Since hockey was introduced to Alberta, Canada, in the 1890s, teams at all levels have come and gone. While the professional ranks have been confined to the major cities of Calgary and Edmonton, partially due to geographical isolation from the major eastern and Pacific coast population centres, both junior and senior teams thrive across the province.
This list does not include teams below the junior age group, or adult teams below Senior AA.
The Edmonton Oilers became the first National Hockey League team in Alberta as a result of the NHL–WHA merger. The Calgary Flames arrived from Atlanta the following year.
| Team | City | Established | Stanley Cups[1] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 1 | Founded in 1972 as the Atlanta Flames[2] | |||
| 1979 | 5 | Founded in 1972 as a World Hockey Association franchise[3] |
The Western Canada Hockey League was the first major-professional league on the prairies. Founded in 1921, it collapsed due to escalating costs in 1926, and was reformed as the Prairie Hockey League from 1926 to 1928.
| Team | City | Existed[4] | League titles | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921–27 | 2* | Appeared in 1924 Stanley Cup championship | |||
| 1921–27 | 1 | Appeared in 1923 Stanley Cup championship. |
*Includes 1926–27 championship after league was renamed the Prairie Hockey League.[5]
The World Hockey Association had envisioned that franchises in Calgary and Edmonton would create an effective rivalry. When the Calgary Broncos were unable to start their inaugural season, the Oilers were briefly renamed the Alberta Oilers with the intention of splitting games between the two cities. This plan failed to materialize.
| Team | City | Existed | Avco Cups[6] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 0 | Original WHA franchise, folded before playing first game[7] | |||
| 1975–77 | 0 | Founded in 1972 as the Miami Screaming Eagles | |||
| 1972–79 | 0 | Known as the Alberta Oilers 1972–73; Joined the National Hockey League in 1979 |
The Edmonton Oilers brought their American Hockey League franchise to the Alberta capital during the 2004–05 NHL lockout season. The team was suspended following the resumption of the NHL, and was eventually reformed as the Oklahoma City Barons. The Calgary Wranglers, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, play at the same arena.
| Team | City | Existed | Calder Cups | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 0 | Brought to Edmonton during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.[8] | |||
| 2022-23 | 0 | Played in Calgary during the 2020-21 AHL season, officially moved to Calgary in May 2022. |
The professional Western Hockey League was formed following a merger with the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League. Both Alberta franchises lost their amateur status when they joined the new league.
| Team | City | Existed[9] | Lester Patrick Cups[10] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951–63 | 1 | ||||
| 1951–63 | 3 |
The Major-Junior Western Hockey League was formed in 1966 to strengthen junior hockey in the west. The Calgary Buffaloes were the only expansion team, as the other six founding members defected from existing leagues.
Current teams
| Team | City | Established[11] | Ed Chynoweth Cups[12] | Memorial Cups[13] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 2007 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 1987 | 1 | 0 | Founded in 1967 as the Winnipeg Jets; known as the Calgary Wranglers (1977–87) | |||
| 1970 | 5 | 2 | ||||
| 1992 | 1 | 1 |
Former teams
| Team | City | Existed | President's Cups | Memorial Cups | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966–77 | 0 | 0 | Known as the Buffaloes in 1966–67; became the Billings Bighorns (1977–82), Nanaimo Islanders (1982–83), New Westminster Bruins (1983–88) and Tri-City Americans (1988–present) | |||
| 1977–87 | 0 | 0 | Founded in 1967 as the Winnipeg Jets; became Lethbridge Hurricanes in 1987 | |||
| 1966–76 | 2 | 2* | Founding pre-dates WHL; became the Portland Winter Hawks in 1976 | |||
| 1978–79 | 0 | 0 | Founded in 1967 as the Flin Flon Bombers; became Great Falls Americans (1979) and Spokane Flyers (1980–81) | |||
| 1996–98 | 0 | 0 | Became the Kootenay Ice in 1998 | |||
| 1974–86 | 1 | 0 | Founded in 1967 as the Swift Current Broncos; returned to Swift Current in 1986 |
*The Oil Kings' two Memorial Cups predate the WHL.
