The San Diego Skyhawks were a 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 based in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. Founded in 1941 as members of 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 ...

(SCHL), the team joined the

Pacific Coast Hockey League The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in three incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952. PCHL 1928–1931 The fir ...

(PCHL) in 1944. The team played at the professional level until 1950. The Skyhawks played their final season, 1950–51, in the Southern California Amateur Hockey Association (SCAHA). The team played its home games at Glacier Gardens. The Skyhawks won the 1948–49 Phil Henderson Cup.

History

The Skyhawks were the farm team for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

from 1947 to 1950. The Bisons owned half of the San Diego franchise along with brothers Jim and Bret Forsyth. Bret, who was an employee at

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

, purchased an aircraft from the company to ferry his team to away games. Those travel accommodations were a rarity at the time, even at the highest level of sports, as most teams relied on bus and train transportation. Al Chapman, general manager of the Buffalo Bisons, announced in May 1950 that Buffalo would not continue to finance the San Diego PCHL franchise for the upcoming 1950–51 season. Chapman stated that the Bisons had been taking losses for the last two season, in spite of the Skyhawks' Phil Henderson Cup victory in 1949. Buffalo searched for local investment to keep the team alive in the PCHL to no avail. The Skyhawks informed the PCHL they were withdrawing their membership on May 16, 1950. The rights of the players San Diego had on assignment from Buffalo were transferred to the

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 ...

for the 1950–51 PCHL season.

Skyhawks who played in the NHL

* Hugh Currie * Joffre Desilets * Sam LoPresti * Larry Thibeault * Aud Tuten * Don Webster * Len Wharton

Season-by-season records

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References

{{reflist Defunct ice hockey teams in California Ice hockey teams in San Diego Ice hockey clubs established in 1941 Ice hockey clubs disestablished in 1950 1948 establishments in California 1950 disestablishments in California