The Canadian Hockey League is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three member leagues, the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). For the 2023–24 season, its three leagues and 60 teams represent nine Canadian provinces as well as four American states.
The NHL entry draft is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirements. The NHL entry draft is held once every year, generally within two to three months after the conclusion of the previous regular season. During the draft, teams take turns selecting amateur players from junior or collegiate leagues and professional players from European leagues.
Thomas Edur is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.
The 1979 NHL entry draft was the 17th NHL entry draft. It took place on August 9, 1979, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 126 players eligible for entry into professional ranks, in the reverse order of the 1978–79 NHL season and playoff standings. The draft was the first to be conducted after the NHL-WHA merger, which had included its own 1979 NHL expansion draft, held on June 13, 1979. As part of the terms of the merger, the four former WHA teams had joined the NHL on the condition that they be placed at the bottom of the entry draft order, as opposed to the top of the order as is usually the case for expansion teams.
Robert Lea MacMillan is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward and a former politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. During his hockey career, he played two seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA), followed by eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), from 1974–75 until 1984–85. He helped the Calgary Flames reach the NHL playoff semifinals for the first time in 1981.
The 1970–71 WCHL season was the fifth season of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). It featured ten teams and a 66-game regular season. For the second time in team history, the Edmonton Oil Kings topped the regular season standings, posting 45 wins on the season. In the playoffs, after losing the previous two league finals to the Flin Flon Bombers, the Oil Kings met the Bombers for a third straight season, this time winning the club's first President's Cup. On the national scene, the season was the first to be sanctioned by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association under a new agreement signed in 1970, which included the participation of the WCHL champion in the Memorial Cup final. The Oil Kings thus advanced to the 1971 Memorial Cup final, which they lost to the Quebec Remparts.
Gaston Reginald Yoland Gingras is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played one season in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and ten seasons in the National Hockey League from 1978 to 1989. He won the 1986 Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens.
Donald Stewart Johnson was a Canadian sports executive. He was elected president of the Newfoundland Amateur Hockey Association (NAHA) in 1966, sought to expand minor ice hockey in Newfoundland and negotiated for the NAHA to become a member of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). He was elected president of the CAHA in 1975, resolved internal disagreement over the jurisdiction of junior ice hockey, avoided the withdrawal of the Western Canada Hockey League and sought a new professional-amateur agreement with the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association. He was part of negotiations to end the Canada men's national ice hockey team hiatus from the Ice Hockey World Championships and the Olympic Games, in exchange for International Ice Hockey Federation approval of the 1976 Canada Cup. He established a long-term sponsorship to improve the National Coaching Certification Program, twice visited China with a Canadian amateur team for instructional tours and arranged an exchange for Chinese players and coaches to attend training camps in Canada. He was chairman of the 1978 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships as the CAHA past-president, and was posthumously credited by Hockey Canada for playing an important role in Canada's return to international competitions and improving Canada's hockey reputation.
Michael Robert Marson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played six seasons in the National Hockey League for the Washington Capitals and the Los Angeles Kings from 1974 to 1979. He was the second Black Canadian to play in the NHL.
The WHA amateur draft was the entry draft for the World Hockey Association. The professional league operated from 1972 to 1979, but only held its annual draft from 1973 through 1978.
The 1974 NHL amateur draft was the 12th NHL entry draft. It was held via conference call at the NHL office in Montreal, Quebec. In an effort to prevent the WHA from poaching players, the draft was conducted early and in secret. This failed to prevent tampering as information leaked out via agents and other sources over the three days of the draft. As a statement of frustration at the slow, secretive conference call format, Buffalo general manager Punch Imlach claimed "Taro Tsujimoto" of the "Tokyo Katanas" of Japan using the 183rd overall pick. NHL officials immediately validated the selection, but weeks later Imlach admitted that Tsujimoto was a fabrication. The selection was ruled invalid by the NHL and removed from their records.
The NHL supplemental draft was a draft that was established by the National Hockey League as an offshoot of the NHL Entry Draft between 1986 and 1994. The Supplemental Draft was used by teams to select collegiate ice hockey players who were not eligible for the standard entry draft. It was created in response to the bidding wars between NHL teams to sign college hockey stars like Adam Oates and Ray Staszak, both of whom signed multi-year contracts with the Detroit Red Wings worth over one million dollars in 1985. The first draft was held on September 17, 1986, a month after the NHL Players' Association approved a new contract with the league allowing the owners to hold a two-round supplemental draft before the entry draft. In 1992, the supplemental draft was scaled back to a single round and limited to non-playoff teams from the previous season and first-year expansion teams. The supplemental draft was discontinued by the 1995 collective bargaining agreement.
The 1976 WHA amateur draft was the fourth draft held by the World Hockey Association.
Taro Tsujimoto is a fictitious Japanese ice hockey player who was selected in the 1974 National Hockey League Amateur Draft as the 183rd overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres. The decision to draft a non-existent player was made by Sabres general manager Punch Imlach, who was frustrated by the absurd length of the draft, and in the late rounds decided to have fun and draft someone unusual. Together with Sabres director of communications Paul Wieland, they created Taro Tsujimoto, a twenty-year-old Japanese forward who played for the fictional Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey League. The name was inspired by Japanese American Joshua Tsujimoto, who owned a grocery store Wieland would regularly drive by. Taro Tsujimoto quickly became an inside joke for Sabres fans, and is a beloved figure in team history.
The 1974–75 OMJHL season was the first season of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League. The league operated semi-autonomously while still being part of the Ontario Hockey Association. The OMJHL inaugurated the William Hanley Trophy, awarded to the most sportsmanlike player. Eleven teams each played 70 games. The Toronto Marlboros won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Hamilton Fincups.
Gerald Wayne Dillon is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played in the World Hockey Association with the Toronto Toros and Birmingham Bulls, and in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets between 1973 and 1980.
Cameron Duncan Connor is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward and a Stanley Cup winner.
William John Devine was a Canadian ice hockey administrator and radio sports commentator. He worked for CJBQ radio in Belleville, Ontario for 40 years as the sports director. He was involved with the local sports scene, and was president of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1967 to 1969. He moved up to the national level in 1969 becoming vice-president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) in 1969, and later served as its president from 1973 to 1975.
Joseph Julius Kryczka was a Canadian ice hockey administrator, coach and referee, and had a legal career as a lawyer and judge, where he was commonly known as "Justice Joe". He graduated from the University of Alberta, and played hockey with the Golden Bears. He practiced law in Calgary for more than 20 years, beginning in 1959 as a lawyer, becoming a judge, and was eventually elevated to a justice on the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta.
Clarence Vincent "Tubby" Schmalz was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as vice-president of the Western Ontario Athletic Association from 1940 to 1950, and coached and managed the senior ice hockey team in Walkerton, Ontario. He was elected to the Ontario Hockey Association executive (OHA) in 1956, and served as its president from 1969 to 1972. He was the first commissioner of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL), serving from 1974 to 1978. He became vice-chairman of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) in 1979, and was elected its chairman in 1981. He was a graduate of St. Jerome's College, and operated the Hartley House hotel in Walkerton. He served on the Walkerton Town Council for 17 years, including three years as reeve from 1979 to 1981.
Greg Joly 