The Junior A Alberta Junior Hockey League was founded to improve the level of junior hockey in Alberta, motivated by the dominance of the Edmonton Oil Kings in the early 1960s.
| Team | City | Established[14] | League titles[15] | Western Canada Cups | National Championships | Notes[16] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Founded in 1972 as The Pass Red Devils; known as the Pincher Creek Panthers (1976–78), the Calgary Chinooks/Spurs (1978–90), Calgary Royals (1990–2010), and Calgary Mustangs (2010-19) | |||
| 1991 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2000 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| 1971 | 9 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 1997 | 5 | 5 | 1 | ||||
| 1995 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Known as the Bow Valley Eagles (1995–01) | |||
| 1998 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 1981 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 1995 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 1982 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Known as the Lloydminster Blazers (1988–05). The team's arena lies one block on the Saskatchewan side of the biprovincial city. | |||
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Founded in 1998 as the Crowsnest Pass Timberwolves | |||
| 1981 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Founded in 1974 as the Taber Golden Suns | |||
| 1978 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Founded in 1976 as the Edmonton Crusaders | |||
| 2004 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Founded in 1963 as the Edmonton Movers; known as the Spruce Grove Mets (1974–77) and St. Albert Saints (1977–04) | |||
| 2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Founded in 1976 as the Fort Saskatchewan Traders; known as the St. Albert Steel (2007–12)[17] |
| League | Region | Established | Provincial titles[18] | Keystone Cup titles[19] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | 4 | 1 | 8 teams | |||
| Edmonton region | 1972 | 17 | 2 | 14 teams | ||
| Southern Alberta | 1987 | 3 | 1 | 15 teams | ||
| Northeast Alberta | Unknown | 5 | 2 | 9 teams | ||
| 1995 | 1 | 0 | 7 teams (5 in Alberta) |
| League | Region | Established | Provincial titles | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | N/A | ||||
| Edmonton region | Unknown | N/A |
The Alberta Junior Female Hockey League was founded in 2009 to promote female junior hockey for players aged 18–21 in Alberta. The league has grown from its original 6 team to 10 teams throughout the province.
| Team | City | Established | Titles | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banff Academy Bears | 2012 | 0 | The Banff Academy Bears played in the AJFHL until the end of the 2013/14 season as a conditional team as they were a midget academy team. | ||
| Calgary Titans | 2010 | 0 | |||
| Calgary Warriors | 2012 | 0 | |||
| Central Alberta Amazons | 2009 | 1 | |||
| Cremona/Mountain View Hurricanes | Cremona/Mountain View | 2010 | 0 | Folded in 2012 due a lack of players | |
| Edmonton Wolves | 2009 | 2 | |||
| Fort Saskatchewan Fury | 2009 | 1 | |||
| Irma Chargers | 2009 | 0 | |||
| Lethbridge Jr. Eagles | 2012 | 1 | |||
| Medicine Hat Hockey Hounds | 2012 | 0 | |||
| Sherwood Park Steele | 2009 | 0 | |||
| Spruce Grove Stars | 2009 | 0 | Moved to Thorsby in 2011 | ||
| Thorsby Thunder | 2011 * | 0 | Founded as the Spruce Grove Stars, moved to Thorsby in 2011 | ||
| Wainwright | 2009 | 0 |
Both of Alberta's elite women's teams were invited to join the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) in 2002. In 2004, they broke away to form the Western Women's Hockey League (WWHL) due to the lack of competition in the west. They returned to the NWHL in 2006 following a merger between the two leagues. However, due to circumstances arising over scheduling between the WWHL and the NWHL, the merger was never completed. This, coupled with the collapse of the NWHL in 2007, left the Oval X-Treme and Chimos as members of the WWHL. The league announced on April 19, 2011, that it would merge with the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) for the 2011–12 season. The merger was to feature one team based in Edmonton and Calgary and is a combination of the former WWHL franchises, the Edmonton Chimos and Strathmore Rockies, with games in various locations around Alberta. In August 2011, the WWHL announced that there had never officially been a merger and that the WWHL would continue to compete against the CWHL,[20] but the WWHL never played another game. Team Alberta commenced play in the CWHL in 2011 before taking on the identity of the Calgary Inferno in 2013. The CWHL and the Inferno ceased operations in 2019.
