The Abbott Memorial Cup, commonly referred to as the Abbott Cup, was awarded annually from 1919 through 1999 to the Junior "A"

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

Champion for

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

. The Cup was named after Captain E.L. (Hick) Abbott who was a noted hockey player in Western Canada. He captained the

Regina Victorias The Regina Victorias (often shortened to ''Vics'') were two ice hockey teams, one at the senior level (1914–1938) and one at the junior level (1917–1921), based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The senior Vics played in the Allan Cup finals three tim ...

when it won the (pre-

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

) Junior Championship of Canada in 1913 and 1914. Captain Abbott died in active service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the trophy was presented in his memory in 1919 by the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association. The concept of a Western Canada Junior A Championship was briefly continued from 2013-2017 with the creation of the

Western Canada Cup The Western Canada Cup (WCC); was the Junior 'A' ice hockey championship for western Canada from 2013 to 2017. The annual five-team event consisted of the host team and the champions from the four western leagues (Alberta Junior Hockey League, Bri ...

History

The Abbott Cup was a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

round, a best of seven game series, between the British Columbia/Alberta Interprovincial Champions and the Saskatchewan/Manitoba Interprovincial Champions. The Abbott Cup winner would then play off against the Eastern Canadian Champions, the winner of the

George Richardson Memorial Trophy The George Richardson Memorial Trophy was presented annually from 1932 until 1971, by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. It represented the Eastern Canada junior hockey championship, and a berth in the Memorial Cup final versus the Abbot ...

, for the

signifying the National Championship. In 1934 Junior "A" hockey was divided into Junior "A" and "B", with the Abbott Cup staying with the Junior "A" level. The winner of the Abbott Cup still earned the right to compete for the national Memorial Cup. (Starting in 1983, a Junior "B" Western Canadian Championship was established with the

Keystone Cup The Keystone Cup is the Junior B ice hockey championship and trophy for Western Canada. From 1983 to 2017, the championship was the culmination of the champions of 12 hockey leagues in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Northwe ...

.) In 1971 Junior "A" hockey was divided into Major Junior (Tier I) and Junior "A" (Tier II), with the Abbott Cup again staying with the Tier II Junior "A" level. As the Memorial Cup national championship was now reserved for the Major Junior level, the Abbott Cup winner now represented the West in the 'Tier II'

Centennial Cup The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of junior A ice hockey. It is a ten-team round robin featuring the winners of ...

National Championship. (The Major Junior teams in Western Canada now compete for the

Western Hockey League 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 h ...

Ed Chynoweth Cup The Ed Chynoweth Cup is an ice hockey club championship trophy awarded to the playoff champion of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Originally called the President's Cup when the league was founded in 1966, the trophy was renamed in 2007 to honou ...

, earning the right to compete for their national Memorial Cup.) Starting in 1991, because of the realignment of regions and format for the

, the winners of the

Doyle Cup The Doyle Cup is an ice hockey trophy won through a best-of-7 series conducted annually by the Canadian Junior Hockey League to determine the Pacific region berth in the Centennial Cup, the national Junior A championship. From 1971 to 2021, the se ...

and the Anavet Cup would go straight to the National Championship competition rather than hold a separate competition for the western Abbott Cup. During the Centennial Cup (later Royal Bank Cup) national competition, the winner of the game between the Doyle Cup winner and the Anavet Cup winner would also receive the Abbott Cup. Since then, the Abbott Cup has diminished in attention, which led to the retirement of the Abbott Cup after it had been awarded to the

Vernon Vipers The Vernon Vipers are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Interior Conference of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Kal Tire Place. History The ...

in 1999. It can now be found in the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

. The Abbott Cup Western Canadian Junior "A" Champion went on to win the National Junior "A" Championship 40 times over 81 years: :Junior "A" Memorial Cup - 19 times in 52 competitions between 1919 and 1970 :Tier II Junior "A" Centennial Cup/Royal Bank Cup - 21 times in 29 competitions between 1971 and 1999 The franchise to win the most Abbott Cups was the Regina Patricias/Pats, with 11. Second were the

Edmonton Oil Kings The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers ...

, with 8. The most consecutive wins by a franchise is 7, for the Edmonton Oil Kings, from 1960 through 1966. The

Prince Albert Raiders The Prince Albert Raiders are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. The Raiders play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. They are based in the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team plays its hom ...

follow with 3 consecutive cups, from 1977 through 1979. The province whose representatives won the most Abbott Cups was

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, with 25.

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

representatives won 21 cups,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

won 18,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

won 13, and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

teams playing in the Manitoba league won 4 cups. The most consecutive wins by the representatives of the same province is 7, for Alberta, from 1960 through 1966. British Columbia follows with 5 consecutive cups, from 1989 through 1993.

Champions

1919 to 1934

''Presented by the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association to the best Junior "A" team in Western Canada.'' ''(*) Denotes teams that went on to win the national championship

.''

1935 to 1970

''Starting in 1935, Junior "B" franchises were no longer eligible to compete for the Abbott Cup.'' ''(*) Denotes teams that went on to win the national championship

.''

1971 to 1990

''Starting in 1971, only Junior "A" (formerly Tier II) clubs competed for the Abbott Cup.'' ''(*) Denotes teams that went on to win the national championship Centennial Cup/Royal Bank Cup.''

1991 to 1999

''Awarded to the winner of the round robin game between the Doyle and ANAVET champions at the

Royal Bank Cup Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

'' ''(*) Denotes teams that went on to win the national championship Centennial Cup/Royal Bank Cup.''

References

{{Memorial Cup 1919 establishments in Canada 1999 disestablishments in Canada Canadian Amateur Hockey Association trophies Canadian Hockey League trophies and awards Canadian Junior Hockey League trophies and awards Ice hockey in Western Canada Ice hockey tournaments in Canada Memorial Cup