The Western Hockey League (WHL) was a minor professional

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 ...

league based in

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� ...

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 The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in several incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952. PCHL 1928–1931 The firs ...

and the

Western Canada Senior Hockey League The Western Canada Senior Hockey League was a senior ice hockey league that played six seasons in Alberta and Saskatchewan, from 1945 to 1951. The league produced the 1946 Allan Cup and the 1948 Allan Cup champions, and merged into the Pacific Coas ...

. The championship trophy of the WHL was the

Lester Patrick Cup The Lester Patrick Cup was the championship trophy of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1949 to 1974. Originally known as the Phil Henderson Cup and then in 1952 it was renamed to the President's Cup. The t ...

History

The league was founded in 1948 as the

(PCHL). In 1951, it absorbed three teams from the

. In 1952, it adopted the WHL name. In the late 1950s,

Ron Butlin Ron Butlin (born 1949 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish poet and novelist who was Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate) from 2008 to 2014. Education Butlin was educated at the University of Edinburgh. He later became writer in residence in 1982 and 1984 a ...

and

Arthur Ryan Smith Captain Arthur Ryan Smith Jr. OC AOE DFC (May 16, 1919 – June 30, 2008) was a Canadian oilfield worker, fighter pilot, executive business man, philanthropist, magazine editor, advertising executive and politician on the municipal, provincia ...

hosted a

hot stove league ''Hot Stove League'' () is a South Korean television series that aired on SBS TV from December 13, 2019, to February 14, 2020. The series stars Namkoong Min, Park Eun-bin, Oh Jung-se, and Jo Byeong-kyu. It revolves around a baseball team named ...

on radio broadcasts of the league. The Western Hockey League was managed for most of its history by Al Leader. During the 1960s, the WHL moved into a number of large west coast markets including Los Angeles and San Francisco. There was speculation that the WHL could grow into a major league capable of rivalling even the long-entrenched

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. In the 1965–66 and 1967–68 seasons, the WHL played an interlocking schedule with the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. Fears that the WHL (or a WHL/AHL merger) could become a rival major league was among the factors that finally convinced the

to expand for the 1967–68 season. Several factors led to the WHL's decision to cease operations after the 1973–74 season. The NHL and

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

had moved into many of its traditional markets, and the talent pool had become strained by the fast growth in the number of professional teams. When the NHL announced in June 1974 that the owners of both the

Denver Spurs The Denver Spurs were a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League in 1968, and played at the Denver Coliseum. The Spurs became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a champions ...

and

Seattle Totems 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 (renamed the Western Hockey League in 1952) between 1944 and 19 ...

had been granted "conditional" NHL franchises (neither of which came to fruition), the WHL announced the same day that it was folding. A few of its surviving teams were absorbed into the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL), though the Phoenix Roadrunners franchise did join the WHA for the 1974–75 season, and the

would jump from the CHL to the WHA for the 1975–76 season (but folded mid-season). The championship trophy of the WHL was the

, which is currently on display at 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 ...

Teams

Brandon Regals The Saskatoon/St. Paul Regals were an ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League that existed for one season in 1957–58. The franchise split its home games between Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. The Re ...

(1955–1957) *

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

(1952–1963) *

California Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The ...

(1966–1967) *

Denver Invaders The Denver Invaders were a minor pro ice hockey team that played in Denver, Colorado in the Western Hockey League (WHL) during the 1963–1964 season. In June 1963, the Spokane Comets WHL franchise was purchased by a group led by the Toronto Mapl ...

(1963–1964) *

(1968–1974) * Edmonton Flyers (1952–1963) *

Los Angeles Blades The Los Angeles Blades were a professional inline hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. The Blades played in Roller Hockey International from 1993–1997 and played their home games at the Great Western Forum. Two other franchises have us ...

(1961–1967) * New Westminster Royals (1952–1959) * Phoenix Roadrunners (1967–1974) *

Portland Buckaroos The Portland Buckaroos was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in Portland, Oregon. PCHL/NWHL era (1928–1941) The first incarnation of Portland Buckaroos played their home games at the Portland Ice Arena. The Buckaroos ini ...

