Seattle Totems | |
---|---|
City | Seattle, Washington |
League | CHL |
Founded | 1944 |
Operated | 1944–75 |
Colors | 1958–66: Blue, red and white. 1966–75: kelly green and white. |
Franchise history | |
1944–52 | Seattle Ironmen (PCHL) |
1952–54 | Seattle Bombers (WHL) |
1955–58 | Seattle Americans (WHL) |
1958–74 | Seattle Totems (WHL) |
1974–75 | Seattle Totems (CHL) |
Championships | |
Playoff championships | 3 (1959, 1967, 1968) |
The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. Under several names prior to 1958, the franchise was a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (renamed the Western Hockey League in 1952) between 1944 and 1974. In their last season of existence, the Totems played in the Central Hockey League in the 1974–75 season. They played their home games in the Civic Ice Arena and later at the Seattle Center Coliseum. The Totems won three WHL Lester Patrick Cup championships in 1959, 1967 and 1968.
The Totems were one of the few American-based professional clubs to play the famed Soviet Red Army team. On December 25, 1972 the Totems lost to the Soviets 9-4. A rematch between the two clubs was held on January 4, 1974. Led by Don Westbrooke's three goals, The Totems won the game 8-4.
After World War II, the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL), a major professional league on the West Coast in the teens and 1920s, was resurrected as a semi-professional loop. Seattle, as a strong hockey town and notable for being the first city outside of Canada to host a Stanley Cup champion (the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans), was granted a franchise, the Seattle Ironmen. The Ironmen had modest success, finishing in first place in the league in 1948, while the league itself became fully professional in 1949. Its most notable stars were Gordon Kerr, the team's leading scorer in those years with 235 points in 244 games, William Robinson, Eddie Dartnell and Joe Bell. Among other notables for the team were future NHL star goaltender Al Rollins and legendary Philadelphia Flyers coach Fred Shero.