contrary to popular belief, the pittsburgh hornets did not evolve from the international hockey league's pittsburgh shamrocks. the franchise started play in 1927, playing their first nine seasons as the detroit olympics. then on october 4, 1936, after winning the ihl championship, the olympics moved to pittsburgh to become the hornets. bill anderson and bill hudson were the only two players from the shamrocks to be on the hornets roster at the start of the 1936–37 season.