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An Alternate History of Major League Hockey in North America


Milo428

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I've created an alternate history of what would become today's equivalent to the NHL. It all starts with two independent leagues, the Continental Hockey Association(CHA) and the Pacific Hockey League(PHL)

The CHA, founded in Quebec City in 1917 began with 6 teams across New England and Eastern Canada. The PHL, founded in Vancouver in 1920 began with 6 teams across British Columbia, Washington and Oregon.

This thread will give a timeline of the expansion and eventual merging of these two leagues with logos that I have created for the teams. Please feel free to give feedback and criticism.

CCSLN%20Project%20CHAPHL%20Maps.png?guid

First I will give you a chart that shows the teams in the CHA and PHL and the map above.

CHA

North Division

Quebec City Harfangs

Moncton Maroons

Halifax Citadels

South Division

Bangor Blue Stockings

Portland Lobsters

Boston Colonials

PHL

North Division

Vancouver Killer Whales

Victoria Thunderbirds

Kelowna Kermodes

South Division

Seattle Cascades

Spokane Chiefs

Portland Pioneers

I will start the Timeline in the next post and start incorporating logos. In the meantime feel free to give feedback and suggestions.

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Do it! Love the names - Thunderbirds is a little "too" modern for 1920 in my opinion, but the rest of the names are perfect.

Thanks for the feedback. Maybe you're right, I chose that name because of the Native American legend in that area. If I were to change the name, what would you suggest?

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You educated me about the "spirit bear" of British Columbia (which I have heard of before) also being called the Kermode (which I hadn't heard before). This ties in with the meaning of Kelowna being "grizzly bear" in native Okanagan. I know this is fantasy, but although Kelowna is a good size now (about 185,000 people), it only had about 2500 in 1920. Similarly, I wonder how many Kelownians of 1920 would call that bear a Kermode (namesake Francis Kermode was the director of the Royal BC Museum), and to be a real pain about it, Kelowna is probably too far inland to find Kermodes. Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta did compete in leagues with Vancouver and Victoria...

On the other hand, I don't think "Thunderbird" is too modern for the 1920s. The native stories about it are very old, and would have been known in 1920. Victoria's Thunderbird Park opened in 1941, and the UBC varsity teams (in Vancouver) first used the name in 1934.

Orca was not that commonly used back then- they would mainly have been called killer whales.

Regardless, it's your fantasy, and I look forward to seeing your work.

Use the rules of heraldry for more effective sports logos! i.e. keep it simple, use good contrast...

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Timeline

The Early Years: 1917-1930

October 10, 1917: The first season of the CHA begins. Each team plays 16 games. The Boston Colonials finish with the best record, 14-1-1 and go on to win the first Kean Cup, named for founder Alfred Kean. The Colonials defeated the Moncton Maroons 3 games to none in a best of 5 series. The first season has an average attendance of 4,365 per game.

October 12, 1920: The first season of the PHL begins. Each team plays 24 games. The Victoria Thunderbirds finish with the best record, 19-3-2 and go on to lose 9-1 to the lowest seed in the playoffs, the Portland Pioneers in the Steller Cup championship game. The Steller cup is named for founder Frederic Steller as well as the Steller's Jay, a symbol of British Columbia. The first season has an average attendance of 2,990 per game.

1923: The Kelowna Kermodes of the PHL relocate to Calgary and become the Mavericks after 3 years of having attendance around 500 per game and having the worst record in the league.

1925: The CHA undergoes it's first league changes. The Bangor Blue Stockings relocate to Rochester, New York due to low attendance; The Moncton Maroons Relocate to Montreal and become the Monarchs because the league believes there will be more success in Montreal; 2 expansion teams are added: the Toronto Giants and the New York Metropolitans.

1926: The Spokane Chiefs of the PHL relocate to Edmonton and become the North Stars after being sold to Carl Morris.

October 9, 1927: The 10th CHA season begins. Each team plays 24 games.

Average attendance in the CHA reaches 7,500 per game

October 1, 1930: Francis Hillen purchases the Victoria Thunderbirds right before the 10th PHL season and brings them to his hometown of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. However, the team is unable to find an arena agreement and Hillen instead decides to move them north to Saskatoon and they become the Bucks.

Stay tuned for the next post, where I will update the map and show the logos for the two leagues and maybe some teams.

Please feel free to give feedback and suggestions.

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idk how many fans a Bangor team could attract....ik it's fictional but in real life

The NFL started off with teams in Canton and Dayton and Akron. The NBA once had teams in Sheboygan and Fort Wayne. Those would never actually be able to support modern day teams. All great leagues start with small cities. If you read the timeline, Bangor relocated to Rochester, a much bigger market. Eventually, I will have a league full of big market teams.

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A few comments:

  • Like the idea of creating an alt-NHL similar to the history of the NFL. Saskatoon's a little small circa 1930, about 40000, but I see where you're going with the evolution of the league.
  • Love the Mavericks name for Calgary, considering the independent conservative tone of the city for much of the past 100 years.
  • I agree with a previous poster that Orcas is probably an anachronistic name for a team established in 1920.
  • Glad you went with a non-oil name for the Alberta teams, considering they are founded prior to the Leduc strike of 1947. Though eventually an Edm North Stars logo could incorporate an oil derrick spraying up to a star in the sky.

Great start, can't wait to see the graphics!

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A few comments:

  • Like the idea of creating an alt-NHL similar to the history of the NFL. Saskatoon's a little small circa 1930, about 40000, but I see where you're going with the evolution of the league.
  • Love the Mavericks name for Calgary, considering the independent conservative tone of the city for much of the past 100 years.
  • I agree with a previous poster that Orcas is probably an anachronistic name for a team established in 1920.
  • Glad you went with a non-oil name for the Alberta teams, considering they are founded prior to the Leduc strike of 1947. Though eventually an Edm North Stars logo could incorporate an oil derrick spraying up to a star in the sky.

Great start, can't wait to see the graphics!

Thanks for the feedback. I decided to change the Orcas to the Killer Whales, maybe it will change later on. I also like your idea for the North Stars. Thanks.

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Below is the new layout of the two leagues after expansion and relocation as of 1930, along with each league's early logo.

CCSLN%20Project%20CHAPHL%20Maps%20No.2.p

Stay tuned for more Timeline and some team's primary logos coming soon.

Please feel free to leave feedback and suggestions.

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