The Big-4 League was a top level

senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate under the jurisd ...

league that operated in Calgary and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

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 ...

for two seasons between 1919 and 1921. Created with the intention of competing for the

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

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 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 ...

and Edmonton Eskimos went on to form the professional

Western Canada Hockey League 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. The WCHL's Victoria C ...

Founding

By 1919, the Stanley Cup was no longer awarded to the top amateur team in Canada, reserved instead for the professional

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and Pacific Coast leagues. The

had been established as the new amateur championship in its place.Sandor, 2005, p. 20 The Big-4 was established in 1919 with the intention of bringing the Allan Cup to Alberta.

Teams

* Edmonton Eskimos: 1919–1921 *Calgary Wanderers: 1919–20 *Edmonton Hustlers: 1919–20 *Calgary Columbus Club: 1919–20 *

: 1920–21 *Calgary Canadians: 1920–21 *Edmonton Dominions: 1920–21

1919–20 season

Two teams represented Calgary in the Big-4: The Columbus and the Wanderers, while two represented Edmonton: the Dominions and Eskimos. Led by

Duke Keats Gordon Blanchard "Duke, Iron Duke" Keats (March 1, 1895 – January 16, 1972) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association (NHA), Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Canada Hocke ...

, who scored 32 points in 12 games, the Eskimos finished at the top of the league standings. They faced the second place Wanderers in a home-and-home, total goal series for the championship. After a 6–1 victory in Edmonton, the Eskimos defeated the Wanderers 2–1 in the second game in Calgary to win the title by an 8–2 score.

Standing

1920 off-season

The Columbus and Wanderers both withdrew from the league after the first season and were replaced by the Canadians and

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

as Calgary's representatives. Additionally, the league chose to adopt the six-man rules for the 1920–21 season, eliminating the

rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US ...

position, and sought Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) sanction so as to be eligible for Allan Cup competition. The league attempted to become the Big-5 as president Allan McCaw attempted to add a team from

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in 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 the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

but was unsuccessful. Following the defection of some players to the Big-4, PCHA president Frank Patrick wrote a letter to the CAHA charging that the Big-4 was operating as a semi-professional league, paying many of its players in secret. He asked that the CAHA declare the Big-4 as a professional circuit and disqualify it from competing for the Allan Cup.

Alberta Amateur Hockey Association 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 Territ ...

(AAHA) president Frank Drayton responded to the charges by stating that the Alberta league was one of few in the country operating as true amateurs, and attacked other associations, arguing that both Saskatchewan and Manitoba had submitted illegally professional teams to the Allan Cup tournament.Sandor, 2005, p. 22 Although it was facing growing criticism over the accusations, the Big-4 ignored requests to offer evidence in its defence, arguing it had no right to compel its players to testify. The CAHA sided with Patrick and declared the Big-4 professional. The league, while publicly continuing to defend itself against the charges, chose not to appeal and operated as an independent league in 1920–21.

1920–21 season

As the season's end approached, the Tigers were in first place while the Canadians trailed the Eskimos for second place. The Canadians filed a protest against the Eskimos, alleging that goaltender Bill Tobin had not lived in Alberta long enough to qualify for amateur status in the province, and thus was an illegal player.Sandor, 2005, p. 24 A three-man panel was formed to rule on Tobin's status, and sided with the Edmonton club. The Tigers, upset that the panel had replaced a neutral panelist with one from Edmonton shortly before the protest was heard, refused to accept the decision and announced that it would not face the Eskimos for the league championship. The Calgary teams expanded their protests, arguing that two other players were also ineligible, and recommended the matter be brought before a judge. When the Edmonton teams refused, the league collapsed on February 24, 1921. Though the league had collapsed, the Tigers and Eskimos, without Tobin, finally agreed to hold an informal ''intercity'' championship.Sandor, 2005, p. 25 The Tigers won the first game in Calgary, 2–0, but lost the second to the Eskimos 2–1 at Edmonton. The Calgary club was declared the winner on the strength of a 3–2 aggregate score.

Standing

Playoffs: Calgary Tigers vs Edmonton Eskimos 3-2 (2-0, 1-2)

Post-collapse

Interest in professional hockey grew in wake of the Big-4 controversy. Although many doubted whether the then relatively small prairie cities could compete at the major professional level, talks nevertheless begun to create a prairie league that would compete with the NHL and PCHA. The former Big-4 teams openly declared their professionalism and joined with two teams from Saskatchewan to create the

in the summer of 1921. The two Calgary teams subsequently chose to merge into one team, continuing on under the Tigers name, and joined with the Edmonton Eskimos,

Regina Capitals The Regina Capitals were a professional ice hockey team originally based in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921. Western Canada Hockey League Capitals (1921–1926) 1921 was the Regina Capi ...

and Saskatoon Sheiks. The WCHL would be renamed 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 ...

for its fifth and final 1925–26 season, before disbanding and seeing some of its teams forming the new

Prairie Hockey League 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 creation of the league was an ...

, which disbanded after two seasons.

Gallery

Some of the players who played in the Big-4 League: File:Bill Tobin, Edmonton Eskimos.jpg, Bill Tobin with the Edmonton Eskimos File:Duke Keats, Edmonton Eskimos.jpg,

with the Edmonton Eskimos File:Wilf Talbot.jpg, Wilf Talbot with the Edmonton Hustlers File:Mickey OLeary.jpg, Mickey O'Leary with the Calgary Wanderers File:Herb Gardiner, Calgary Tigers.jpg,

Herb Gardiner Herbert Martin Gardiner (May 8, 1891 – January 11, 1972) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) and the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Black Hawks of the Na ...

with the Calgary Tigers

References

;Footnotes ;General *{{Cite book , last=Sandor , first=Steven , year=2005 , title=The Battle of Alberta: A Century of Hockey's Greatest Rivalry , publisher=Heritage House , isbn=1-894974-01-8 1919 establishments in Alberta 1921 disestablishments in Canada Defunct ice hockey leagues in Alberta Hockey Alberta Ice hockey in Calgary