The Yellow Jackets, under manager Roy Schooley and coach Dick Carroll, won back-to-back USAHA championships in the league's last two seasons, 1923–24 and 1924–25.

The players on this team formed the core of a newly professional Pittsburgh club that was granted a franchise by the National Hockey League on November 7, 1925.

Duquesne Garden, located in the city's Oakland neighborhood, served as the team's home arena.

Conacher beat Boston goaltender Charles Stewart at the 17:50 mark of the second period to tie the game at 1–1.

Pirates' left winger Harold Darragh notched Pittsburgh's first game-winning goal 9:20 into the third period, while Pittsburgh goaltender Roy Worters stopped 26 of 27 shots to record the first NHL win in franchise and city history.

The 1–0 loss to the Pirates marked the final game for legendary Canadiens' goaltender Georges Vezina.

Meanwhile, the first NHL game ever played in Pittsburgh was on December 2, 1925, in which 8,200 fans paid $1.00 each to see the 8:30 p.m. faceoff at Duquesne Garden.

During the playoffs, the Pirates faced the Montreal Maroons in a two-game series to be decided on total goals scored.

This marked the second time the team lost in the first round to the eventual Stanley Cup winner.

[7] The ostensible purchaser was fight promoter and ex-lightweight boxing champion Benny Leonard, although the money for the purchase is suspected to have come from early Prohibition gangster and bootlegger Bill Dwyer, owner of the New York Americans, who may have hid his involvement with the Pittsburgh club to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

The team's uniforms also changed, as the Pirates' color scheme became blue and gold in 1928–29 and then orange and black in 1929–30.

Attendance for games was down and the owners tried selling off their star players in order to make ends meet.

With only 5,000 permanent seats and standing room for 8,000, it was by far the smallest arena in the NHL, making it difficult for the Pirates to break even.

These players were Cliff Barton, Harold Darragh, Herb Drury, Gord Frasier, Jim Jarvis, Gerry Lowrey, Rennison Manners, Johnny McKinnon, Hib Milks, Joe Miller, Rodger Smith, and Tex White.

The team then received permission from the NHL on September 26, 1931, to temporally cease operations as they sought a new permanent arena, located in either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia.

The team used the Pittsburgh's city crest emblems from older police jackets on the uniform sleeves.

The wool jerseys featured a chain-knit logo of a pirate face with an eye patch and hat with skull and cross bones.

When the Philadelphia Flyers joined the NHL in 1967, they adopted the orange and black colors first worn by the Pirates and Quakers.