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 Barrie Flyers were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1945 to 1960, from Barrie, Ontario. The Flyers played home games at the Barrie Arena from 1945 to 1960.
The Western Canada Senior Hockey League was a senior ice hockey league that played six seasons in Alberta and Saskatchewan, from 1945 to 1951. The league produced the 1946 Allan Cup and the 1948 Allan Cup champions, and merged into the Pacific Coast Hockey League for the 1951–52 season.
Leighton Alfred Emms was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, team owner, and general manager, during nearly 60 years in hockey. Emms played 17 seasons of professional hockey as a left winger and a defenceman, including 10 seasons and 320 games in the National Hockey League. After playing, Emms had a 33-year presence in the Ontario Hockey Association, as the owner of the Barrie Flyers, Niagara Falls Flyers, and St. Catharines Black Hawks between 1945 and 1978. Teams that Emms coached or owned appeared in eight Memorial Cup tournaments, winning four Memorial Cups. He was nicknamed "Happy Emms" due to the sour look on his face, which was later shortened to "Hap Emms".
The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was presented annually from 1932 until 1971, by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. It represented the Eastern Canada junior hockey championship, and a berth in the Memorial Cup final versus the Abbott Cup champion from Western Canada. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was retired in 1971, when the Memorial Cup became a round-robin series between the winners of the three major junior hockey leagues in Canada; the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The trophy was named for Captain George Taylor Richardson, a hockey player who died while serving in World War I.
Daniel Vladimir Lewicki was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Black Hawks and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 1950s and early 1960s. Before becoming a professional, Lewicki was at the center of a dispute over professional hockey signing practices. As of 2010, Lewicki is the only player to have won the Allan Cup, Memorial Cup and Stanley Cup while still a junior.
The 1963 Memorial Cup final was the 45th junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Canada competed against the Abbott Cup champions Edmonton Oil Kings of the Central Alberta Hockey League in Western Canada. In a best-of-seven series, held at Edmonton Gardens in Edmonton, Alberta. Edmonton won their 1st Memorial Cup, defeating Niagara Falls 4 games to 2.
The 1957 Memorial Cup final was the 39th junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). The Flin Flon Bombers won their first Memorial Cup championship by defeating the Ottawa Junior Canadiens four games to three in a best-of-seven final series held at the Whitney Forum and the Regina Exhibition Stadium. CAHA second vice-president Gordon Juckes oversaw the scheduling and discipline for the national playoffs.
Allan Wilfrid Pickard was a Canadian ice hockey administrator, who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1947 to 1950. When Canada opted out of the 1947 Ice Hockey World Championships and decided not to participate in the 1948 Winter Olympics, Pickard felt that Canada was obliged to send a team due to its place as a top hockey nation, and nominated the Ottawa RCAF Flyers who won the gold medal for Canada and lived up to the requirements of the Olympic Oath as amateurs. Despite disagreement with the International Olympic Committee, he sought for the International Ice Hockey Federation to adopt the CAHA definition of amateur in the face of increasing difficulty in selecting the Canada men's national ice hockey team.
Frederick Page was a Canadian ice hockey administrator and ice hockey referee. He originated from Port Arthur, Ontario, where he played junior ice hockey, refereed locally and later at the Memorial Cup and Allan Cup competitions. He was a league executive in Fort William, then served as president of the Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association from 1958 to 1962. He was elected second vice president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) in 1962, and rose up the ranks to be its president from 1966 to 1968. Page wanted the CAHA to gain more control over its affairs, and become less dependent on the National Hockey League (NHL). Under his leadership, the NHL ended direct sponsorship of junior hockey teams. He was instrumental in negotiating the revised agreement for the NHL Amateur Draft in 1967, and later served as co-chairman of the resulting joint player development committee.
The Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League (TBJHL) was a Canadian junior ice hockey league that existed from c. 1920 to 1980. The TBJHL operated in Northwestern Ontario, primarily in the Thunder Bay region.
Sylvester Patrick "Silver" Quilty was a Canadian football player, referee, coach and sport administrator. As a player, he won the Yates Cup in 1907 with the Ottawa Gee-Gees football team, and was credited as the first man to play the flying wing position. He also played with the Ottawa Rough Riders, and the McGill Redmen football team. After his playing career, he became a football referee and officiated the 10th Grey Cup, and also coached the Ottawa Rough Riders.
The 1942 Allan Cup was the senior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association for the 1941–42 season. The Ottawa RCAF Flyers defeated the Port Arthur Bearcats by three games to two to win the Allan Cup.
Frank Forest Sargent was a Canadian sports executive in ice hockey and curling. He served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1942 to 1945, and was president of the Dominion Curling Association (DCA) from 1965 to 1966. He was the first person to be elected to more than two terms as CAHA president, and the first to be president of two national amateur sporting associations in Canada.
Cecil Charles Duncan was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1936 to 1938 and led reforms towards semi-professionalism in ice hockey in Canada. He served as chairman of the CAHA committee which proposed a new definition of amateur to eliminate what it called "shamateurism", in the wake of Canada's struggles in ice hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics. He negotiated a series of agreements to protect the CAHA's interests, and to develop relationships with all other areas of the world where hockey was played. The agreements allowed the CAHA to become independent of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada which wanted to keep the old definition of pure amateurism. Duncan's reforms also returned the CAHA to affluence after four years of deficits during the Great Depression and increased player registrations in Canada.
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.
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League was a junior ice hockey based in Saskatchewan and Manitoba from 1948 until 1966. It operated under the jurisdiction of the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association. Two of its teams won the Abbott Cup as the junior champions of Western Canada, and the Flin Flon Bombers won the Memorial Cup as the national junior champion of Canada in 1957. Frank Boucher served as commissioner of the league from 1959 to 1966, until the league disbanded when five of its eight teams joined the newly formed Canadian Major Junior Hockey League.
William Bryden George, also known as Baldy George, was a Canadian sports administrator and agriculturalist. He was president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1952 to 1955, when Canada debated whether it would withdraw from the Ice Hockey World Championships and the Olympic Games. At issue was the perceived financial exploitation of the Canada men's national ice hockey team and abuse from European media on the Canadian style of physical play. He wanted a financial guarantee for the national team when it travelled since its participation increased attendance at events in Europe. Canada did not participate at the World Championships in 1953 and placed second in 1954, which led to heavy criticism by media in Canada for the failure to win. Although Canada won the 1955 Ice Hockey World Championships, George questioned future participation and was concerned that the game in Europe took on political and religious meanings in which Canada did not want to become involved.
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.
Robert Norman Dawe was a Canadian sports executive. He originated as an ice hockey referee for minor ice hockey games in Verdun, Quebec, before becoming involved in the administrative aspect of sports. He was a member of the local YMCA executive, served as secretary of the Verdun Playgrounds Commission from 1923 to 1948, and organized the Verdun Hockey Board. He served as a member of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association (QAHA) executive committee for 23 seasons, and helped establish a provincial referee's board in 1936. In Montreal and Verdun, he was involved in girls' fastpitch softball. He served as the Montreal Ladies' Major Softball League president from 1940 to 1945, then was president of the Verdun Ladies' Softball League from 1945 to 1947. He began organizing Canadian football in 1945, when he established the Verdun Juvenile Football League and served as president.
