1908–09 WPHL season

The 1908–09 WPHL season was the ninth and final season of operation for the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League. Four Pittsburgh-area teams competed in the season, in which all games were played at the Duquesne Gardens.

1908–09 WPHL season
League	Western Pennsylvania Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Number of teams	4
Regular season
Season champions	Pittsburgh Bankers (3rd title)

By 1908, the league could no longer rely on salaries as novelty to attract Canadian talent, since professionalism had spread into Canada. Many players were lured to the league since the WPHL played on the Duquesne Gardens' artificial ice and was not dependent on cold weather to provide a naturally frozen surface. However as winter began and Canadian rinks became available, the players would just return to teams closer to their Canadian homes. This jumping affected all of the league's teams. Once the Pittsburgh Lyceum team folded on December 23, it was decided to discontinue the WPHL after the season. The Pittsburgh Bankers ended their final season, by winning the final WPHL championship title and tying the Pittsburgh Athletic Club for the most titles won at three a piece.

Final standings

Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts	%
Pittsburgh Bankers	15	12	4	3	81	59	24	.800
Duquesne Country & A.C.	15	11	5	1	77	49	22	.733
Pittsburgh Athletic Club	14	5	10	2	59	70	10	.357
Pittsburgh Lyceum*	8	3	12	2	41	80	6	.235

Source: Fitzsimmons, p. 415

* The Lyceum discontinued play on December 23, 1908. Their remaining games were recorded as losses.

References

• 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, ISBN 1-892129-85-X