The Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL) was a women's hockey league in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The league was established in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, and consisted of teams in Canada (some former National Women's Hockey League teams) and one from the

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. The league office was in Vancouver, British Columbia, and managed by Recreation Sports Management.

History

On July 13, 2006, the National Women's Hockey League announced it would absorb the WWHL's teams into its new West division. However, scheduling conflicts between the 2007 Women's World Championships and the WWHL championship game saw the merger collapse. In 2007, Hockey Canada announced it would revamp the Esso Women's Nationals, with the WWHL champion and finalist meeting the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) champion and finalist. Since 2009, teams from the two leagues instead compete for the Clarkson Cup at the end of the season. In 2010, the WWHL champion Minnesota Whitecaps won the Clarkson Cup tournament, defeating three rivals from the CWHL. The CWHL announced on April 19, 2011, that it would merge with the Western Women's Hockey League for the 2011–12 season. The merger would feature one team based in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

and would be combination of the former WWHL franchises the Edmonton Chimos and Strathmore Rockies. The team would play their games in various locations around Alberta. However, the WWHL was never folded properly. The WWHL executive committee accepted the resignations of the owners of the Strathmore Rockies and Edmonton Chimos at their meeting in Minneapolis on August 19, 2011. The president of the WWHL also stepped down at that time. New board members were elected and the league began a series of monthly board meetings to develop their 2011–12 season and their strategic plan as sanctioned by Hockey Alberta. In 2012, the relations between the LCHF and the WWHL tightened: the director-manager of the Minnesota Whitecaps accused the CWHL of deliberately sabotaging possible participation of Whitecaps in the next Clarkson Cup tournament.Minnesota Whitecaps cry foul on exclusion from Canadian Women's Hockey League
/ref> As of 2015, the league website is defunct. The Minnesota Whitecaps continue to be an active team as part of the National Women's Hockey League, and the Manitoba Maple Leafs were active as late as 2014.

Championship

The champion of the WWHL is given the WWHL Champions cup. A list of WWHL winners (winner is in bold): * 2004–05 - Calgary Oval X-Treme vs. Edmonton Chimos in Calgary, Alberta * 2005–06 - Calgary Oval X-Treme vs. Minnesota Whitecaps in Lumsden, Saskatchewan * 2006–07 - Calgary Oval X-Treme vs. Minnesota Whitecaps * 2007–08 - Calgary Oval X-Treme vs. Minnesota Whitecaps * 2008–09 - Minnesota Whitecaps vs. Calgary Oval X-Treme * 2009–10 - Minnesota Whitecaps vs. Strathmore Rockies * 2010–11 - Minnesota Whitecaps

Former teams

The Chinese national women's team also played an exhibition schedule against WWHL teams in the 2007–08 season with points counting in league standings.

References

External links

WWHL website

WWHL teams websites