The Pittsburgh Bankers were a Pittsburgh hockey club that consisted of a group of local men from Pittsburgh that were employeed by local banks during the early 1900s. The Bankers began as the amateur Banker's League. The league later merged into one team which became members of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League

Western Pennsylvania Hockey League

The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League , was a semi-professional ice hockey league from the early 1900s. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the league was the pre-eminent ice hockey league at the time in the United States...

. The WPHL was the first league to openly hire hockey players. Many of the athletes in the WPHL were Canadians who were drawn to Pittsburgh because of the Duquesne Gardens

Duquesne Gardens

Duquesne Gardens was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA during the first half of the 20th century. It opened 3 years after a fire destroyed the city's prior sports arena, the Schenley Park Casino, in 1896. The arena was the first hockey rink to use glass above the dasher...

 which was one of the few arenas in North America that had an artificial ice rink. According to Stan Fischler, a renowned author and commentator on hockey, "In the early 1900s a local league also sprung up, called the Bankers League. Some of the banks started a hockey league as a promotional stunt and brought Canadians down and gave them jobs in the banks. They were down here to play hockey but in order to qualify and play for the bank they had to be an employee of the bank. I don't know what they gave them to do at the bank, but it wasn't much." This led to the Bankers laying partial claim to being one of the first teams to pay athletes.

To their credit, the Bankers might have been the first team to trade professional hockey players. According to the deal, the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates (WPHL)

The Pittsburgh Pirates were a hockey club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that became members of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League for the 1908 WPHL season. When the WPHL was revived in 1907, the only two original teams to return to the league after operations were suspended in 1904 were the...

 sent Jim MacKay, Edgar Dey

Edgar Dey

Edgar Ernest Dey was an early amateur and professional ice hockey player and athlete in canoeing. A member of the Dey family of Ottawa, known for canoe building, athletics and arena operation, he died in 1912 from an injury while playing hockey. He was a canoeing champion of Canada...

 and Dunc Taylor to the Bankers for Josephy Donnelly, Cliff Bennest and a player named McGuire on January 28, 1908.

The Bankers won WPHL titles in 1903

1903 WPHL season

-Final standings:Source: Fitzsimmons, p. 414-References:...

, 1908

1908 WPHL season

-Final standings:Source: Fitzsimmons, p. 415* Games that resulted in a tie were replayed and are not reflected in total points-Exhibition:The Bankers played a "World's Series" with the Montreal Wanderers. The Wanderers won the series two games to one....

, 1909

1909 WPHL season

-Final standings:Source: Fitzsimmons, p. 415* The Lyceum discontinued play on December 23, 1908.-References:...