The P in PCHA

While the Patrick brothers were initially only directors on the Pacific Coast Hockey Association executive, leaving others to serve as president, vice-president, and secretary, there is little doubt that Frank and Lester called the shots. This was demonstrated in the way the league was described a couple of times, as seen below. In the first example, they were speaking generically, while the second example is probably just a typo, but it’s a revealing one nevertheless. 

Vancouver Province, Dec. 27, 1911

Vancouver Province, Jan. 3, 1912

A Toronto Star columnist found the arrangement too cosy for his liking, writing on Dec. 23, 1911: “It is the opinion in the East that the Pacific Coast Professional League could be better described as the Family Compact or the Patricks, in League with Each Other.”

In his history of the PCHA, Ron Shearer also said a Toronto Globe columnist referred to the PCHA as the Patrick League, “repeatedly and contemptuously” and continued to do so once it merged with the Western Canada Hockey League. 

However, the only example I can find is from Oct. 28, 1925, and it doesn’t seem contemptuous: “The teams in the Patrick league this season are Edmonton, Calgary, Portland, Saskatoon, Victoria, and Vancouver.”