His decisions to refuse the offers led to speculation that he was being paid under the table. He and Billy Burch were accused of deliberately throwing a game in 1922, but were absolved of guilt by the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada. Move to Pittsburgh Conacher remained in senior hockey and while playing for the North Toronto Seniors in 1923, was a part of the first hockey game ever broadcast on radio. That summer, he received an offer from Roy Schooley, the manager of the Duquesne Gardens and owner of the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets of the United States Amateur Hockey Association (USAHA), to play for his team. While he would retain his amateur status, Schooley set Conacher up with a job in the insurance business and paid his university tuition so that he could improve his education. He brought many of his teammates with him to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, all of whom received jobs in the community, and he attended school at Bellefonte Academy for a year before enrolling at Duquesne University. He played football for both schools in the fall, and served as the Yellow Jackets' captain in the winter where he led the team to consecutive USAHA titles in 1924 and 1925. In the summers, Conacher returned to Toronto and played lacrosse and baseball. The Yellow Jackets turned professional in 1925 when they were renamed the Pittsburgh Pirates and joined the National Hockey League (NHL). Conacher finally chose to turn professional with the team, a decision that surprised fans and teammates in Toronto, who knew of his favouritism for the game of football. Professional career Conacher scored the first goal in Pirates history on American Thanksgiving Day Thursday November 26, 1925, against the Boston Bruins. He scored nine goals in 33 games in , then returned to Toronto to play professional baseball with the Toronto Maple Leafs. An outfielder on the team, Conacher and the Maple Leafs won the International League championship then defeated the Louisville Colonels to win the Little World Series. He returned to Pittsburgh for the NHL season, but was dealt early in the year to the New York Americans in exchange for Charlie Langlois and $2,000. The trade nearly proved disastrous for Conacher. He scored 8 goals in and improved to 11 in , but playing for a team owned by notorious bootlegger Bill Dwyer resulted in his becoming a heavy drinker. Conacher served as