The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a 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 Maritimes 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. The WHL is composed of 22 teams divided into two conferences of two divisions. The Eastern Conference comprises 11 teams from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, while the Western Conference comprises 11 teams from British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.
The Everett Silvertips are an American major junior ice hockey team based in Everett, Washington. The team plays in the U.S. Division of the Western Conference of the Western Hockey League (WHL), and hosts games at Angel of the Winds Arena. The Silvertips joined the WHL as an expansion team ahead of the 2003–04 season. The team has not missed the playoffs in its 21-year history; Everett twice advanced to the league championship playoff series, but has not won the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
Kevin Lars Constantine is an American ice hockey coach who previously served as the head coach of the Wenatchee Wild of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The Wenatchee Wild’s first coach in franchise history was suspended on Sept. 24, 2023, after the league received a complaint regarding his conduct and began an investigation. Constantine has coached hockey teams in the NHL, WHL, IHL, AHL and numerous major junior hockey leagues. He was also the former head coach of HC Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss National League A. He also coached the North Iowa Huskies for a brief time. From 2022 to 2023, he was the head coach of the Hungarian national ice hockey team. He left that position despite having a valid contract in summer of 2023.
The Seattle Thunderbirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent, Washington. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League. Founded in 1971 as the Vancouver Nats, the team arrived in Seattle in 1977 and played as the Breakers until 1985, when they adopted the Thunderbirds name. The team played in Seattle for three decades before moving to the accesso ShoWare Center in nearby Kent in 2008. The Thunderbirds are two-time WHL champions, with their most recent title coming in 2023.
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 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.
The Kootenay Ice were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Cranbrook, British Columbia, competing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and playing its home games at Western Financial Place. The franchise, which began as the Edmonton Ice before moving to Cranbrook in 1998, was owned by Ed Chynoweth from 1995 until it was sold to Winnipeg-based company 50 Below Sports and Entertainment in 2017. The team won three WHL championships and one Memorial Cup title as Canadian junior champions. Despite the club's on-ice success, the Ice moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2019, where they were known as the Winnipeg Ice.
The Edmonton Ice were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta. A Western Hockey League expansion team established in 1996, the team played only two seasons from 1996 to 1998 before relocating to Cranbrook, British Columbia, where the team became known as the Kootenay Ice.
The 2004–05 WHL season was the 39th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Twenty teams completed a 72-game schedule. The Kootenay Ice won their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for posting the league's best regular season record. The Kelowna Rockets defeated the Brandon Wheat Kings in the championship series of the playoffs to win their second President's Cup in three seasons and advance to the 2005 Memorial Cup tournament.
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 Edmonton Oil Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, that play in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team, founded in 2006, shares an ownership group with the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers. The team is the fourth WHL team based in Edmonton, and its identity connects to the original Oil Kings club, which was one of the league's founding franchises in 1966. The Oil Kings are three-time WHL champions and won the 2014 Memorial Cup.
The Princeton Posse are a junior ice hockey team based in Princeton, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Bill Ohlhausen Division of the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). They play their home games at Princeton & District Multipurpose Arena.
The Wenatchee Wild were a Junior A ice hockey team. The team played its home games at the 4,300-seat Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee, Washington. The team joined the North American Hockey League as an expansion club for the 2008–09 season, and in that time they were well known for their rivalry with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. The Wild moved to the British Columbia Hockey League for 2015–16, after seeking approval from both Hockey Canada and USA Hockey for three years. In 2023, the ownership of the Wild purchased and relocated the Winnipeg Ice, a major junior Western Hockey League franchise, under the Wenatchee Wild brand, but ceased operations of their junior A team.
The Cranbrook Colts were a Junior "B" and a Junior "A" team in Cranbrook, British Columbia. They were formed in 1970 as a Junior "B" team in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. They were immediately successful, winning the league title in their first four years. The Colts jumped to the Junior "A" Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League in 1991, winning three league titles in their seven years in the league.
Derrick Pouliot is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for the Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League. He has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks, and Dallas Stars. Pouliot was selected eighth overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Penguins.
The 2013–14 WHL season was the 48th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The regular season began on September 19, 2013, and ended on March 16, 2014. The Kelowna Rockets won their third Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for best regular season regular, their first since 2003–04. The playoffs began on March 27, 2014, and ended on May 12, 2014. For the third straight season, the Edmonton Oil Kings and Portland Winterhawks faced off in the championships series. The Oil Kings won the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the second time in three seasons and earned a berth in the 2014 Memorial Cup tournament, which was held in London, Ontario. The Oil Kings went on to win their first Memorial Cup title.
The Winnipeg Ice were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded as an expansion Western Hockey League team in 1996 as the Edmonton Ice, the team played in Cranbrook, British Columbia from 1998 to 2019 as the Kootenay Ice. The team moved to Winnipeg ahead of the 2019–20 WHL season, and played home games at Wayne Fleming Arena. Despite success on the ice, a failure to construct a new arena for the team—a condition of the team's move to Winnipeg—led to the team being sold and relocated to Wenatchee, Washington ahead of the 2023–24 season.
The 2019–20 WHL season was the 54th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The regular season began on September 20, 2019, and was scheduled to end on March 22, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America the regular season was suspended on March 12 and cancelled six days later along with the playoffs. The post-season had been scheduled to begin on March 27, in which sixteen teams would have competed for the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
The 2021–22 WHL season was the 56th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The league played a full regular season schedule for the first time since the 2018–19 season. The season began on October 1, 2021, and ended on April 17, 2022.
The Cranbrook Bucks are a Junior ice hockey team based in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Interior Conference of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Western Financial Place.
