The Birthplace of Organized
Professional Ice Hockey!
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© www.cchockeyhistory.org
Copper Country Hockey History !
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The Birthplace of Organized Professional Ice Hockey!
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This
web page is still being researched and is still under construction!
Click here for Table of Contents
So check back often!
If you like this site, please consider making a donation
to keep it online:
This web site is dedicated to the First All Pro
Hockey Teams who formed the World's First Professional Hockey League in 1904.
If
you have any photos, or memorabilia that could be photographed for this
website, or items that could be donated or loaned to
the Hockey Museum in the Dee Stadium, please contact
the webmaster.
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The Portage Lake Professional Ice Hockey Team
started right here in the Copper Country in Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula
in 1902.
Then in 1904, the Portage Lakes organized the World's First Professional
Ice Hockey Inter-City League, it was called the International Hockey League.
Portage Lake Hockey Team, Champions of the United States
1902-03:
Click here
to see pictures of the Hockey Centennial here Sept 23-26, 2004
Click here
to see pictures of the local Hockey Museum in the "Dee"
Click here see the History
of Hockey Timeline in the Copper Country starting in the 1880's
Bios of hockey
legends who have played here in the Copper Country over the years:
Players
on the First Portage Lake Pro teams 1904-1907
Local
hockey player legends 1898-present who played pro, semi-pro or
college hockey after high school.
Click here
to see Michigan Tech's Hockey History from their web page
Click here
to see Championship Hockey Teams that were
from the Copper Country!
Click here to see our location
Click here to see the current teams in our hockey
town
Click
here to see more Portage Lake hockey teams
Click
here to see local Ice Rinks over the years
This website is under construction!
Pictures of the Hockey Museum in the "Dee":
Home ice for the Portage Lake team since 1902 has been the
Amphidrome; after a fire in 1927 it was rebuilt and called the New Amphidrome,
it was renamed the James R. "Dee" Ice Stadium when Michigan
Technological University acquired the building for their hockey team in 1943.
James R. Dee, was a local business man, who coordinated the financing for the
rebuilding of the ice rink after the 1927 fire in time for the next season. Dee
has been known as the Father of American Hockey for organizing some of the first
American hockey teams. The ice rink is located on the shore of
Portage Lake in Houghton, Michigan.
The Original Amphidrome 1902-1927:
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Dates in the History of Local Hockey; this is on a wall in the museum in the "Dee" ice rink in Houghton: |
North Wall; "Birthplace of Professional Hockey" and
"Amateur Hockey":
View the 100 year
old hockey stick from the Portage Lake 1903-04 World's Championship Team in our museum:
The stick measures 42 inches from top to heel, with a 10 inch blade and is made of
one piece of wood.
There is burned-in lettering on this 100 year old stick:
One flat side of stick has team's names starting at the top of the stick:
"HERN / GIBSON / H. STUART / MORRISON / B. STUART / R. WESTCOTT / SHIELDS /
F. WESTCOTT / LINDER / DUGGAN // PORTAGE LAKE HOCKEY TEAM, CHAMPIONS OF AMERICA
/ AMPHIDROME. HOUGHTON MICH."
The other flat
side of the stick starting from bottom of the stick:
"PORTAGE LAKE HOCKEY CLUB 1903-4 /
COONEY SHIELDS [above this players name is an etching of a hockey
player with the PL logo on his jersey]
RILEY GIBBY HODDY BERTIE ERNIE COONEY FREDIE JOEY JIMMY WEBBY PATTY /
CHAMPIONS OF AMERICA 1903-4 / COLORS - GREEN and WHITE / WESTCOTT"
The top side of
the stick starting from bottom of the stick:
"OUR VICTIMS --_ ST. PAUL. ST. LOUIS. CAN. SOO. AM. SOO. KEYSTONES. P.A.C.
BANKERS. VICTORIAS OF -PITTSBURG. AND - WANDERER.S. -OF- MONTREAL -- **********
The bottom side of the stick starting from
bottom of the stick:
"PORTAGE. LAKE. HOCKEY. CLUB. CHAMPIONS - OF - THE - WORLD. 1904. -
Our Location in Houghton, Michigan:
This area,
located in the Western part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, is known as the
"Copper Country" from its early Copper mining days.
By car, we are 6 hours from Chicago, 7 hours from Minneapolis, and 9 hours from
Detroit and 4 hours NE of Duluth.
