Pittsburgh Pirates (ice hockey)

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Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates logo
founding 1925
resolution 1931
history Pittsburgh Pirates
1925 - 1930
Philadelphia Quakers
1930 - 1931
Stadion Duquesne Gardens
Location Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania
Team colors black, orange, white
Stanley Cups no
Conference title no
Division title no

The Pittsburgh Pirates ( IPA : [ˈpɪtsbərɡ ˈpaɪrɪts] ) were a professional ice hockey team from Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . They played in the National Hockey League from 1925 to 1933 . For the 1930/31 season they moved to Philadelphia and played there for a year as the Philadelphia Quakers .

history

The NHL had its eye on Pittsburgh as a potential location for an NHL team in the mid-1920s. The Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets played in the US Amateur Hockey Association and owner Roy Schooley had to sell the team for financial reasons. The new owner, James F. Callahan, renamed the team after a baseball team in Pittsburgh Pirates . The US Amateur Hockey Association was dissolved and the Pirates were offered a place in the National Hockey League . A year earlier, the Boston Bruins had been the first team from the United States and the New York Americans joined the Pirates as the third US team in the 1925/26 season .

In the first season the team was able to convince and finished 3rd with 19 wins from 36 games. In the playoffs, however, they failed because of the Montreal Maroons . After a good first season, however, things went downhill. The playoffs were only reached again in the 1927/28 season, but here too the first round was the final destination. This time the New York Rangers were the opponents.

Even so, the Pirates managed to immortalize themselves in the NHL history books with a few stories. For example, it was Odie Cleghorn , the first trainer of the Pirates who practiced the flying change and thus revolutionized ice hockey. In addition, they played with three rows of storms alternating, while it was common for the other teams at that time to keep their stars on the ice as long as possible. Defense attorney Lionel Conacher was paid a record $ 7,500 for a three-year contract. In a game against the New York Americans on December 26, 1926, the Pirates shot 68 times at the opposing goal. Together with the 73 shots by the Americans, there were 141 shots on goal. This mark has not been exceeded in any NHL game to date. Goalkeeping legend Georges Vézina played his last game against the Pirates with the Montréal Canadiens . He left the ice sick and died of tuberculosis four months later .

Financial problems forced Callahan to sell the Pirates in 1928. The new owner was a group around boxer Benny Leonard and gangster Bill Dwyer . After a disappointing 1929/30 season in which they could only record five wins and against the background of the onset of the global economic crisis , the owners tried to bring money back into the coffers by selling players. The team was delivered to Philadelphia and played there under the name Philadelphia Quakers . It was planned to bring the team back to Pittsburgh after building a new stadium. But after a pathetic 1930/31 season , the game was stopped. In the next five years it was not possible to get a suitable team together and after the stadium construction in Pittsburgh had broken down, Leonard gave up his franchise in 1936 .

Season statistics

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = defeats after overtime , SOL = defeats after shootout , Pts = points, GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded, PIM = penalty minutes

season GP W. L. T OTL SOL Pts GF GA PIM space Playoffs
1925/26 36 19th 16 1 - - 39 82 70 264 3rd, NHL Quarterfinals defeat ( Montreal )
1926/27 44 15th 26th 3 - - 33 79 108 230 4th, American Division not qualified
1927/28 44 19th 17th 8th - - 46 67 76 395 3rd, American Division Quarterfinals defeat ( New York )
1928/29 44 9 27 8th - - 26th 46 80 324 4th, American Division not qualified
1929/30 44 5 36 3 - - 13 102 185 384 5th, American Division not qualified
total 212 67 122 23 - - 157 376 519 1597 2 playoff appearances
2 series: 0 wins, 2 defeats
4 games: 0 wins, 3 defeats

Members of the Hockey Hall of Fame