Pittsburgh Shamrocks

The Pittsburgh Shamrocks played in the International Hockey League in 1935–36. The Shamrocks played all of their home games at the Duquesne Gardens. During that lone season, the team finished in fourth place in the West Division behind the Detroit Olympics, Cleveland Falcons and Windsor Bulldogs. The Shamrocks scored 137 goals and allowed 170. The team folded after one season. It is estimated that the team lost $36,000 during 1936–36 season.

The Shamrocks were coached by Sprague Cleghorn who was regarded as one of the dirtiest players in the National Hockey League. For nine of the NHL's first ten years, Cleghorn led the NHL in penalty minutes. He won the Stanley Cup twice with the Ottawa Senators in 1920 and 1921, and one with the Montreal Canadiens in 1924.

Prior to the formation of the Shamrocks, the Cleghorn family was already embedded in the history of Pittsburgh hockey. Cleghorn's brother, Odie, was the head coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates when they became the city's first NHL team in 1925. Harold Darragh and Gordon Fraser also played in the NHL with the Pirates.

Rookies Jean and Conrad Bourcier also made local history by becoming the first siblings to play professional hockey on the same Pittsburgh team when they joined the Shamrocks in late January.

Contrary to popular belief, the Shamrocks did not evolve into the Pittsburgh Hornets. After winning the IHL championship in 1936, the Detroit Olympics moved to Pittsburgh to become the Hornets. On October 4, 1936, Pittsburgh theatre chain owner, John Harris, purchased the Detroit Olympics of the International-American Hockey League and merged them with players from the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets and the Shamrocks. The team was renamed Pittsburgh Hornets. Bill "Red" Anderson and Bill Hudson were the only two players from the Shamrocks to be on the Hornets roster at the start of the 1936–37 season.

Pittsburgh Shamrocks 1935–36 Season Statistics