| Team | City | Established | Titles | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–2019 | 2 | CWHL member known as Team Alberta from 2011 to 2013. Won the 2016 and 2019 Clarkson Cup. | |||
| Calgary | 2002–2009 | 5 | Members of the NWHL 2002–2004 and WWHL 2004–2009.[21] Club founded in 1995 and joined the NWHL in 2002. | ||
| 2002–2011 | 0 | Members of the NWHL 2002–04 and WWHL 2004–2011.[22] Club founded in 1973 and joined the NWHL in 2002. | |||
| 2006–2011 | 0 | WWHL member from 2006 to 2011.[23] |
Several teams from Alberta have gone on to capture the Allan Cup, Canada's national senior championship.
| Team | City | Existence | Allan Cups[24] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938–1951 | 1 | Turned professional in 1951 by joining the WPHL[25] | |||
| 1936–1939, 1960s | 1 | [26] | |||
| 1941–1951 | 1 | Turned professional in 1951 by joining the WPHL[27] | |||
| Unknown | Won 1950 World Hockey Championship and 1952 Olympic gold medal[28] | ||||
| unknown–present | 1 | Member of the Wild Goose Hockey League[29] | |||
| 1930s–present | 1 | Member of the Chinook Hockey League[30] | |||
| 1930s–present | 0 | Member of the Ranchland Hockey League[31] | |||
| 1952–present | 0 | Member of the North Central Senior Hockey League[32] | |||
| 1999–present | 2 | Member of the Chinook Hockey League[33] |
The Canada West Universities Athletic Association was founded in 1919, representing schools across Western Canada.
| Team | City | Established | Conference titles[34] [35] [36] | University Cups[37] | Women's Titles[38] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | 53 | 15 | 7 | ||||
| 1964 | 8 | 0 | 0 | Women's Hockey team played in ACAC from 2002–03 to 2008–09 | |||
| 1980 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
The Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference organizes sport at the collegiate level.
| Team | City | Established | ACAC men's titles[39] | CCAA men's national titles | ACAC women's titles[40] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augustana Vikings | 1971 | 1 | 1 | N/A | Does not play ACAC women's hockey, only men's | ||
| 1 | Women's Hockey team played in ACAC from 2002–03 to 2008–09 | ||||||
| Concordia Thunder | 1992 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| MacEwan Gryphons | 1998 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Mount Royal Cougars | 1968 | 11 | 4 | 4 | |||
| NAIT Ooks | 1965 | 13 | 7 | 0 | |||
| Portage Voyageurs | 2008 | 0 | 0 | Does not play ACAC women's hockey, only men's | |||
| Red Deer Queens | 2 | Does not play ACAC men's hockey, only women's | |||||
| SAIT Trojans | 1965 | 9 | 2 | 2 |
Teams from Alberta have captured titles at all levels of hockey.
| Championship | Times won | Description | |
| Stanley Cup | 6 | National Hockey League champion | |
| WCHL Championship | 3† | Western Canada Hockey League champion | |
| Lester Patrick Cup | 4 | Western Hockey League champion | |
| President's Cup | 11 | Western Hockey League champion | |
| Memorial Cup | 6 | Canadian Major-Junior national champion | |
| Allan Cup | 4‡ | Canadian senior national champion | |
| Doyle Cup | 24 | Alberta/B.C. Junior "A" regional championship | |
| Royal Bank Cup | 7 | Canadian Junior "A" national champion | |
| Keystone Cup | 8 | Western Canada Junior "B" champion | |
| NWHL Championship Cup | 2 | National Women's Hockey League championship | |
| WWHL Championship Cup | 3 | Western Women's Hockey League championship | |
| University Cup | 16 | CIS national men's university champion | |
| CIS Women's Championship | 7 | CIS national women's university champion | |
| CCHA Championship | 14 | CCAA national college champion |
†Includes Calgary's 1926-27 title after league renamed itself the Prairie Hockey League
‡Does not include win by Lloydminster Border Kings as team is primarily based in Saskatchewan