Our local Chamber of Commerce/Tourism
Michigan Tech University is located here in Houghton, click here for details on how to get here.
Click here for interactive map of Houghton by Mapquest
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TIMELINE
OF LOCAL HOCKEY HISTORY
This is truly a "Hockey Town" with teams of all ages here in the Copper Country:
Copper
Country Junior Hockey (CCJHA)
is for boys and girls ages 5 to 17 years old (girls teams to age 19). There are
over 300 players in CCJHA programs including Developing Mites, Mites, Squirts,
PeeWee, Bantam, Midget and two all girls teams.
Travel teams are formed along with C-L-K in the Midgets, Bantam, PeeWee,
Squirt, Mites and Girls divisions. CCJHA
uses two publicly owned ice rinks: the Houghton County Ice Arena in Hancock and
the Dee Stadium Ice Rink in Houghton. Both rinks are enclosed, have team locker
rooms with showers, concession stands and artificial ice.
Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw
C-L-K Junior Hockey is for
boys and girls ages 5 to 17 years old.. There are over 300 players in C-L-K
programs including Developing Mites, Mites, Squirts, PeeWee, Bantam, and
Midgets. Travel teams are formed
along with the CCJHA in the Midgets, Bantam, PeeWee, Squirt, Mites divisions.
C-L-K uses two publicly owned ice rinks: the Calumet Armory in Calumet
and the Bi-Centennial in Laurium. Both rinks are enclosed, have team locker
rooms with showers, concession stands and artificial ice.
There are five local High School Hockey Teams: Houghton Gremlins, Hancock Bulldogs, Calumet Copper Kings, Painesdale-Jeffers Jets, and the L'Anse-Baraga Purple Hornets (Lake Linden no longer has a HS hockey team.)
There is a Midget AAA Hockey Team called the Ojibwa Eagles with home ice at the Michigan Tech University Student Ice Arena. They were originally sponsored by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the Ojibwa Casino. Their official webpage is here, Ojibwa Eagles.
There are three local College Hockey Teams: Michigan Tech University Hockey team plays in NCAA Division I; their home ice is the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. The Finlandia University Men's Hockey team plays in NCAA Division III; their home ice is the Houghton County Ice Arena in Hancock. The Finlandia University Women's Hockey team plays in the NCHA; their home ice is the Houghton County Arena in Hancock. Michigan Tech also has a traveling Club Team called the Wolf Pack that competes in the Western Collegiate Club Hockey Association WCCHA made up of 5 collegiate club teams, which are part of the American Collegiate Hockey Association ACHA. Michigan Tech also has an extensive intramural hockey league for college students in the winter and for teen players in a summer hockey league as well as Hockey Development Youth Camps all summer.
There are four all girl hockey teams locally: the Michigan Tech University Girls Hockey Club; their home ice is the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena, the Finlandia University Women's Hockey team plays in the NCHA Division; their home ice is the Houghton County Arena in Hancock; and the Keweenaw Wings Girls Hockey team U19 and the K-Wing Girls Hockey team U15, and in years past, the Calumet Women's Team.
There are two Adult Hockey Teams that play here: the Portage Lake Pioneers; their home ice is at the Dee Ice Arena, and the Calumet Wolverines; their home ice is at the Calumet Armory, the Pioneers and the Wolverines both compete regionally and nationally at the Adult Level. There are also many inter-league Adult teams who compete locally year around.
There have been many local hockey teams and leagues over the years. Here are pictures and info on some of those teams from the past: Atlantic Mine Teams, Chassell Teams, Calumet Laurium Keweenaw Teams, Dollar Bay Teams, Hancock Teams, Houghton Teams, Lake Linden High School Teams, Laurn-Grove (Hancock) Teams, Painesdale Teams, Portage Lake Teams, Women's Teams: 1930's Women's Teams, 1960's Women's Teams, 1970's Houghton Angels Women's Teams, ...
There have been many local teams who won Upper Peninsula and Regional Championship Titles.
There have been many local teams who won State and National Championship Titles.
The History of Gibson Cup starts here in the Copper Country, and the Teams who Won the Cup are listed here.
The History of the MacNaughton Cup starts here in the Copper Country, and the Teams who Won the Cup are listed here.
If you have pictures of local teams, please contact the webmaster, we would love to include them on this web site!
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Contact webmaster if you have any suggestions/corrections/additions/questions about this web page.
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