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Patrick
was
less
famous
than
his
brother.
However,
Frank
probably
would
be
considered
the
main
architect
and
brains
behind
the
formation
of
the
PCHA
and
the
direction
that
the
league
would
take
when
confronting
the
National
Hockey
Association.
Frank
proposed
some
20
rules
that
became
part
of
the
National
Hockey
League
rule
book.
One
of
them
was
having
the
players’
numbers
on
the
backs
of
the
uniforms,
which
was
later
copied
by
the
NHA
in
1914.
The
multi-talented
Patrick
was
not
only
the
president
of
the
PCHA
for
many
years,
he
also
was
a
star
defenseman,
coach,
manager
and
owner
of
the
Vancouver
franchise.
In
1926,
he
also
was
instrumental
in
engineering
the
biggest
hockey
deal
to
that
time
when
he
sold
the
entire
Western
Hockey
League
to
eastern
interests
in
New
York,
Detroit
and
Chicago
for
the
first
big
expansion
of
the
NHL
to
the
United
States.
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Frank Patrick |
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Vancouver Millionaires |
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showcase
for
the
Pacific
Coast
Hockey
Association
was
to
be
a
beautiful
new
ice
arena
located
in
Vancouver.
The
Georgia
Street
site,
built
for
a
princely
sum
of
$175,000,
was
the
largest
ice
arena
in
Canada
at
that
time
with
a
seating
capacity
of
10,000.
The
artificial
ice
surface
measured
200
’
x
85
’
and
was
the
first
in
Canada.
Only
New
York’s
Madison
Square
Garden
surpassed
the
Vancouver
arena
in
size.
Small
by
comparison,
the
Victoria
ice
arena
would
seat
a
capacity
crowd
of
4,000.
New
Westminster
agreed
to
play
all
of
its
home
games
in
Vancouver
in
1911-12
as
the
Royal
City
Arena
wouldn’t
be
ready
until
the
following
season.
To
compete
with
the
Eastern
Canadian
teams,
the
Patricks
realized
that,
to
gain
major-league
recognition,
large
and
expensive
ice
arenas
were
a
fact
of
life.