# New Westminster Royals

The New Westminster Royals was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in New Westminster, British Columbia, first established in 1911 for the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). Though nominally based in New Westminster, the team played its home games at the Denman Arena in nearby Vancouver, as an arena was not available; the team would never play a PCHA home game in New Westminster as a result. They won the inaugural PCHA championship in 1912, though financial difficulties saw the team relocated to Portland, Oregon in 1914 and become the Portland Rosebuds.

## History

The first team played from 1911–1914 in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) which was established in 1911. The team was notable as it was the inaugural 1911–12 champion of the PCHA. It would be the only league championship the Royals would earn. Their home arena was the Denman Arena in Vancouver.
The name was revived for a club that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League from 1945 to 1952 and the Western Hockey League from 1952 to 1959. The Royals won the President's Cup in 1949–1950 as PCHL champions.

### Junior team

The New Westminster Royals name was revived for a junior-level franchise in the Pacific Coast Junior Hockey League (PCJHL) in 1962, winning five-straight PCJHL championships before moving – with league mates Victoria Cougars – into the British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCJHL) for the 1967–68 season. The Royals played on-and-off from 1962 to 1991 in the years when the major junior New Westminster Bruins were not playing. In 1991, the Royals relocated across the Pattullo Bridge to neighbouring Surrey, changing their name to Surrey Eagles.

## Season-by-season record

Key of colors and symbols :
| Color/symbol | Explanation |
| † | League champions |
| ↑ | Division champions |
| # | Top record in regular season |
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points

### Senior team

| Season | League | Division | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | Finish | Playoffs |
| 1912 | PCHA† | – | 15 | 9# | 6 | 0 | 78 | 77 | – | 1st† | n/a |
| 1912–13 | PCHA | – | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 67 | 74 | – | 3rd | n/a |
| 1913–14 | PCHA | – | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 80 | 67 | – | 2nd | n/a |
| Team relocated to Portland in 1914. Team re-established in 1945 ||||||||||||
| 1945–46 | PCHL | North | 58 | 26 | 32 | 0 | 228 | 268 | 52 | 4th | did not qualify |
| 1946–47 | PCHL | North | 60 | 29 | 29 | 2 | 257 | 270 | 60 | 4th | Lost First Round v. Seattle Ironmen (1–3) |
| 1947–48 | PCHL | North | 66 | 27 | 38 | 1 | 293 | 322 | 55 | 4th | Lost First Round v. Seattle Ironmen (2–3) |
| 1948–49 | PCHL | North↑ | 70 | 39 | 26 | 5 | 285 | 229 | 83# | 1st↑ | Won First Round v. Portland Eagles (3–0)Won Semi-finals v. Tacoma Rockets (3–0)Lost Final v. San Diego Skyhawks (2–4) |
| 1949–50 | PCHL† | North↑ | 71 | 36 | 19 | 16 | 291 | 233 | 88# | 1st↑ | Won First Round v. Seattle Ironmen (3–1)Won Semi-finals v. Vancouver Canucks (4–3)Won Final v. Los Angeles Monarchs (4–3)† |
| 1950–51 | PCHL | – | 70 | 38 | 24 | 8 | 267 | 205 | 84 | 2nd | Won Semi-finals v. Tacoma Rockets (4–2)Lost Final v. Victoria Cougars (1–4) |
| 1951–52 | PCHL | – | 70 | 40 | 19 | 11 | 286 | 200 | 91# | 1st | Lost First Round v. Victoria Cougars (3–4) |
| 1952–53 | WHL | – | 70 | 29 | 33 | 8 | 217 | 254 | 66 | 6th | Lost First Round v. Saskatoon Quakers (3–4) |
| 1953–54 | WHL | – | 70 | 28 | 34 | 8 | 218 | 261 | 64 | 6th | Lost First Round v. Vancouver Canucks (2–5) |
| 1954–55 | WHL | – | 70 | 29 | 32 | 9 | 249 | 299 | 67 | 5th | did not qualify |
| 1955–56 | WHL | Coast | 70 | 31 | 37 | 2 | 238 | 258 | 64 | 3rd | Lost First Round v. Victoria Cougars (0–4) |
| 1956–57 | WHL | Coast | 70 | 34 | 31 | 5 | 215 | 235 | 73 | 2nd | Won First Round v. Victoria Cougars (2–1)Won Semi-finals v. Seattle Americans (4–2)Lost Final v. Brandon Regals (0–4) |
| 1957–58 | WHL | Coast | 70 | 39 | 28 | 3 | 254 | 224 | 81 | 2nd | Lost First Round v. Seattle Americans (1–3) |
| 1958–59 | WHL | Coast | 70 | 23 | 45 | 2 | 237 | 301 | 73 | 5th | did not qualify |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 The PCHA did not use a point system, and ranked their teams by number of wins. From 1912–1917, the PCHA did not organize playoffs and awarded the league championship to the team with the best regular season record.

## Head coaches

* Jimmy Gardner (1911–1913)
* Pete Muldoon (1913–1914)

## Players

* George Rochon