History Western Canada Hockey League

1 history

1.1 background
1.2 years
1.3 collapse
1.4 epilogue

history

background

the stanley cup donated in 1893 serve trophy awarded national champion of canadian amateur ice hockey. trophy became open professional teams in 1906 , new trophy, allan cup donated serve national amateur trophy. time, canadian prairies being rapidly settled , in 1914 team based in saskatchewan (the regina victorias) capture allan cup first time. time, competition stanley cup, had evolved world series-inspired east vs. west affair contested between winners of 2 professional hockey leagues in business, pacific coast hockey association (pcha), based in british columbia, washington , oregon , national hockey association (nha), based in ontario , quebec. although pcha won 2 of first 3 stanley cup series contested under format, national hockey league (nhl) came dominate stanley cup play after replaced nha premier eastern competition in 1917.

early years

in 1921, edmonton eskimos , calgary tigers of big 4 league saw league collapse on allegations of pay amateurs. regina capitals , saskatoon sheiks teams organized openly-professional western canada hockey league (wchl). league organized under presidency of e. l. richardson of calgary, wesley champ of regina, robert pinder of saskatoon, k. c. mackenzie of edmonton, , j. lloyd turner of calgary, becoming directors. league, national hockey league (nhl), played six-man hockey, without old rover position. @ time, there not yet clear distinction between major , minor professional leagues in north american sport other baseball , new league recognized comparable league existing pacific coast hockey association (pcha). winner of series between champions of 2 leagues go on face winner of nhl coveted stanley cup.

the league started high hopes in general climate of optimism followed end of first world war. then-fledgling professional league in different sport (the american professional football association, forerunners today s national football league) wchl centered in smaller cities populations of under 100,000 people. in era professional sport considered seasonal occupation supplemented off-season work, salaries @ major professional level relatively small , thought within means of clubs located in markets small saskatoon , moose jaw.

the wchl s first season, 1921–22, saw saskatoon sheiks have money problems , relocate moose jaw, saskatchewan, become moose jaw sheiks. edmonton eskimos won regular season standings, upset in playoffs second place regina capitals. capitals faced vancouver millionaires of pcha determine go on face toronto st. patricks of nhl stanley cup. vancouver won series against regina, lost toronto in stanley cup finals.

in next season, moose jaw team folded, wchl returned saskatoon new franchise, saskatoon crescents, led newsy lalonde. wchl , pcha started playing inter-league games, kept separate standings. edmonton eskimos won regular season, lost pcha s vancouver maroons in stanley cup playoff.

in 1923–24 wchl season, calgary tigers finished in first place while edmonton finished @ bottom of standings. playoffs changed year, too, despite protest montreal canadiens of nhl. instead of 2 western leagues playing off see play nhl champion stanley cup, president of pcha, frank patrick, insisted nhl champion had play pcha winner first. change ended not making difference montreal, team swept vancouver , calgary stanley cup.

for 1924–25 wchl season, pcha folded , 2 of teams, vancouver maroons , victoria cougars joined wchl, giving league 6 teams. saskatoon franchise became saskatoon sheiks. league had top-level talent on rosters, stars such bun cook , bill cook , rookie eddie shore. victoria cougars, coached , managed pcha founder lester patrick, won league championship , went on face montreal canadiens stanley cup. victoria beat canadiens 3 games one, out scoring them 16 8. shining moment wchl victoria became first non-nhl team win stanley cup since formation of nhl in 1917. since then, no non-nhl team has won cup. in fact, next season, 1925–26, last time team outside nhl challenge it.

collapse

the wchl never particularly stable. major factor weakening league s long term prospects success lack of teams in winnipeg, far largest city in prairies. due city s relatively large size, league hoped ice multiple teams in manitoban capital (similar how montreal, largest city in canada, hosted both canadiens , maroons in nhl). rationale both desire boost total number of teams , fear single winnipeg team dominate league. however, no potential ownership group willing ice team in winnipeg without being granted sort of territorial exclusivity common practice in north american professional sports leagues.

the beginning of end came in 1924 when nhl first expanded united states. nhl rapidly expanding, salaries on rise , wchl finding difficult keep star players. in 1925, regina capitals relocated portland, oregon, , rekindled old name of portland rosebuds, had been out of use since 1918. move u.s. came name change wchl - canada dropped , league renamed western hockey league (whl). in eastern half of continent, nhl achieved relative stability through large scale expansion u.s. , nfl achieved prosperity abandoning of smaller cities in favour of large markets. such path success not viable option whl because few u.s. cities west of mississippi river had large arenas ice plants in 1920s.

the edmonton eskimos won regular season third time in 5 seasons, victoria cougars won league championship , moved on play stanley cup. expectations high defending stanley cup champions, montreal s other nhl team, montreal maroons, strong victoria handily beating them 3 games 1 , out scoring them 10 3.

by 1925-26 season, whl teams openly selling players richer nhl rivals stay afloat. nevertheless, financial problems great overcome, nhl board of governors intervened purchasing contracts of every player in whl $258,000 , league formally disbanded. while remnants of 5 former whl teams formed professional prairie hockey league, western teams had been stripped of best players while nhl , stanley cup s trustees regarded prhl new minor league , not continuation of major professional whl. new league contract 3 saskatchewan-based teams 1927 , disappear altogether in 1928.

although rival leagues not formally barred challenging cup until 1947, whl s collapse left nhl top-level professional league in north america. in meantime, cup trustees refused accept challenges rival league. in significant expansion of era, nhl added 3 teams 1926-27 season, of survived great depression form half of so-called original 6 in later years. separate deals made in stocking new teams. rights victoria cougars players bought detroit franchise (which become detroit red wings) causing team named detroit cougars in honor, , portland rosebuds players rights purchased frederic mclaughlin new black hawks team. new york rangers did not come similar agreement, nevertheless dominant team of 3 in years, winning stanley cup in second season.

epilogue

although prhl lasted 2 seasons, minor-pro , junior league hockey thrived in west many years thereafter. new pacific coast hockey league formed in 1928, lasting 3 seasons, resurrected in 1945 after world war ii. in 1945, new western canada senior hockey league formed. 2 merged in 1952 form professional western hockey league , came rival national hockey league (nhl) out west, , precipitated nhl s expansion california. junior leagues coalesced major junior western hockey league in 1966. top-level professional hockey did not return western canada until 1970 when vancouver canucks joined nhl.

major professional hockey return edmonton , winnipeg in 1972 formation of world hockey association, later add teams in vancouver , calgary. although latter 2 franchises both failed, edmonton , winnipeg both join nhl after agreed merge rival in 1979 while calgary receive nhl team (via relocation atlanta) 1 year later. however, nhl later rejected attempts place franchise in saskatoon. although original winnipeg jets move phoenix after sixteen nhl seasons, city later received replacement team (also, coincidentally, via relocation atlanta) in 2011.

major professional hockey has yet return u.s. pacific northwest. of 2017, region hosts 5 teams in whl, 1 team in each of other 3 big 4 major professional leagues (two in seattle , 1 in portland) , 2 teams (one each in seattle , portland) in major league soccer. nhl (which expanded 31 teams in 2017) believed actively seeking owner expansion franchise in seattle, provided new arena built. team in seattle allow league establish 2 balanced conferences of sixteen teams each. of 2017, serious bidder team in seattle has yet emerge , arena issue has yet resolved.