Pacific Hockey League (1994)

For the late 1970s ice hockey league, see Pacific Hockey League.

Pacific Hockey League

Formerly	Pacific Southwest Hockey League Pacific Northwest Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1994
Ceased	1995
Replaced by	West Coast Hockey League (partial)
No. of teams	6
Country	United States
Last champion(s)	Alaska Gold Kings
Most titles	Alaska Gold Kings (1)

The Pacific Hockey League (PHL) was a short lived semi-professional ice hockey league in the western United States in the 1990s. The league was formed by a merger of two previous semi-professional leagues, the Pacific Southwest Hockey League and Pacific Northwest Hockey League. Several PHL teams became charter members of the professional West Coast Hockey League in 1995.

The PHL played only one season, 1994–95. In addition to its league schedule the Anchorage Aces played several out-of-league games, while the Fresno Falcons also played opponents from the Florida-based Sunshine Hockey League. The Fairbanks-based Alaska Gold Kings were the league's sole champions.

After the season three PHL teams, the Aces, Falcons and Gold Kings, joined the WCHL. A fourth team, the Los Angeles Bandits, briefly joined the dubious North American League before folding.[1]

Teams

Northwest Division

Team name	City
Alaska Gold Kings	Fairbanks, Alaska
Anchorage Aces	Anchorage, Alaska
Vancouver Thunderbirds	Vancouver, Washington (played in Seattle)[1]

Pacific Southwest Division

Team name	City
California Hawks / Bakersfield Oilers	Anaheim, California[2]
Fresno Falcons	Fresno, California
Los Angeles Bandits	Los Angeles, California

References

1. Pacific Hockey League (1994-1995) history and statistics, hockeyDB.com. (accessed 11 June 2015)
2. Klein, Gary. "Background Helped Callahan Sharpen His Skills for Blades", Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1994. (accessed 11 June 2015)