and ...

. In 1936, the Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver franchises of the

joined with the Oakland Clippers to re-form the Pacific Coast Hockey League. The Clippers relocated to Spokane in their first year. The Spokane Clippers disbanded for the 1939–40 season, but reappeared the next year as the Spokane Bombers. The league disbanded after the 1941 season, primarily as a result of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Teams

Oakland Clippers The Oakland Clippers (active 1967–1968, also named the California Clippers) were an American association football, soccer team based in Oakland, California. They played in the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (1967), N ...

/ Spokane Clippers (1936–1938) *

(1936–1941) *

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

(1936–1940) * Vancouver Lions (1936–1941) * Spokane Bombers (1940–1941) *

Seattle Olympics Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the county ...

(1940–1941)

Champions

1937: Portland Buckaroos
1938: Seattle Seahawks
1939: Portland Buckaroos
1940: Vancouver Lions
1941: Vancouver Lions

PCHL 1944–1952

The final incarnation of the league was managed by

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

member

Al Leader George Alfred "Al" Leader (December 4, 1903 – May 8, 1982) was a Canadian-American ice hockey player, referee, and administrator. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in the "Builder" category. Leader settled in Seattle, Washington, in th ...

, and grew out of combining teams from the

Southern California Hockey League The Southern California Hockey League was a semi-professional ice hockey league that existed for three years during World War II. The league comprised teams in and around Los Angeles and eventually merged with the Northwest International Hockey Lea ...

and the

Northwest International Hockey League The Northwest International Hockey League was a senior ice hockey league that existed for one years during World War II. The league was comprised by teams in the Pacific Northwest and merged with the Southern California Hockey League in 1944 to fo ...

. The PCHL was founded as an amateur loop, partly because 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 ...

recognized

(PCHA) founder

as the territorial rights holder for professional hockey in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. In 1948, however, the ten team league voted to turn pro, and was recognized as such by the NHL. Before the start of the 1951–1952 season, the PCHL had dwindled to a six team league. The neighbouring Western Canada Senior Hockey League (WCSHL), which played minor senior hockey on the Canadian

prairies Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

, had also dwindled, to just three franchises. The three WCSHL franchises turned professional and joined the PCHL for 1951–1952. One year later, the PCHL renamed itself 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 ...

before the start of the 1952–1953 season. The PCHL championship trophy was the President's Cup.

Teams (1944–1952)

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

(1951–1952) *

Edmonton Flyers The Edmonton Flyers are a defunct ice hockey team that was based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The team existed from 1940 until 1963, first as an amateur senior ice hockey team (1940–1951), and then as a professional minor league team. The Fly ...

(1951–1952) *

Fresno Falcons The Fresno Falcons are an adult travel inline hockey team and were a minor league hockey team. The ice hockey Falcons were charter members of several long standing leagues in the western United States including the Pacific Southwest Hockey Leagu ...

(1946–1950) * Hollywood Wolves (1944–1947) * Los Angeles Monarchs (1944–1950) *

New Westminster Royals The New Westminster Royals was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in New Westminster, British Columbia, first established in 1911 for the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). Though nominally based in New Westminster, ...

(1945–1952) * Oakland Oaks (1944–1949) * Pasadena Panthers (1944–1945) *

Portland Eagles The Portland Eagles were a minor league professional hockey team located in Portland, Oregon. They were known as the Portland Penguins for one season. History The Eagles competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey League from 1944 until the team's final ...

(1944–1949, 1950–1951) * Portland Penguins (1949–1950) *

San Diego Skyhawks The San Diego Skyhawks were a professional ice hockey team based in San Diego, California. Founded in 1941 as members of the Southern California Hockey League (SCHL), the team joined the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL) in 1944. The team playe ...

(1944–1950) *

San Francisco Shamrocks The San Francisco Shamrocks were a minor professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Hockey League (PHL) during the 1977–78 and 1978–79 seasons. Based in Daly City, California, the team played its home games in the Cow Pala ...

(1944–1950) *

Saskatoon Quakers The Saskatoon Quakers were a Canadian ice hockey team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The team played in various senior and minor professional hockey leagues from the 1930s to the 1970s. The Quakers represented Canada and won gold at the 1934 ...

(1951–1952) *

Seattle Ironmen Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the county ...

(1944–1952) *

Seattle Stars Ice hockey in Seattle, Washington, includes professional teams as early as 1915, such as the Seattle Metropolitans, the first United States–based team to win the Stanley Cup. The city has been represented by various teams in the iterations of the ...

(1944–1945) *

Tacoma Rockets The Tacoma Rockets were a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1991 to 1995. They played at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The Rockets were granted as an expansion franchise, and were named after the defunct pr ...

(1946–1952) *

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

(1945–1952), in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

* Vancouver Vanguards (1944–1945), in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

Victoria Cougars The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the Western Canada Hockey League) in the W ...

(1949–1952)

Champions (1944–1952)

1945: Seattle Ironmen
1946: Vancouver Canucks
1947: Los Angeles Monarchs
1948: Vancouver Canucks
1949: San Diego Skyhawks
1950: New Westminster Royals
1951: Victoria Cougars
1952: Saskatoon Quakers

References

Notes

External links

HockeyDB.com: Pacific Coast Hockey League

{{Pacific Coast Hockey League seasons Defunct ice hockey leagues in Canada Defunct ice hockey leagues in the United States Western Hockey League (1952–1974)

PCHL 1928–1931

Teams

Champions

PCHL 1936–1941

Teams

Champions

PCHL 1944–1952

Teams (1944–1952)

Champions (1944–1952)

See also

References

Notes

External links