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).
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 the 2022-23 season, 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 Kelowna Rockets are a junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The Rockets play in the Western Hockey League (WHL), out of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). They play their home games at Prospera Place.
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 a major junior ice hockey team that plays in the Western Hockey League based in Spokane, Washington. The team plays its home games at the Spokane Arena. Their uniforms are similar to those of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. As of 2010, Spokane ranked in the top 10 in the Canadian Hockey League in attendance. The Chiefs won the Memorial Cup in 1991 and 2008. They also hosted the first outdoor hockey game in WHL history on January 15, 2011, at Avista Stadium versus the Kootenay Ice.
Shea Michael Weber is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman under contract with the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played sixteen seasons in the NHL for the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadiens. He is known to have one of the hardest shots in hockey history.
The 1995–96 WHL season was the 30th season for the Western Hockey League (WHL). Seventeen teams completed a 72-game season. The Brandon Wheat Kings won the President's Cup.
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.
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.
Brayden Michael Schenn is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings fifth overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He also played for the Philadelphia Flyers, 2016 - 2017, before being traded to St. Louis in 2017 for Jori Lehtera, and two first round picks.
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 since 1944, of which the major junior Seattle Thunderbirds are the latest. Presently, the city has a National Hockey League franchise, the Seattle Kraken, who began play in the 2021–22 season.
