The Calgary Canadians were a junior ice hockey team that played in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 1924, they became the first team from Alberta to play for the Memorial Cup, and in 1926, the first to win it. [1]
In 1924, the Canadians won the Western Canadian championship, the Abbott Cup, for the first time. They went on to face the Owen Sound Greys, Eastern Canada's champion in a two-game, total-goal series in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Greys won the first game 5–3, and tied the second 2–2 to win the Memorial Cup.
The Canadians returned two years later to face off against Queen's University in the 1926 Memorial Cup. This time, the tournament was a best of three games format, again held in Winnipeg. After splitting the first two games, the Canadians won the third game 3-2. As of 2010 [update] , they remain the only Memorial Cup champion to come from Calgary.
1926 Memorial Cup Champions
Five players from the 1926 Canadians went on to play in the National Hockey League: Irv Frew, Ronnie Martin, Don McFadyen, Tony Savage and Paul Thompson. Additionally, Hockey Hall of Famer Sweeney Schriner was a member of the Canadians in 1930 and 1931.
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, 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. 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 Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926.
The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division.
Herbert Martin Gardiner was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) and the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1920 and 1929. Additionally, he was the head coach of the Black Hawks for part of the 1928–29 season. Gardiner was a member of the WCHL champion Tigers in 1924 and in 1927 won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player after playing every minute of every game for the Canadiens. He coached several minor professional teams in Philadelphia following his retirement as a player. Gardiner was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.
The Calgary Stampeders were a defunct ice hockey team that was based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The team existed from 1938 until 1972, playing in various senior amateur and minor professional leagues during that time. In 1946, the Stampeders captured the Allan Cup as Canadian senior hockey champions, the first Alberta based club to do so.
The Calgary Tigers, often nicknamed the Bengals, were an ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 1920 until 1927 as members of the Big-4 League, Western Canada Hockey League and Prairie Hockey League. The Tigers were revived in 1932, playing for a short-lived four years in the North Western Hockey League. They played their games at the Victoria Arena.
Frederick George "Steamer" Maxwell was a Canadian amateur ice hockey player. He played rover in the days of seven-man hockey at the turn of the 20th century, spending six seasons with the Winnipeg Monarchs of the Manitoba Hockey League (MHL) between 1909 and 1915. Considered one of the top players of his era, he won two Manitoba provincial championships with the Monarchs and was a member of the team that won the 1915 Allan Cup as Canadian senior amateur champions. Maxwell spurned multiple offers to turn professional and ultimately quit playing hockey when he learned some of his peers at the senior amateur level were getting paid.
The Battle of Alberta is a term applied to the intense rivalry between the Canadian cities of Calgary, the province's most populous city, and Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta. Most often it is used to describe sporting events between the two cities, although this is not exclusive as the rivalry predates organized sports in Alberta.
Hockey Alberta is the governing body of all ice hockey in Alberta, Canada and is affiliated with Hockey Canada. It was founded in 1907 as the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association (AAHA) to be the governing body for Alberta intra-city ice hockey play. As of the 2018–19 hockey season, the Chair of the Board of Directors was Terry Engen, and the Chief Executive Officer for operations management was Rob Litwinski.
The Calgary Canucks are a junior A ice hockey team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). They play in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with home games at the Ken Bracko Arena. They have won the AJHL championship nine times and one national championship.
The Abbott Memorial Cup, commonly referred to as the Abbott Cup, was awarded annually from 1919 through 1999 to the Junior "A" ice hockey Champion for Western Canada.
The history of ice hockey in Calgary extends back well over a century to the first recorded ice hockey game in Alberta in 1893. Imported from eastern Canada, the game's popularity rapidly grew in the city, with teams at every level playing for and capturing Canada's national championships. Calgary is known today as one of Canada's best ice hockey cities with the Calgary Flames and Calgary Hitmen receiving immense support from the city. The Calgary Oval X-Treme is one of the most dominant women's ice hockey teams in the country, while Junior A ice hockey is also well supported with two teams in the city. Calgary is home to the Mac's AAA midget hockey tournament, one of the most prestigious midget hockey tournaments in the world which has seen dozens of future National Hockey League players play in this city before their professional careers began.
The 1971 Memorial Cup was the 53rd annual Memorial Cup competition, organized by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) to determine the champion of major junior A ice hockey. It was a best-of-three series between the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). Quebec won the series in two games, both held at the Colisée de Québec, to win the first Memorial Cup championship in the city's history.
The 1926 Memorial Cup final was the eighth junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Queen's University of Eastern Canada competed against the Abbott Cup champions Calgary Canadians of the Calgary City Junior Hockey League in Western Canada. The Queen's University team was a junior squad which played exhibition games against teams in the Ontario Hockey Association senior division, and teams in the Lake Ontario Veteran's Hockey League. In a best-of-three series, held at Shea's Amphitheatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Calgary won their 1st Memorial Cup, defeating Queen's University two games to one.
The 1924 Memorial Cup final was the sixth junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Owen Sound Greys of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Canada competed against the Abbott Cup champions Calgary Canadians of the Calgary City Junior Hockey League in Western Canada. In a two-game, total goal series, held at Shea's Amphitheatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Owen Sound won their 1st Memorial Cup, defeating Calgary 7 goals to 5.
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 1937 Allan Cup was the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) national senior ice hockey championship for the 1936–37 season. The Sudbury Tigers defeated the North Battleford Beavers 3 games to 2.
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.
Frank Ernest Sandercock was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He served as president of both the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association, and had previously been an executive with the Ontario Hockey Association and founded a hockey organization to operate leagues in Calgary. He was an early proponent of junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey in Alberta, fostered growth in the game, and sought to reinvest profits into minor ice hockey for the younger generation.
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.