Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL) Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL) The Pittsburgh Pirates were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL), based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1925–26 to 1929–30. The nickname comes from the baseball team also based in the city. For the 1930–31 season, the team moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played one season as the Philadelphia Quakers. The Pittsburgh Pirates are traced back to the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets of the US Amateur Hockey Association. The Yellow Jackets' owner was Roy Schooley, a former referee. Even though the team won the USAHA Championship in 1924 and 1925, Schooley encountered financial problems.
Ice hockey in the United States of the Miracle on Ice is believed to be influential in popularizing the sport from a fringe sport to a mainstream sport. Ice hockey in the United States Ice hockey, usually referred to in the U.S. simply as "hockey", is a popular sport in the United States. Hockey in the U.S. began in 1894 when the first artificial ice rink was built in Baltimore, Maryland. Now hockey is most popular in regions of the U.S. with cold winter climates, such as the northeast and the upper Midwest. However, since the 1990s, ice hockey has become increasingly popular in the Sun