Today we remember them as the Millionaires, and it’s true that that’s one of the names Vancouver’s entry in the PCHA bore from 1912 until they officially took it on in 1914, but they were also known during that time as the Allstars, the Railbirds, and the Terminals. Historian Craig Bowlsby tells the story better than anyone else in his comprehensive 2012 history, Empire of Ice: The Rise and Fall of the Pacific Hockey Association, 1911-1926. You’ll find the story there of the Stanley Cup that the Millionaires won in 1915 after they defeated the Ottawa Senators in three games at the Denman Arena. Posed here, above, is the 1913-14 edition of the team, an impressive group in its own right. That’s Cyclone Taylor at the back, second from the right. Upfront sit Hall-of-Famers Si Griffis (hatted, second from left), Frank Patrick (centre), and Frank Nighbor (on the right end).

If you haven’t seen them looking this lively before, that’s because Mark Truelove only got around to transforming the original black-and-white archival photograph — that’s it, below — earlier this year. Truelove is the Vancouver-area man who’s taken to tinting historical photos as a hobby. Along with the occasional hockey player, his subjects to date have included images of old Vancouver; Grey Owl and his baby beaver; trainwrecks and baseball teams; war heroes; old voyageurs; and Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier. “I got into colourizing when I started looking into my family history,” he was saying last week of the project he calls Canadian Colour. “I wanted to see my relatives in a new light and I saw a colourization someone else had done and taught myself how to do it. I have no art/photography background but I just persevered with it until they started looking right to me.”

The results are remarkable. Take a look at the Canadian Colour Facebook page, here, or follow on Twitter, @CanadianColour.