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 Major 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).
Aurèle Émile "Mighty Atom, Little Giant" Joliat was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens.
William Dickenson Hunter, was a Canadian sports promoter and ice hockey player, coach, manager, and investor. Also known as "Wild Bill", Hunter co-founded the Western Hockey League (WHL), helped to launch the World Hockey Association (WHA), and worked to bring professional hockey to Edmonton and to his hometown of Saskatoon.
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.
Édouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League (NHL) and a professional lacrosse player. Lalonde is regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse's greatest players of the first half of the 20th century and one of Canadian sport's most colourful characters. He played for the Montreal Canadiens – considered to be the original "Flying Frenchman" – in the National Hockey Association and the NHL. He also played for the WCHL's Saskatoon Sheiks.
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.
Samuel Russell Crawford was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Quebec Bulldogs of the National Hockey Association (NHA), Ottawa Senators and Toronto Arenas of the National Hockey League (NHL) and Saskatoon Crescents, Calgary Tigers and Vancouver Maroons of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). He was a two-time Stanley Cup champion, winning the trophy with the Bulldogs in 1913 and the Arenas in 1918. Crawford was one of the sport's early stars and appeared in 258 games in the three major leagues, scoring 110 goals. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.
The Prairie Hockey League (PHL) was a Canadian professional ice hockey league in Alberta and Saskatchewan that was created following the demise of the Western Hockey League in 1926. It operated for two seasons.
The 1921–22 WCHL season was the first season for the Western Canada Hockey League. Four teams played 24 games each. The Regina Capitals defeated the regular-season champion Edmonton Eskimos in a two-game total-goals series to win the inaugural league championship.
The 1966–67 CMJHL season was the inaugural season of the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League. It was formed by five members of the former Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League along with the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Calgary Buffaloes and was considered an "outlaw league" by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.
The 1967–68 WCJHL season was the second season of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League (WCJHL). The league adopted its new name after being known as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League in its first season. Eleven teams completed a 60-game season, with the Estevan Bruins winning the President's Cup.
The 1968–69 WCHL season was the third season of the Western Canada Hockey League. Eight teams completed a 60-game season, with the Flin Flon Bombers winning the President's Cup.
This is a timeline of events throughout the five decade-plus history of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
Samuel James Hebert was a Canadian ice hockey goaltender. He played professionally from 1913 until 1924 in the National Hockey Association (NHA), National Hockey League (NHL) and Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). He played for the Toronto Ontarios, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Arenas, and Saskatoon Sheiks.
Reinhold Jean Matz was an American-born Canadian ice hockey player. Matz played senior amateur and professional ice hockey from 1911 until 1928, including one season in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens in 1924–25.
The Big-4 League was a top level senior ice hockey league that operated in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta for two seasons between 1919 and 1921. Created with the intention of competing for the Allan Cup senior-amateur championship, the league's existence was marred by accusations that its teams were secretly paying their players. The Big-4 lost its amateur status after its first season and operated as an independent league until further accusations of the use of ineligible players led to its collapse in 1921. Two of its teams, the Calgary Tigers and Edmonton Eskimos went on to form the professional Western Canada Hockey League.
Ice hockey is among the most popular sports in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, and the province has been notable for producing a large number of hockey figures in both men's and women's hockey. Saskatchewan does not currently have a professional hockey team of its own, but it is home to a large number of junior and senior hockey teams. The sport is governed in the province by Hockey Saskatchewan.
Roderick Neil "Scotty" Munro was a Canadian ice hockey coach. Munro was a key part of the group that formed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1972, which includes Bill Hunter, Ben Hatskin, and Ed Chynoweth.
Harry John Sterling was a Canadian ice hockey administrator. He was elected president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) in 1920, after serving as an Ontario Hockey Association executive and as president of the Thunder Bay Amateur Hockey Association. He declared that the CAHA would not tolerate the hockey "tourist" after becoming suspicious of players who changed their addresses to be on a new team. His investigation into registrations led to the suspension of a team from Saskatoon when it was discovered that players who won the gold medal representing Canada in ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics were being paid for amateur hockey. His term as president resulted in the CAHA enacting stricter rules for registration and co-operation with the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada to investigate into all Canadian hockey players to maintain amateurism.
Frederick Everett Betts was a Canadian ice hockey administrator and businessman. He concurrently served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association, and the Saskatchewan branch of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada during the 1919–20 season. He sought regulations to govern amateur sport in Canada, which he felt was in a state of disrepute due to the lack of discussion and the postponement of meetings during World War I. He supported the reinstatement of former professionals as amateur athletes as favoured in Western Canada, despite the growing rift with delegates from Eastern Canada on the issue. He sought for the Allan Cup trustees to allow the CAHA to have more say into how the national playoffs were operated and argued for receiving an annual percentage of profits from gate receipts to allow the CAHA to govern effectively.
