The West Coast Hockey League was a professional minor ice hockey league active in the western United States from 1995 to 2003. The number of teams ranged from six to nine. The teams were located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Washington.
The Idaho Steelheads are an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Boise, Idaho, and a member of the ECHL. The Steelheads play in the Mountain Division of the ECHL's Western Conference since the 2016–17 season. In 1996, the Steelheads were announced as a 1997–98 expansion team by Diamond Sports Management, headed by Cord Pereira, as a member of the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL). The Steelheads and the rest of the WCHL joined the ECHL in 2003. As of 2021, the Steelheads are the westernmost ECHL team. During the 2003–04 season and since the 2005–06 season the Steelheads have been an affiliate of the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars. The Austin-based Texas Stars have been the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate since the 2009–10 season. Home games are played at the 5,002-seat Idaho Central Arena in downtown Boise.
The Fresno Falcons were a minor league hockey team. They were charter members of several long standing leagues in the western United States including the Pacific Southwest Hockey League and the West Coast Hockey League. In their final years, they were members of the ECHL. They were located in Fresno, California.
The Alaska Aces, known as the Anchorage Aces until 2003, was a professional ice hockey team in Anchorage, Alaska. Home games were played at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. The Aces won three Kelly Cup championships, with their last championship following the 2013–14 ECHL season.
The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in several incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952.
Elwin Ira Rollins was a professional Canadian ice hockey goaltender who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Pacific Southwest Hockey League was a semi-professional ice hockey league that operated in California, Nevada and Alaska starting in 1972 and ran through 1995, when its members were incorporated into the upstart professional West Coast Hockey League. The league operated as the California-Nevada Hockey League from 1968 to 1972.
Stephen Paul Martinson is an American former professional ice hockey player and coach. He played 49 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, and Minnesota North Stars between 1987 and 1992. The rest of his playing career, which lasted from 1981 to 1996, was spent in various minor leagues. After retiring as a player he turned to coaching, and his 1,123 career professional coaching wins are the most ever for an American born ice hockey head coach.
Glen Gulutzan is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers.
John Olver is a Canadian ice hockey player and coach known for his league championship teams in the West Coast Hockey League and ECHL.
Daniel Lambert is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 29 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Nordiques. He is currently assistant coach of the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League.
The 1946–47 Western International Hockey League season was the first season of the WIHL. The West Kootenay League expanded to Los Angeles and Spokane and changed its name.
1954–55 was the ninth season of the Western International Hockey League.
1955–56 was the tenth season of the Western International Hockey League.
Jared Bednar is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously coached the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League, leading them to a Calder Cup championship in 2015–16. He also led the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL to a Kelly Cup championship in the 2008–09 season. Bednar won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022, becoming the first coach to win the current ECHL, AHL, and NHL trophies.
The Spokane Spokes were a minor league professional ice hockey team that operated from 1958-1959 in the Western Hockey League.
Kris Porter is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played most of his career in the ECHL and WCHL.
Guy Gadowsky is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player. Gadowsky is currently the head coach of the Penn State University men's ice hockey team.
Ryan Duthie is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey centre who played in North American minor leagues and in Europe.
The Pacific Hockey League (PHL) was a short lived semi-professional ice hockey league in the western United States in the 1990s. The league was formed by a merger of two previous semi-professional leagues, the Pacific Southwest Hockey League and Pacific Northwest Hockey League. Several PHL teams became charter members of the professional West Coast Hockey League in 1995.
