Philadelphia has had a long history of ice hockey teams. Yet many of today's fans do not know of all the teams that have come and gone in Philadelphia. My goal is to educate you about the teams in Philadelphia. Over the course of the next couple weeks, I'll be posting segments of the history of each team that has stepped foot on the ice in Philadelphia, from the Philadelphia Arena Arena to the Wachovia Center, from the Can-Am, to the WHA to the NHL!
Philadelphia Arrows (1927-1935)
Many die hard fans of Philly believe that the Philadelphia Quakers where Philadelphia's first professional ice hockey team. But that is not true. Actually, it was the Philadelphia Arrows, who played in Canadian-American Hockey League, who became the first professional ice hockey team in Philly. The Arrows represented the city from 1927 to 1935, playing in the Philadelphia Arena.
The Can-Am league was a year old when the Arrows expanded into the league. They joined the Springfield Indians, Boston Tigers, Quebec Beavers, New Haven Eagles, and the Providence Reds.
The Arrows had mild success in the Can-Am League. In their first season they finished dead last out of the 6 teams, but came back the next year with an impressive 29-12-7 record to give Phillly, it's first ever regular season hockey title. The Arrows had a couple future NHL stars on the team, this included: Tommy Anderson, and Art Coulter. Anderson went on to play 8 seasons in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings and Brooklyn Americans (New York's first NHL hockey team). Anderson was the captain of the Americans for the 1941-1942 season. He also won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1942, following that year the Americans folded and Anderson didn't play in NHL again.
Art Coulter came from the Arrows to the NHL and was a Hall Of Famer. Coulter played with the Arrows from 1929-1932 before starting his NHL career of 10 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers. Art was a two time Stanley Cup champion, and helped the Blackhawks win their first Stanley Cup in 1934. He won his second cup in 1940 with the Rangers; Art also was captain of the Rangers in 1938. Art was inducted in the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1974. Other notable NHLers who came from the Arrows where; Toronto St Pat's forward, Lloyd "Shrimp" Andrews, and Ranger's goalie, Dave Kerr.
The Arrows won one regular season title, in the 1932-1933 season. They won two divisional titles in the 1936-37, and 1938-139 seasons. They also brought Philadelphia their first regular season hockey title in 1933.
After the 1935 season, the Arrows would have a name change, after becoming a top affiliate of one of the NHL's original six teams.
To be continued......
***Credits for the information gathered on thus blog goes to hockeydb.com, and hockeyscoop.net. All information was collected for recreational use only. This is NOT an attempt to claim this information gathered as my own. All information belongs to the respected owners.***
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