Pro Hockey for L.A.

Posted on November 11, 2009 by lmharnisch
 
Nov. 11, 1959, Sports

 

Nov. 11, 1959

Would L.A. warm up to ice hockey?

Bob Hannam apparently thought so. Described in The Times as a Pasadena insurance man and president of a local amateur league, he was the front man for an International Hockey League team that would start playing in the Sports Arena in 1960.

The plan, if approved by the Coliseum Commission, would be to expand the league into Los Angeles and San Francisco. If the Cow Palace (perhaps the weirdest name ever for a sports arena) didn't add an ice rink, the league would add a second L.A. team for one season to play under a Hollywood name.

There's so much about this I find puzzling. Didn't L.A. have an eye on bigger fish than a minor league hockey team? Seems strange to me that given the Dodgers' incredible success, the city didn't work on getting better tenants for the new Sports Arena. Maybe the Lakers were already quietly talking to L.A.

And the idea of putting two teams in L.A. and naming one Hollywood, that sounds strangely familiar. Anyone for the Los Angeles Kings of Hollywood?

— Keith Thursby

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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3 Responses to Pro Hockey for L.A.

  1. Vincent's avatar Vincent says:
    November 11, 2009 at 10:23 am

    Keep in mind that in 1959, the NHL was an insular six-game league with no franchises west of Chicago (and no interest in expanding for nearly a decade), and while the AHL then had some cities deemed “big league” (Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh), it wasn’t interested in expanding west, either. This was probably as good asituation, hockeywise, as Los Angeles could get.
    Also, there was precedent for a “Hollywood” team not actually playing in Hollywood. The original PCL Stars shared Wrigley Field with the Angels, as did the revived Stars for one year (1938) before Gilmore Field was ready. (The NHL did something similar in 1941-42 when the New York Americans renamed themselves the “Brooklyn Americans,” even though they continued to share Madison Square Garden with the Rangers. After that season, the Americans folded, leaving the NHL at six teams for a quarter-century.)

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  2. R Case's avatar R Case says:
    November 11, 2009 at 10:26 am

    There was a Los Angeles Monarchs in the early 50’s followed by the Los Angeles Blades in the early 60’s

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  3. Keith Thursby's avatar Keith Thursby says:
    November 11, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    Thanks for the comments. I realize that the Hollywood Stars played in Wrigley Field for a bit so this wouldn’t have been the first time the Hollywood designation was used liked that. Just think it’s a bad idea, just like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim aren’t playing in Los Angeles.
    Just seemed to me the city fathers should have taken better advantage of the new Sports Arena given the momentum the Dodgers provided the city. The city deserved better than the circus and minor league hockey. At least L.A. got the Democrats in 1960.

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