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, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. For the 2023–24 season, its three leagues and 60 teams represent nine Canadian provinces as well as four American states.
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a 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, alongside the Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. 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. The WHL is composed of 22 teams divided into two conferences of two divisions. The Eastern Conference comprises 11 teams from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, while the Western Conference comprises eleven teams from British Columbia and the American states of Washington and Oregon.
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the senior ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the Dundas Real McCoys, who captured the 2023 Allan Cup in Dundas, Ontario.
Swift Current is the sixth-largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is situated along the Trans Canada Highway 177 kilometres (110 mi) west of Moose Jaw, and 223 kilometres (139 mi) east of Medicine Hat, Alberta. As of 2024, Swift Current has an estimated population of 18,430, a growth of 1.32% from the 2016 census population of 16,604. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Swift Current No. 137.
Wilbrod "Willie" Desjardins is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and player. He is currently head coach and general manager of the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers. He has also been the head coach of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks from 2014 to 2017 and the interim head coach for the Los Angeles Kings for the 2018–19 season. In July 2017, he was named head of the coaching staff for Canada's men's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The 2006–07 WHL season was the 41st season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Twenty-one teams completed a 72-game season, with the Chilliwack Bruins competing in their inaugural season. The Everett Silvertips won their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for the best regular season record. The Medicine Hat Tigers won the President's Cup, defeating the Vancouver Giants in seven games. However, the Giants captured the 2007 Memorial Cup as tournament hosts, defeating the Tigers in the championship game.
The 1969–70 WCHL season was the fourth season of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). It featured eight teams and a 60-game regular season. The Flin Flon Bombers topped the season standings for a third consecutive year, posting 42 wins, and in the playoffs won their second consecutive President's Cup, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings in a rematch of the previous season's final.
The 1971–72 WCHL season was the sixth season of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). It featured twelve teams and a 68-game regular season. While the Calgary Centennials topped the season standings with 49 wins, the Edmonton Oil Kings won their second consecutive President's Cup, defeating the Regina Pats in the championship series.
This is a timeline of events throughout the history of the Western Hockey League (WHL), which dates back to its founding in 1966. The league was founded by a group of team owners and managers in Saskatchewan and Alberta, including Bill Hunter, Scotty Munro, Del Wilson, and Jim Piggott, who thought a larger western league would help western teams compete for the Memorial Cup against teams from the larger associations in Ontario and Quebec. Since the league's founding, it has expanded to include 22 teams across the four Western Canadian provinces along with the Northwest United States, and it has produced 19 Memorial Cup championship teams.
The 1989–90 WHL season was the 24th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Fourteen teams completed a 72-game season. For the second time in franchise history, the Kamloops Blazers captured both the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy and the President's Cup in the same season—they last accomplished the feat in the 1983–84 season.
The 1987–88 WHL season was the 22nd season of the Western Hockey League (WHL), featuring fourteen teams and a 72-game season. The Saskatoon Blades won their third Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for best regular season record. In the playoffs, the Medicine Hat Tigers won their second consecutive President's Cup, defeating the Kamloops Blazers in the championship series. The Tigers advanced to the 1988 Memorial Cup tournament, where they won their second straight Memorial Cup title.
The 1986–87 WHL season was the 21st season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). While the Kamloops Blazers won their second Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as regular season champions, the Medicine Hat Tigers won the President's Cup as playoff champions before going on to win the 1987 Memorial Cup tournament.
The 1974–75 WCHL season was the ninth season of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). It featured twelve teams playing a 70-game regular season, an increase from 68. The Victoria Cougars topped the regular season standings with 47 wins. In the playoffs, the New Westminster Bruins defeated the Saskatoon Blades in a seven-game championship series to win the President's Cup. With the win, the Bruins earned a berth at the 1975 Memorial Cup tournament, in which they lost the final to the Toronto Marlboros, who captured their record seventh national title.
The World U-17 Hockey Challenge, originally known as the Quebec Esso Cup, is an international ice hockey tournament held annually in Canada. Prior to 2011, the tournament did not operate during years in which the Canada Winter Games were held. As such, the World Under-17 Challenge was held three out of every four years. It is organized by Hockey Canada and is the first major international competition for male hockey players under the age of 17. The tournament is the first step in Hockey Canada's Program of Excellence and is used to identify players moving on to the U18 and National Junior Team.
The 1977–78 OMJHL season was the fourth season of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League (OMJHL). The Fincups franchise moved back from St. Catharines to Hamilton after a temporary year away from the city due to lack of a suitable arena. The league featured a wealth of scoring talent during the season, with two players recording the league's highest single season point totals. Third season veteran Bobby Smith, edged 17-year-old rookie Wayne Gretzky for the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy, scoring 192 points; as of 2023, Smith's and Gretzky's performance this season still stand as the top two scoring totals in OHL history. Twelve teams each played 68 games. The Peterborough Petes won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Hamilton Fincups.
William George Hardy was a Canadian professor, writer, and ice hockey administrator. He lectured on the Classics at the University of Alberta from 1922 to 1964, and served as president of the Canadian Authors Association. He was an administrator of Canadian and international ice hockey, and served as president of the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), the International Ice Hockey Association, and the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Jos Canale is a Canadian former ice hockey coach, commonly known as Joe Canale. He was the 1991 recipient of the Coach of the Year Award in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), and later coached the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team to a gold medal at the 1994 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He served as a head coach for more than 700 games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), which included a 1991 Memorial Cup appearance, and twice being chosen to represent his league at the CHL All–Star Challenge. Canale later coached in the Western Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey League, becoming the first person to do so in all three leagues of the CHL. Near the end of his career Canale made headlines for a stick-swinging incident in a QMJHL playoff game. He was later inducted into the Halls of Fame for both Hockey Québec, and the Quebec Midget AAA Hockey League.
The 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is an ice hockey tournament that was held in Quispamsis and Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada from November 3 and 10. The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is held by Hockey Canada annually to showcase young hockey talent from Canada and other strong hockey countries.
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.
Ronald James Butlin was a Canadian ice hockey executive. He was president of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) from 1968 to 1971, when the league separated from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) due to grievances arising from the National Hockey League (NHL) agreement for the NHL Amateur Draft. He also served as president of the Canadian Hockey Association from 1968 to 1970, which was formed as a national governing body of junior ice hockey in Canada, in opposition to the CAHA. He sought to raise the age limit imposed by the NHL and negotiate better financial terms for the junior teams which developed future professional players. He criticized the CAHA for its spending on administration and wanted hockey policy to be determined by the teams instead of elected officials. He negotiated an agreement to reunite the WCHL with the CAHA in 1970, where the WCHL gained direct representation on the CAHA junior council, better financial return for drafted players, and received development grants from the NHL.
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