After the 1902 season, the WPHL became the first league to openly hire hockey players. Many of the athletes in the WPHL were Canadians who were drawn to Pittsburgh because of Duquesne Garden, which was one of the few arenas in North America that had an artificial ice rink.[5] The Pirates made one of the first known trades of professional hockey players, sending Jim MacKay, Edgar Dey and Dunc Taylor to the Pittsburgh Bankers for Joseph Donnelly and Bert Bennett on January 27, 1908.[4][6] (It was not the first trade of the WPHL season, as Dutch Koch had already been dealt from the Bankers to Lyceum for Harry Burgoyne[7] and back to the Bankers for Fred Young.[8]) On January 31 the Pirates also acquired Gordon McGuire from the Bankers through a purchase.[9]
The Pirates played only one year in the WPHL. They ended their only season with a record of 5 wins, 10 losses, and 2 ties.[10]
^Fitzsimmons, Ernie (2000), "Early Professional, Early Senior WHA and Modern Minor Professional League Standings", in Diamond, Dan (ed.), Total Hockey, Total Sport Publishing, pp. 414–432, ISBN1-892129-85-X