Vancouver Millionaires
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| Vancouver Millionaires | |
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| City: | Vancouver, British Columbia |
|---|---|
| League: | PCHA (1911 to 1924) WCHL (1924 to 1926) |
| Operated: | 1911 to 1926 |
| Home Arena: | Denman Arena |
| Colors: | Maroon and white |
| Franchise history | |
| 1911 to 1922: | Vancouver Millionaires |
| 1922 to 1926: | Vancouver Maroons |
| Championships | |
| Stanley Cups: | 1 (1915) |
The Vancouver Millionaires (later known as the Vancouver Maroons) were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926. Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, they played in Denman Arena, the first artificial ice surface in Canada and the largest indoor ice rink in the world.[1]
The Millionaires/Maroons succeeded as PCHA champions six times (1915, 1918, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924) and won the Stanley Cup once, in 1915, against the Ottawa Senators of the NHA.
Their jerseys were maroon, featuring a white V with "Vancouver" spelled down one side of the V and up the other. Hall of Famers Fred "Cyclone" Taylor, Mickey MacKay and Didier Pitre were among the most significant players to don the Millionaires/Maroons uniform in the team's history.
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[edit] History
In 1911, the Patrick brothers, Frank and Lester, inaugurated their own professional ice hockey league on the west coast, the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, giving birth to three teams, one of which was the Vancouver Millionaires. Frank aligned himself with Vancouver, playing for, coaching and managing the team. In order to earn credibility as a league, the PCHA lured players from the NHA, and in 1912, the Millionaires acquired the highly-touted Cyclone Taylor, who would play for and star in Vancouver for the following ten seasons — the remainder of his career. During his tenure in Vancouver, Taylor tallied 263 points in 131 games.
Upon the 1914-1915 season, the NHA and PCHA came to an agreement that each league's respective champion would play for the Stanley Cup; in the first year of this agreement, the Millionaires — led by Patrick and Taylor — emerged as league champion and defeated the Ottawa Senators to earn their first and only Stanley Cup championship. In a best-of-five series played at Denman Arena, the Millionaires swept Ottawa by scores of 6-2, 8-3, and 12-3. Taylor led the team with 6 goals. At the time, it was the furthest west the Cup had been awarded and it stands to date as the only Stanley Cup won by a Vancouver team (inclusive of the NHL's present-day Vancouver Canucks).
In 1918, Vancouver would once again compete for the Stanley Cup, defeating the Seattle Metropolitans in a two-game final for the PCHA title, but would be defeated by the Toronto Arenas of the NHL (evolved from the NHA) three games to two. Between 1918 and 1924, Vancouver would win the PCHA title in five of seven seasons. However, in 1919, due to a flu epidemic, a Stanley Cup match was not arranged, and in 1921 and 1922, they were defeated by the Ottawa Senators and Toronto St. Pats in back-to-back Cup Finals, respectively. In 1922, the team changed its name to the Vancouver Maroons and, although league champion in the PCHA's final two seasons, Vancouver would not compete for the Stanley Cup. As a result of the newly-founded Western Canada Hockey League, the PCHA champion would have to defeat the WCHL champion en route to a Cup series against the NHL champion; the Maroons would fall to the Edmonton Eskimos in 1923 and the Calgary Tigers in 1924.
Following the 1923-1924 season, the Maroons were absorbed by the WCHL upon the PCHA's demise, but would not achieve the same success of the previous years. In 1926, the WCHL suffered the same fate of the PCHA, and after fifteen years, the team subsequently folded, as well.
In 1999, Jon Mikl Thor, a local celebrity of bodybuilding, rockstar and acting fame, initiated VM Sports, a line of Millionaires apparel. Due to the fire that destroyed Denman Arena in 1936, there were no more Millionaires jerseys left to commemorate the team. Wanting to reconcile the Millionaires' place in Vancouver sports history with the present generation, Thor trademarked the Vancouver Millionares name and the "Victory V" logo, then with the help of graphic artists and historians, he created a new line of authentic Vancouver Millionaires sportswear. On May 1, 2008, the BC Sports Hall Of Fame was donated one such Millionaires sweater from VM Sports, which is now featured in the Hall's Cyclone Taylor display.[2]
[edit] Season-by-season record
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against
| Season | Name | League | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Finish | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | Millionaires | PCHA | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 102 | 94 | 2nd | - |
| 1912-13 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 84 | 89 | 2nd | - | ||
| 1913-14 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 76 | 83 | 3rd | - | ||
| 1914-15 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 115 | 71 | 1st | Won Stanley Cup | ||
| 1915-16 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 75 | 69 | 2nd | - | ||
| 1916-17 | 24 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 71 | 124 | 2nd | - | ||
| 1917-18 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 70 | 60 | 2nd | Lost in Cup finals | ||
| 1918-19 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 72 | 55 | 1st | Lost league playoff | ||
| 1919-20 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 75 | 65 | 2nd | - | ||
| 1920-21 | 24 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 86 | 79 | 1st | Lost in Cup finals | ||
| 1921-22 | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 77 | 68 | 2nd | Lost in Cup finals | ||
| 1922-23 | Maroons | 30 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 116 | 88 | 1st | Lost in Cup Semi-finals | |
| 1923-24 | 30 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 87 | 80 | 2nd | Lost in Cup semi-finals | ||
| 1924-25 | WCHL | 28 | 12 | 16 | 0 | 91 | 102 | 5th | - | |
| 1925-26 | WHL | 30 | 10 | 18 | 2 | 64 | 90 | 6th | - |
[edit] References
- ^ Tourism Vancouver (2007). Vancouver's History. Tourism Vancouver. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.
- ^ Mackin, Bob (2008-05-02). Back in the money. 24 Hours Vancouver. Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
[edit] See also
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