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 11 teams from British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.
Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. He played over 1,500 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, and Los Angeles Kings between 1996 and 2017. He is widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation.
The Saskatoon Blades are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Founded in 1964, the Blades were a charter team of the then-Western Canada Junior Hockey League in 1966, and are the only club that has played every season in the league in its original location. Today, the team plays in the East Division of the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference, and hosts games at the SaskTel Centre. Despite five regular season titles and five appearances in the championship series, the Blades have never won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league playoff champions. The team has twice hosted the Memorial Cup tournament, in 1989 and in 2013.
The Kamloops Blazers are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Kamloops, British Columbia. The team plays in the B.C. Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference and plays its home games at the Sandman Centre. The Blazers originated as the Estevan Bruins in 1966, became the New Westminster Bruins in 1971, and relocated to Kamloops in 1981 as the Kamloops Junior Oilers. After moving to Kamloops, the Blazers became the WHL's most successful club, winning a record six President's Cups, a record seven Scotty Munro Memorial Trophies, and three Memorial Cup titles, all between 1983 and 1995.
Donald Andrew Moog is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Moog played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens, and also for the Canadian national team. Moog is a three-time Stanley Cup champion: 1984, 1985 and 1987. He earned the William M. Jennings Trophy in the 1989–90 NHL season for fewest total goals against the team during the regular season, sharing the trophy with his goaltending partner, Reggie Lemelin.
Scott Ferguson is a Canadian Métis former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Edmonton Oilers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Minnesota Wild.
William Edward Ranford is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and current director of goaltending for the Los Angeles Kings. He was selected in the third round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, 52nd overall, by the Boston Bruins. Over the course of fifteen NHL seasons Ranford played with Boston, the Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Detroit Red Wings, winning two Stanley Cups, a Canada Cup, and the 1994 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships while playing for Canada. He is the only goaltender in history to be awarded the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Canada Cup/World Cup, & Men's Ice Hockey World Championship.
Glen Edwin Wesley is a Canadian-American former ice hockey defenceman. Wesley played 13 seasons for the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. He began his career with the Boston Bruins, and briefly played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wesley played in four Stanley Cup Finals, winning it once in 2006. He was the Hurricanes' director of development for defensemen, and announced his departure on June 12, 2018. As of August 28, 2018 he now works as a development coach for the St. Louis Blues.
Byron Brad McCrimmon was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played over 1,200 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers and Phoenix Coyotes between 1979 and 1997. He achieved his greatest success in Calgary, where he was named a second team All-Star in 1987–88, played in the 1988 NHL All-Star Game and won the Plus-Minus Award with a league leading total of +48. In 1989, he helped the Flames win their only Stanley Cup championship. His career plus-minus of +444 is the 10th highest total in NHL history, and the highest among players not inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Marc Joseph Habscheid is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former National Hockey League player. Habscheid is the former head coach of the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League. He was drafted in the sixth round, 113th Overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. He played 345 games in the NHL over parts of 10 seasons, amassing 72 goals and 163 points.
The Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the regular season champion of the Western Hockey League. It is named after one of the league's founders, Scotty Munro. Munro served as the general manager of the Estevan Bruins, one of the league's founding franchises, and later as the head coach and general manager of the Calgary Centennials.
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 Ed Chynoweth Cup is an ice hockey club championship trophy awarded to the playoff champion of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Originally called the President's Cup when the league was founded in 1966, the trophy was renamed in 2007 to honour Ed Chynoweth's long service to junior ice hockey in Canada. The WHL champion earns a berth into the Memorial Cup tournament, Canada's major junior hockey championship. The Kamloops Blazers have won the most WHL championships with six, followed by the Medicine Hat Tigers with five. The Spokane Chiefs were the first team to win the renamed trophy in the 2007–08 WHL season. The current (2023–24) holders of the Ed Chynoweth Cup are the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Corey Hirsch is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He spent the majority of his National Hockey League career with the Vancouver Canucks. He is also the former goaltending coach for the St. Louis Blues, having previously served the Toronto Maple Leafs along with François Allaire.
Don Hay is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and National Hockey League head coach.
Dean Clark is a Canadian former ice hockey winger and head coach in the Western Hockey League. He played one game in the National Hockey League for the Edmonton Oilers in 1984.
The 1994 Memorial Cup was held May 14–22 at the Colisée de Laval in Laval, Quebec. It was the 76th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Participating teams were the host Laval Titan from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, as well as the winners of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League, which were the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, North Bay Centennials and Kamloops Blazers. Kamloops won their second Memorial Cup, defeating Laval in the final game.
The 1986 Memorial Cup occurred May 10–17 at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. It was the 68th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Hosting rights were originally awarded to the Queen's Park Arena and the New Westminster Bruins, but staging the tournament alongside Expo '86 in Vancouver proved logistically impossible and so the tournament was moved to Portland for the second time in three years. Participating teams were the host team Portland Winter Hawks, as well as the winners of the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League which were the Kamloops Blazers, Guelph Platers and Hull Olympiques. The Platers won their first Memorial Cup, and the city's second Memorial Cup, defeating Hull in the final game.
Craig Alvin Cunningham is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played with the Boston Bruins and Arizona Coyotes in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Boston Bruins, 97th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, before being called up to the Bruins in December 2013.
Logan Stankoven is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the second round, 47th overall, by the Stars in the 2021 NHL entry draft.
