International Professional Hockey League The International Professional Hockey League ( IPHL ) was the first fully professional ice hockey league , operating from 1904 to 1907 . It was formed by Jack Gibson , a dentist who played hockey throughout Ontario before settling in Houghton , Michigan . The IPHL was a five team circuit which included Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , Sault Ste . Marie , Ontario , Sault Ste . Marie , Michigan , Calumet , Michigan and Houghton . The IPHL was instrumental in changing the nature of top - level senior men ' s ice hockey from amateur to professional . In the time period around 1900 , leagues in Canada fought against the professionalization of athletics . John Ross Robertson was quoted in the newspapers of the day as saying " for self preservation , the stand of the Ontario Hockey Association ( OHA ) against the professionalism of Pittsburgh , Houghton , Calumet and the Soo must be uncompromisingly antagonistic . . . Any player who figures on any of these teams must be banished from Ontario Hockey . " Leagues in Canada had been accused of paying individual players for several years and , in fact , Gibson played on a team expelled from the Ontario Hockey Association in 1898 for paying some of its players . However , it wasn ' t until the Portage Lakes Hockey Club and the formation of the IPHL in 1904 that any hockey league achieved full - fledged professional status . League History . In the early 1900s , the mining industry was making huge investments in Northern Michigan . In the fall of 1903 , James R . Dee of Houghton started discussions with Western Pennsylvania Hockey League ( WPHL ) representatives in Pittsburgh regarding the establishment of a national hockey association . Houghton ' s team had played against Pittsburgh ' s for a " de facto " United States national championship in ice hockey . In 1903 – 04 the professional Houghton team , without a league of its own , played exhibition games against teams from Sault Ste . Marie , Ontario and Michigan prompting the OHA to ban both the American Soo Indians and the Sault Ste . Marie team from competing against Canadian amateur teams . As a result , the two teams had nowhere to go but to the proposed professional league . A meeting was held on November 5 , 1904 which included prominent business leaders from Pittsburgh , Sault Ste . Marie , Ontario and Northern Michigan . A number of cities were considered for this new professional league including Montreal , Detroit , Chicago , Minneapolis , St . Paul , Milwaukee , Grand Rapids , and Duluth . However the league accepted teams from Houghton , Pittsburgh , the two Soos , and Calumet . The representatives of the Canadian Soo suggested a revenue sharing plan that would divide gate receipts in a 60 – 40 home - visitor split . This revenue sharing plan would make the long journey to Pittsburgh possible , considering that team played at the 5 , 000 seat capacity Duquesne Gardens . The Houghton Portage Lakes team played at what was a new facility at the time called the Amphidrome on Portage Lake . The Calumet - Laurium Miners , a nearby rival of the Houghton team , played at the new Palestra ( Michigan ) . By contrast , Sault Ste . Marie , Michigan made the Ridge Street Ice - A - Torium , the local curling club , its home rink . The Sault Ste . Marie , Ontario team or Canadian Soo as it was called also played at its local curling rink . The International Hockey League ( IHL ) attracted some of the best players from established Canadian amateur leagues . Every player received a minimum salary of at least $ 15 to $ 40 a week , with many also getting lucrative jobs in the community . Ottawa ' s " Hod " Stuart , was paid $ 1 , 800 by the Calumet Miners to play for the team and manage their rink for the 1904 - 05 season . Cyclone Taylor was enticed into the league with a salary offer of more than $ 3 , 000 . With the hockey season only lasting a couple of months a year due to the fact that teams played on natural ice , most of the players went home to their families and regular jobs in Canada at the end of each season . In many cases this meant that IHL managers would have to organize completely new teams each season . The Calumet Miners won the first league championship in 1905 . In 1906 and 1907 , the title went to Houghton - Portage Lakes . After the 1906 - 07 season , Canada finally established individual professional teams and , soon after , leagues were formed drawing back many players to play for their home crowds . In addition , it was apparent that , while the league was talking about expanding to larger centres such as Toronto , Cleveland and Duluth , there were problems among the existing clubs . The Pittsburgh franchise was seeking a league closer to home to play in and the champion Houghton - Portage Lake club , wasn ' t interested in another season . The other teams were still making plans for another season in 1907 - 08 . Canadian Soo re - signed Ambrose Degray , Hugh Lehman , Newsy Lalonde , Ed Shaefer and Jack Marks . However on November 4 , 1907 , Michigan Soo pulled out of the league citing a lack of players and the IHL folded . Prominent Players . The following players are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame :