The Edmonton Eskimos were a Canadian amateur and later professional men's

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 ...

team that existed from 1911 to 1927. After playing in senior hockey in the

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 ...

-based

Big-4 League The Big-4 League was a top level senior ice hockey league that operated in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta for two seasons between 1919 and 1921. Created with the intention of competing for the Allan Cup senior-amateur championship, the league's e ...

, the Eskimos joined the

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 ...

(WCHL) for the inaugural

1921–22 WCHL season The 1921–22 WCHL season was the first season for the Western Canada Hockey League. Four teams played 24 games each. The Regina Capitals defeated the regular-season champion Edmonton Eskimos in a two-game total-goals series to win the inaugura ...

, and played for the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

against the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

in 1923, as the WCHL Champions. Team alumni include

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 ...

members

Eddie Shore Edward William Shore (November 23, 1902 – March 16, 1985) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, principally for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians of the American Hocke ...

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 ...

and

Bullet Joe Simpson Harold Edward Joseph "Bullet Joe" Simpson (August 13, 1893 – December 26, 1973) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Edmonton Eskimos and New York Americans between 1920 and 1931. He later served as coach of the A ...

. While the Edmonton Eskimos disbanded after the 1926–27 season, the name was adopted by a new team in 1932–33, playing for four years before it disbanded. The name was adopted by another new team for a single 1938–39 season.

History

The Eskimos club was formed for the 1909–10 season by sports promoter

Deacon White James Laurie "Deacon" White (December 2, 1847 – July 7, 1939) was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era. The outstanding catcher of the 1870s during baseball ...

, from the remains of the amateur

Edmonton Hockey Club The Edmonton Hockey Club was a Canadian amateur men's ice hockey club first organized in 1894 and formally established in 1896. The club consisted of two teams, the Thistles who were the elite players, and the Stars who were young prospects. The ...

, and inherited its predecessor's membership in the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association (AAHA). In 1909–10 and 1911–12 the club was loosely known as the "Edmonton Deacons", after Edmonton sports promoter

William Deacon White William Freeman "Deacon" White (December 6, 1878 – November 1, 1939) was an American educator and an athlete, coach, manager, owner and promoter of multiple sports, known as the "King of Sports" in Edmonton, Alberta, during the 1920s. His is rem ...

. Prior to the 1911–12 season the team officially adopted the name Edmonton Eskimos, influenced by Deacon White's Edmonton Esquimaux rugby football club. The early Eskimos played in the Thistle Rink, until it burned down in 1912.Photos: Thistle Rink & Theatre (102 Street)
/ref> In 1919–20, the AAHA formed the "

Big Four Big Four or Big 4 may refer to: Groups of companies * Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC * Big Four (airlines) in the U.S. in the 20th century: American, Eastern, TWA, United * Big Four (banking), several groupings ...

" senior league, composed of two teams in Edmonton, and two in Calgary. This league folded in 1921, and the Eskimos helped to found the

, with Ken McKenzie as their head coach. The Eskimos were the WCHL regular season champion for the inaugural

, finishing second in the 1921–22 playoffs. The Eskimos repeated as regular season champion in the

1922–23 WCHL season The 1922–23 WCHL season was the second season for the Western Canada Hockey League. Four teams played 30 games each. Regular season Final standings ''Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points'' Sco ...

, then defeated the Regina Capitals to win the 1922–23 WCHL playoff championship. The team then played in the

1923 Stanley Cup Finals The 1923 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the NHL champion Ottawa Senators and the WCHL champion Edmonton Eskimos. The previous WCHL-PCHA playoff format was abandoned, and the Ottawa Senators now had to play first the PCHA champion Vancouver Ma ...

against the

. The Regina Capitals moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

in the summer of 1925, leading to the WCHL renaming itself the Western Hockey League (WHL). The Eskimos won their third regular season championship in the single

1925–26 WHL season The 1925–26 WHL season was the fifth and last season for the now defunct Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), which was renamed Western Hockey League (WHL) at the start of the season due to one of its Canadian teams, the Regina Capitals, moving ...

, finishing second in that season's playoffs. The WHL disbanded after the 1925–26 season, and the Eskimos joined other WHL teams, plus some new franchises, to form the

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 ...

, with the Eskimos finished last of the five teams in the inaugural

1926–27 PHL season The 1926–27 season was the first year for the Prairie Hockey League (PHL). The PHL was, in essence, a reorganisation of the Western Hockey League after it folded the previous year. Five teams each played 32 games. Regular season Final standings ...

. The Eskimos disbanded at that end of that season.

Later incarnations

The name Edmonton Eskimos was adopted by an amateur senior team that played in the

in 1932–33, which was reformed as the

North West Hockey League The North West Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed from 1933 to 1936. It was formed from the Calgary and Vancouver franchises of the Western Canada Hockey League and ...

(NWHL) for the 1933–34 season. This Eskimos team disbanded after the 1935–36 NWHL season. The name was adopted by a team that played in the

Alberta Senior Hockey League Alberta Senior Hockey League (ASHL) may refer to: *Alberta Senior Hockey League (1936–1941) *Alberta Senior Hockey League (1965–1978) See also *Alberta Junior Hockey League *Alberta Midget Hockey League The Alberta Elite Hockey League or AEH ...

(ASHL) in 1938–39.

Hockey Hall of Fame

A number of Edmonton Eskimos players have been inducted into the

, recognizing their bodies of work, including their time with the Big-4/WCHL/WHL/PHL Eskimos teams: * Tommy Dunderdale *

Barney Stanley Russell "Barney" Stanley (June 1, 1893 – May 16, 1971) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) and the Calgary Tigers, Regina Capitals and Edmont ...

Gallery

Photos from the Edmonton Eskimos' 1921–22 WCHL regular season championship team: File:Howard Dea.jpg, Eskimo centerman

Howard Dea Howard Edmund Dea (April 9, 1891 – February 9, 1966) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played with the Calgary Tigers and Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Canada Hockey League.right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Art Gagné File:Bill Tobin, Edmonton Eskimos.jpg, Eskimo

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

Bill Tobin

References

External links

Team Statistics

Jersey photos

Alberta Senior Hockey League Defunct ice hockey teams in Canada Ice hockey teams in Alberta Esk Ice hockey clubs established in 1910 1910 establishments in Alberta 1927 disestablishments in Canada 2 Sports clubs disestablished in 1927