(1960–1974) *

Salt Lake Golden Eagles The Salt Lake Golden Eagles were a minor professional hockey team based in Salt Lake City from 1969 to 1994. History They played in the Western Hockey League from 1969 to 1974, the Central Hockey League from 1974 to 1984 and the International H ...

(1969–1974) *

San Diego Gulls The San Diego Gulls are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in San Diego, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls play th ...

(1966–1974) * San Francisco Seals (1961–1966) *

Saskatoon Quakers The Saskatoon Quakers were an ice hockey team that was based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team played in various senior ice hockey leagues, and later played in minor league professional hockey. The Quakers represented Canada in 1934 Worl ...

(1952–1959) *

Seattle Americans 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 (renamed the Western Hockey League in 1952) between 1944 and 19 ...

(1955–1958) * Seattle Bombers (1952–1954) *

(1958–1975) * Spokane Comets (1959–1963) *

Spokane Spokes The Spokane Spokes were a minor league professional ice hockey team that operated from 1958-1959 in the Western Hockey League. After the 1958-1959 season the team was renamed Spokane Comets. Roster * C Gene "Max" Mekilok * LW/C Earl "Ching" ...

(1958-1959) * Tacoma Rockets (1952–1953) *

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

(1952–1970) *

Victoria Cougars The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the Western Canada Hockey League) in the W ...

(1952–1961) *

Victoria Maple Leafs The Victoria Maple Leafs were a minor pro ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) that played three seasons in Victoria, British Columbia, beginning in 1964. They were the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The previous season the te ...

(1964–1967) * Winnipeg Warriors (1955–1961)

Timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1500 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:01/01/1952 till:07/01/1974 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1954 text: Seattle Bombers (1952–1954) bar:1 color:skyblue from:08/01/1955 till:07/01/1958 text:

(1955–1958) bar:1 color:skyblue from:08/01/1958 till:07/01/1974 text:

(1958–1974) bar:2 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1970 text:

(1952–1970) bar:3 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1963 text:

(1952–1963) bar:4 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1963 text: Edmonton Flyers (1952–1963) bar:5 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1961 text:

(1952–1961) bar:5 color:skyblue from:08/01/1961 till:07/01/1967 text:

(1961–1967) bar:6 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1956 text:

(1952–1956) bar:7 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1959 text: New Westminster Royals (1952–1959) bar:8 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1953 text: Tacoma Rockets (1952–1953) bar:9 color:skyblue from:08/01/1955 till:07/01/1961 text: Winnipeg Warriors (1955–1961) bar:10 color:skyblue from:08/01/1955 till:07/01/1957 text:

(1955–1957) bar:10 color:skyblue from:08/01/1957 till:07/01/1958 text: Saskatoon/Saint Paul's Regals (1957–1958) bar:10 color:skyblue from:08/01/1958 till:07/01/1959 text:

(1958–1959) bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1958 till:07/01/1959 text:

(1958-1960) bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1959 till:07/01/1963 text: Spokane Comets (1960-1963) bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1963 till:07/01/1964 text:

(1963–1964) bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1964 till:07/01/1967 text:

(1964–1967) bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1967 till:07/01/1974 text: Phoenix Roadrunners (1967–1974) bar:12 color:skyblue from:08/01/1960 till:07/01/1974 text:

(1960–1974) bar:13 color:skyblue from:08/01/1961 till:07/01/1966 text: San Francisco Seals (1961–1966) bar:13 color:skyblue from:08/01/1966 till:07/01/1967 text:

(1966–1967) bar:15 color:skyblue from:08/01/1966 till:07/01/1974 text:

(1966–1974) bar:16 color:skyblue from:08/01/1968 till:07/01/1974 text:

(1968–1974) bar:17 color:skyblue from:08/01/1969 till:07/01/1974 text:

(1969–1974) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1952

List of champions

Championships by team

References

External links

hockeydb.com Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Western Hockey League (1952-1974) Defunct ice hockey leagues in Canada Defunct ice hockey leagues in the United States