Pittsburgh Hornets

The Pittsburgh Hornets were a minor-league professional men's ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Contrary to popular belief, the Pittsburgh Hornets did not evolve from the International Hockey League's Pittsburgh Shamrocks. The franchise started play in 1927, playing their first nine seasons as the Detroit Olympics. Then on October 4, 1936, after winning the IHL championship, the Olympics moved to Pittsburgh to become the Hornets. Bill Anderson and Bill Hudson were the only two players from the Shamrocks to be on the Hornets roster at the start of the 1936–37 season. The Hornets, still a minor-league team for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, made their debut in the International-American Hockey League in 1936–37. The league transformed into the American Hockey League in 1940. The Hornets disbanded after the 1955–56 season. The franchise was suspended because the archaic Duquesne Gardens was torn down. The Hornets reappeared in the new Civic Arena in 1961 and, after a poor start, they became AHL contenders again, this time as a farm club for the Detroit Red Wings. They won a division title in 1964 and won their third Calder Cup in 1967. Following the 1967 win, the Hornets permanently closed operations, as the Pittsburgh Penguins began play the next fall and took over the market when the NHL expanded. History The team started as the Detroit Olympics in 1927 playing home games at the Detroit Olympia. The Olympics played two seasons in the Canadian Professional Hockey League (Canpro) and seven seasons in the International Hockey League (IHL) after the IHL split from Canpro in 1929. The IHL would merge with the Canadian-American Hockey League (Can-Am) in 1936 to form the International-American Hockey League. In October 1936, John Harris, a Pittsburgh theater chain owner, purchased the Olympics and relocated the team to become the Pittsburgh Hornets.