The Engleson Files

At the turn of the century, hockey in general, started to make great changes. The game itself was officially cemented into the collective conscience of the Canadian people, and with that, hockey began to grow into big business. Great players now became super-stars who had their faces forever immortalized on hockey cards and giant billboard posts. The game had been roofed and ruled, and the hierarchy of excellence, trophies, and teams truly began to develop – for this was the era of professionalism in hockey.

For the Barkerville Goldpanners, this was both good news and bad. It was good in the sense that it brought even more attention to the game, which, in turn, greatly elevated the level of competition. The William’s Creek Hockey League expanded into other communities in the central interior and was then renamed the Western Interior Hockey League, with the Goldpanners now being the only team from Barkerville competing. Gone were the days when any team could challenge for Lord Stanley’s prize, now teams had to be officially registered to qualify for the opportunity to compete. So with that, the Goldpanners seized this opportunity and became the powerhouse team in the newly developed league. In the first five years of the WIHL, the Goldpanners were champions five times, ironically, defeating a team from Bella Coola, who were then called the Northern Crosses, to claim their impressive fifth straight title in 1913. In many ways at this time, life was simply too good for the Barkerville Goldpanners.

But then Lester Patrick moved west and began cementing his plans for a new rival league down south – the Pacific Coast Hockey League. Teams such as the Victoria Aristocrats, the New Westminster Royals and Vancouver Millionaires began taking shape; and with that the big money now began to flow. Victoria housed the first indoor artificial rink in the Dominion that seated fifteen-thousand people. This luxury greatly damaged the fate of the WIHL, and the Barkerville Goldpanners, simply because the contracts signed up north could not compete with those offered down south. Therefore, many players from the WIHL traveled south to cash in on their fame and fortune and to have the opportunity to compete along side such icons as Fred “Cyclone” Taylor, thus killing hockey in the interior and dismantling the Barkerville Goldpanners professionally. Barkerville tried everything possible to join ranks with Patrick’s new league, but geographical logistics killed the negotiations before they had even begun. There would be many winters without professional hockey in Barkerville - until that one event, that one event when everything changed…