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. 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 since the league became eligible to compete for the trophy. 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 World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926. Although the WHA was not the first league since that time to attempt to challenge the NHL's supremacy, it was by far the most successful in the modern era.
Robert Briton Selby is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues. He also played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Quebec Nordiques, New England Whalers and Toronto Toros.
Brent Colin Sutter is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player and former head coach of the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames. Selected by the New York Islanders 17th overall at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, Sutter played over 1,000 games for the Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks during his 18-year career. Regarded as one of the best face-off specialists of his generation, Sutter won the Stanley Cup twice with the Islanders and was an All-Star. He represented Canada on numerous occasions, winning the Canada Cup three times.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team currently members of the Eastern Conference of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team is based in Lethbridge, Alberta, and play their home games at the ENMAX Centre.
Kelvin Wade Kisio is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who currently serves as a scout for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kisio played 761 games in the NHL as a centre for the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks, and Calgary Flames between 1983 and 1995, and was team captain for the Rangers for three and a half years.
The Sutter family, originally from Viking, Alberta, Canada, are one of the most famous families in the National Hockey League (NHL). Six brothers: Brent, Brian, Darryl, Duane, Rich and Ron, reached the NHL in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Four brothers, Brian, Duane, Darryl and Brent, have gone on to become coaches and general managers as well, with Brian, Darryl, and Brent each having a stint as head coach of the Calgary Flames. All brothers played either for the Chicago Blackhawks or the St. Louis Blues at one point or another. A seventh brother named Gary is said by his brothers to have been the best hockey player of all seven boys. Rather than making his living as a hockey player, Gary stayed home to work on the family farm, as Rich remarked on an episode of the Canadian sports show Off the Record.
David John Lowry is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional player. He was most recently the interim head coach of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played in the NHL from 1985 to 2004.
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.
Cameron Kenneth Ward is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played the majority of his fifteen-year professional career for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Chicago Blackhawks during his final season before signing a one-day contract to officially retire as a Hurricane in 2019.
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.
Jamie McLennan is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who is now an analyst for TSN, TSN Radio 1050, NBC Sports and NHL Network. He spent eleven seasons in the National Hockey League with the New York Islanders (1993–96), St. Louis Blues (1997–2000), Minnesota Wild (2000–01), Calgary Flames, New York Rangers (2004) and Florida Panthers (2005–06). His active playing career ended in 2008 after a year with the Nippon Paper Cranes of Asia League Ice Hockey. He is popularly known by his nickname Noodles because of his preference for eating homemade pasta instead of diner food on minor-league bus rides before away games.
Jesse Wallin is a former Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in 49 career National Hockey League games for the Detroit Red Wings. He was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but was raised and played his minor hockey in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. He was the General Manager and Head Coach of the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League (WHL) for five seasons, and is currently an amateur scout for the Detroit Red Wings.
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.
Todd Andrew McLellan is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously served as head coach of the San Jose Sharks (2008–2015) and Edmonton Oilers (2015–2018), and as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings (2005–2008), with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2008. He was drafted in 1986 by the New York Islanders, but only played five games with the major league club in the 1987–88 season before retiring in the minors the following season due to recurring injury.
Mark William Lamb is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, and current general manager and head coach of the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Lamb was previously the head coach of the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL. Lamb was born in Ponteix, Saskatchewan but grew up in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
Carter Ashton is a Canadian professional ice hockey player currently playing for Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Ashton was drafted 29th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
William Robert Peters is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former college player. He has served as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL), Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), as well as the Canada men's national ice hockey team.
Dylan Cozens, nicknamed the "Workhorse from Whitehorse", is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Sabres selected him seventh overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He is the first player from Yukon to be a first-round Western Hockey League (WHL) draft pick, a first-round NHL draft pick, and a member of the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team.
Kris Knoblauch is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, former player and the current head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL). He had a total of 13 seasons of coaching experience before joining Hartford, including two seasons as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and seven years as a head coach in the Canadian junior leagues, during which time he compiled a record of 298–130–16–13.
