The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada. Teams play for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, with the winner moving on to play for the Memorial Cup, Canada's national junior championship. WHL teams have won the Memorial Cup 19 times since the league became eligible to compete for the trophy. Many players have been drafted from WHL teams, and have found success at various levels of professional hockey, including the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Regina Pats are a junior ice hockey team that plays in the Western Hockey League. The Pats are based out of Regina, Saskatchewan and Brandt Centre is their home arena. The Regina Pats are the oldest major junior hockey franchise in the world that have continuously operated from their original location and use the same name. They began operations in 1917. They were originally named the Regina Patricia Hockey Club, after Princess Patricia of Connaught, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and daughter of the Governor General. The team name was also associated with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, named for the same Princess, to the point that Pats sweaters still bear the regimental badge and "PPCLI" flash as a shoulder patch. In 2017 the club celebrated its 100th anniversary. Games are broadcast on 620 CKRM radio.
William Dickenson "Wild Bill" Hunter, was a Canadian ice hockey player, general manager and coach. Hunter was involved in hockey, Canadian football, baseball, softball and curling, but he is best known for founding the Western Hockey League (WHL), being a key player in the upstart World Hockey Association (WHA) and for his efforts to bring professional hockey to previously overlooked Western Canadian cities, especially in Edmonton and (unsuccessfully) in Saskatoon.
Jason Matthew Smith is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in over 1,000 regular season games in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1993 to 2009. Smith played for the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators, having been originally selected by New Jersey in the first round, 18th overall, at the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. Smith served as team captain of both the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers, the former of which he led for five years and guided to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Sutter family, originally from Viking, Alberta, Canada, are one of the most famous families in the National Hockey League (NHL). Six brothers: Brent, Brian, Darryl, Duane, Rich and Ron, reached the NHL in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Four brothers, Brian, Duane, Darryl and Brent, have gone on to become coaches and general managers as well, with Brian, Darryl, and Brent each having a stint as head coach of the Calgary Flames. All brothers played either for the Chicago Blackhawks or the St. Louis Blues at one point or another. A seventh brother named Gary is said by his brothers to have been the best hockey player of all seven boys. Rather than making his living as a hockey player, Gary stayed home to work on the family farm, as Rich remarked on an episode of the Canadian sports show Off the Record.
The 1966–67 CMJHL season was the inaugural season of the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League. It was formed by five members of the former Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League along with the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Calgary Buffaloes and was considered an "outlaw league" by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.
The 1970–71 WCHL season was the fifth season of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). Ten teams completed a 66-game season, with the Edmonton Oil Kings winning the President's Cup.
This is a timeline of events throughout the five decade-plus history of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
The 1978–79 WHL season was the 13th season for the Western Hockey League. Twelve teams completed a 72-game season. The Brandon Wheat Kings won the President's Cup.
Steven Anthony Tambellini is a Canadian former NHL player and former general manager for the Edmonton Oilers. He is currently a scout for the Anaheim Ducks.
The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers. The 2007–08 season was the newest incarnation of the Oil Kings' inaugural season in the Western Hockey League. Some NHL alumni include Tomas Vincour, Mark Pysyk, Curtis Lazar, Keegan Lowe, Griffin Reinhart, Henrik Samuelsson, Laurent Brossoit, Tristan Jarry and David Musil. As the 2012 WHL champions, the Oil Kings played in the 2012 Memorial Cup, losing 6–1 against the eventual winning team, the Shawinigan Cataractes, in the playoff tie-breaker. The Oil Kings won the 2014 Memorial Cup, defeating the Guelph Storm in the 2014 Memorial Cup final game.
Leonard Melvin Lunde was a professional ice hockey player who played 321 games in the National Hockey League and 72 games in the World Hockey Association. He played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Minnesota North Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Detroit Red Wings.
The 2007–08 WHL season was the 42nd season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The regular season began on September 20, 2007, and ended on March 16, 2008. The WHL Playoffs began on March 21, 2008, and ended on May 7, 2008.
Mark Alexander Terrance Pysyk is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and forward for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Pysyk was originally selected in the first round, 23rd overall, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres.
Kaiden Guhle is a Canadian ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 16th overall by the Canadiens in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Jake Neighbours is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who currently plays for the Springfield Thunderbirds in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Blues in the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft with the 26th overall pick.
The Western Canada Junior Hockey League was a junior ice hockey based in Alberta and Saskatchewan from 1948 until 1956. It was formed by teams which sought a higher level of competition and more formal organization. Its teams were eligible for the Memorial Cup as the national junior champion of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, and were runners-up in five seasons as the Abbott Cup junior champion of Western Canada.
Arthur Thomas Potter was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He was president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1962 to 1964, and oversaw the establishment of a permanent Canada men's national ice hockey team after he decided that sending the reigning Allan Cup champion to international competitions was no longer the answer. He felt that Canada needed discipline to handle Cold War tactics and propaganda at the Ice Hockey World Championships, sought to give its best players to develop as a team, and supported a plan by Father David Bauer to assemble a team of amateur student athletes to complete at the 1964 Winter Olympics.
Luke Prokop is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL as a prospect for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL), who selected him in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. In 2021, Prokop came out as gay, becoming the first player under contract with an NHL team to do so.
Brandon Baddock is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger for the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League (AHL), while under contract to the Minnesota Wild in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 161st overall by the New Jersey Devils in the sixth round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and formerly played for the Binghamton Devils and Laval Rocket.
