The Houston Aeros were a professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League (IHL) and the American Hockey League (AHL). The team played in Houston, Texas, at The Summit from 1994 until 2003 and the Toyota Center from 2003 to 2013. In the IHL, the team operated as an independent minor league team from 1994 to 2001, though the team occasionally accepted players on loan from various National Hockey League (NHL) clubs for development. Upon joining the AHL for the 2001–02 season, they became the primary affiliate of the one-year-old NHL expansion team, the Minnesota Wild, a partnership they maintained until the franchise's relocation in 2013. While the team's only formal partnership with the Dallas Stars was a partial affiliation agreement during the 2004–05 season, Dallas occasionally sent some of their prospects to the Aeros on individual loans from 1993 to 2005, until the establishment of the Iowa Stars gave Dallas its own primary farm team.
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.
The Kelowna Rockets are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia. The team plays in the B.C Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, playing their home games at Prospera Place. The Rockets are the most successful WHL team in the twenty-first century, winning three regular season titles and four playoff championships. The team has also played in the Memorial Cup finals three times, winning once, in 2004, when Kelowna hosted the tournament.
The Tacoma Rockets were a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1991 to 1995. They played at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The Rockets were granted as an expansion franchise, and were named after the defunct professional team of the same name. After the 1994–95 season, low attendance forced the team to move to Kelowna, British Columbia after only four seasons, where they became the Kelowna Rockets. While the Rockets drew high attendance numbers when they played the Seattle Thunderbirds, they did not draw as well with other teams. The Tacoma Dome was not well-suited for hockey as the risers for the seats were too shallow, making the sightlines bad for hockey.
The Western Hockey League (WHL) was a minor professional ice hockey league based in Western Canada that operated from 1952 to 1974. The league was managed for most of its history by Al Leader, and had roots in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League. The championship trophy of the WHL was the Lester Patrick Cup.
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 Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in three incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952.
The Spokane Chiefs are an American major junior ice hockey team based in Spokane, Washington. The Chiefs play in the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, playing home games at Spokane Arena. The Chiefs are two-time Memorial Cup champions—the second American team to win the title—winning in 1991 and 2008. Spokane hosted the first outdoor game in WHL history on January 15, 2011, at Avista Stadium.
Frederick Murray "Muzz" Patrick was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and general manager. He played in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers from 1938 to 1941, and then from 1945 to 1946. He was general manager of the Rangers from 1955 to 1964, serving as coach on three separate occasions during that time. As a player Patrick won the Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1940. He was part of the Patrick family, which had a long association with hockey: his father Lester had previously worked as the Rangers coach and manager, among other roles; his uncle Frank had founded the Pacific Coast Hockey Association with Lester; and Muzz's brother Lynn had played on the Rangers with him and later coached and managed the Boston Bruins.
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 Kelowna Wings were a junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia that played in the Western Hockey League from 1982–85. The Wings were abysmal in their three-year tenure, winning just 56 out of 216 games played. The franchise relocated to Spokane, Washington following the 1984–85 season and became the Spokane Chiefs.
Guyle Abner Fielder is an American-born Canadian former professional ice hockey center. He is most known for his time in the minor Western Hockey League, where he played from 1952 to 1973. Fielder also played 9 regular season and 6 playoff games in the National Hockey League between 1951 and 1958. He is the fourth-leading scorer in professional ice hockey history, behind Wayne Gretzky, Jaromír Jágr, and Gordie Howe, and holds the career records for minor-league ice hockey for the most games played, assists and points scored.
The Great Falls Americans were a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League who played a portion of the 1979–80 WHL season. The team was a relocation of the 1978–79 Edmonton Oil Kings franchise, which had previously been the then-named Western Canada Hockey League's (WCHL) Flin Flon Bombers, from the 1967–68 through 1977–78 WCHL seasons. The Americans played at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Montana. The team only lasted 28 games of the WHL's 72-game season, winning only two games. After the WHL completed its season, the dormant Americans franchise relocated as the Spokane Flyers.
Jonathon Gregory Blum is an American professional ice hockey defenseman, currently playing with EHC Red Bull München of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).
Edward Joseph "Spider" Mazur was a Canadian ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Black Hawks between 1951 and 1956. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1948 to 1966, was spent in the minor leagues.
The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. Under several names prior to 1958, the franchise was a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League between 1944 and 1974. In their last season of existence, the Totems played in the Central Hockey League in the 1974–75 season. They played their home games in the Civic Ice Arena and later at the Seattle Center Coliseum. The Totems won three WHL Lester Patrick Cup championships in 1959, 1967 and 1968.
The Tacoma Sabercats were an American professional minor league ice hockey team based in Tacoma, Washington. The team began play in the West Coast Hockey League as of the 1997–98 season.
Drayson Jack Bowman is an American former professional ice hockey center. He previously played for the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Bowman was selected 72nd overall by the Hurricanes in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
Marcel Comeau is a Canadian ice hockey scout, and former player, coach, and National Hockey League team executive. He played eleven seasons in the International Hockey League (IHL), where he was the league's top scorer and won the IHL Most Valuable Player Award in 1981. He later coached in the Western Hockey League (WHL), winning two WHL Coach of the Year Awards, and a Canadian Hockey League Coach of the Year Award. He also led Team Canada to a gold medal at the 1996 World Juniors, and later served as a team executive for the Atlanta Thrashers, and the Winnipeg Jets.
Ice hockey in Seattle, Washington, includes professional teams as early as 1915, such as the Seattle Metropolitans, the first United States-based team to win the Stanley Cup. The city has been represented by various teams in the iterations of the Western Hockey League (WHL) since 1944, of which the major junior Seattle Thunderbirds are the latest. Presently, the city has a National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, the Seattle Kraken, who began play in the 2021–22 season.
