Philadelphia Quakers (NHL)
One-season NHL team with the league's worst record.
The Philadelphia Quakers were a professional ice hockey team that competed for a single full season in the National Hockey League, 1930–31, based at the Philadelphia Arena. They took over from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates, the third U.S.-based NHL team, began well, reaching the playoffs in two of their first three seasons. But the team struggled both in performance and attendance. A sale to bootlegger Bill Dwyer did not improve matters. After the 1929 Wall Street crash and the onset of the Great Depression, the owners sold off star players to stay afloat. By the end of the 1929–30 season, the team was $400,000 in debt. Their home, the Duquesne Garden, built in 1890, was outdated; with only 5,000 seats (and standing room for 8,000), it was the smallest arena in the league. Boxing promoter Benny Leonard, acting for Dwyer, requested a temporary move to Philadelphia as the Quakers—named for the Quaker religious community’s role in founding the city and state—until a new arena could be built in Pittsburgh.
Things did not improve in Philadelphia. Financial troubles continued. On the ice, the Quakers were hopeless. They needed three games to score a goal and three more to get their first win, a 2–1 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on November 25, 1930. They finished with a dreadful 4–36–4 record. Their .136 winning percentage was the lowest in NHL history, a mark that stood for 45 years until the Washington Capitals posted a .131 percentage in 1974–75. The four wins tied the 1919–20 Quebec Bulldogs for the fewest by a team playing a full season. They had the worst offense (76 goals for) and worst defense (184 goals against) in the league. At the end of the 1930–31 season, the Quakers and the Ottawa Senators both announced they would not field a team for 1931–32, leaving Philadelphia without an NHL team until the Flyers arrived in 1967. The Flyers adopted the Quakers’ orange and black colors, though ironically inspired by the Texas Longhorns.
While the Senators returned for two years before moving to St. Louis, the Quakers franchise never played again. At each of the next five NHL governors’ meetings, they announced they were suspending operations for that season. The franchise was officially canceled on May 7, 1936, when it became clear no new arena would be built in Pittsburgh soon.
Quick Facts
- Team Name
- Philadelphia Quakers
- Text Color
- #000000
- Founded
- 1925
- History
- Pittsburgh Pirates / 1925–1930 / Philadelphia Quakers / 1930–1931
- Arena
- Philadelphia Arena
- City
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Team Colors
- Black, orange, white / #010101 #CF4520 #FFFFFF
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Philadelphia Quakers were born from the financial collapse of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the third American-based NHL team. The Pirates had made the playoffs in two of their first three seasons but fell into debt due to poor performance and the Great Depression, owing $400,000 by the end of the 1929–30 season. Their arena, the Duquesne Garden, built in 1890, was the smallest in the league with only 5,000 seats. Boxing promoter Benny Leonard, front man for owner Bill Dwyer, requested a temporary move to Philadelphia as the Quakers—named for the Quaker religious community's role in founding Philadelphia and Pennsylvania—until a new arena could be built in Pittsburgh.
On the ice, the Quakers were the definition of futility. They took three games to score a goal and three more to get their first win, a 2–1 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on November 25, 1930. They finished with a 4–36–4 record, a .136 winning percentage that was the lowest in NHL history until the 1974–75 Washington Capitals. Their four wins tied the 1919–20 Quebec Bulldogs for fewest in a full season, and they had the worst offense (76 goals for) and worst defense (184 goals against) in the league.
At the end of the 1930–31 season, the Quakers, along with the Ottawa Senators, announced they would not field a team for 1931–32. The franchise suspended operations for each of the next five seasons and officially canceled on May 7, 1936, when it became clear a new Pittsburgh arena would not be built soon. Philadelphia would not see an NHL team again until the Flyers arrived in 1967.
Reader's Guide
The Philadelphia Quakers' significance lies in their extreme futility and their role as a casualty of the Great Depression. Their .136 winning percentage stood as the NHL's worst for 45 years, underscoring the depth of their struggles. The franchise's demise also highlights the economic pressures of the era: the Pirates' $400,000 debt, the inadequate Duquesne Garden, and the failed promise of a new Pittsburgh arena. The Quakers' move to Philadelphia was intended as temporary, but the team never returned to Pittsburgh, and the franchise was officially canceled in 1936. The team's legacy includes the adoption of their orange and black colors by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1967, though ironically the Flyers drew inspiration from the Texas Longhorns. Only one Quakers player, Syd Howe, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and coach Cooper Smeaton was inducted as an official. The Quakers remain a symbol of a short-lived, disastrous NHL experiment.
Did You Know?
- The Quakers took three games to score their first goal and three more to get their first win.
- The franchise officially canceled on May 7, 1936, after five years of suspended operations.
More in Defunct Ice Hockey Teams 1-24
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