| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Founded: | 1952 |
| Folded: | 1974 |
| Founder: | Al Leader |
| Countries: | |
| Champions: | Phoenix Roadrunners |
| Most Champs: | Vancouver Canucks (4) |
The Western Hockey League (WHL) was a minor professional ice hockey league based in Western 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 and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League. The championship trophy of the WHL was the Lester Patrick Cup.
The league was founded in 1948 as the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL). In 1951, it absorbed three teams from the Western Canada Senior Hockey League. In 1952, it adopted the WHL name.[1] In the late 1950s, Ron Butlin and Arthur Ryan Smith hosted a hot stove league on radio broadcasts of the league.[2]
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 (NHL).[3]
In the 1965–66 and 1967–68 seasons, the WHL played an interlocking schedule with the American Hockey League. Fears that the WHL (or a WHL/AHL merger) could become a rival major league was among the factors that finally convinced the NHL to expand for the 1967–68 season.[4]
Several factors led to the WHL's decision to cease operations after the 1973–74 season. The Vancouver Canucks, who had earlier applied for the 1967 NHL expansion, were finally accepted into the league as an expansion team for the 1970–71 season. The NHL and World Hockey Association 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 and Seattle Totems 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 (CHL). The Phoenix Roadrunners franchise jumped to the WHA for the 1974–75 season, while the Spurs jumped from the CHL to the WHA for the 1975–76 season (but folded mid-season).
The championship trophy of the WHL was the Lester Patrick Cup, which is currently on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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) / Seattle Americans (1955–1958) / Seattle Totems (1958–1974) bar:1 color:skyblue from:08/01/1955 till:07/01/1958 text: bar:1 color:skyblue from:08/01/1958 till:07/01/1974 text: bar:2 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1970 text:Vancouver Canucks (1952–1970) bar:3 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1963 text:Calgary Stampeders (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:Victoria Cougars (1952–1961) / Los Angeles Blades (1961–1967) bar:5 color:skyblue from:08/01/1961 till:07/01/1967 text: bar:6 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1956 text:Saskatoon Quakers (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:Brandon Regals (1955–1957) / Saskatoon/Saint Paul's Regals (1957–1958) / Saskatoon Quakers (1958–1959) bar:10 color:skyblue from:08/01/1957 till:07/01/1958 text: bar:10 color:skyblue from:08/01/1958 till:07/01/1959 text: bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1958 till:07/01/1959 text:Spokane Spokes (1958–1959) / Spokane Comets (1959–1963) / Denver Invaders (1963–1964) / Victoria Maple Leafs (1964–1967) / Phoenix Roadrunners (1967–1974) bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1959 till:07/01/1963 text: bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1963 till:07/01/1964 text: bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1964 till:07/01/1967 text: bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1967 till:07/01/1974 text: bar:12 color:skyblue from:08/01/1960 till:07/01/1974 text:Portland Buckaroos (1960–1974) bar:13 color:skyblue from:08/01/1961 till:07/01/1966 text:San Francisco Seals (1961–1966) / California Seals (1966–1967) bar:13 color:skyblue from:08/01/1966 till:07/01/1967 text: bar:15 color:skyblue from:08/01/1966 till:07/01/1974 text:San Diego Gulls (1966–1974) bar:16 color:skyblue from:08/01/1968 till:07/01/1974 text:Denver Spurs (1968–1974) bar:17 color:skyblue from:08/01/1969 till:07/01/1974 text:Salt Lake Golden Eagles (1969–1974)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1952
| Season | Winner | Runner-up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saskatoon Quakers | |||
| Edmonton Flyers | |||
| Edmonton Flyers | Calgary Stampeders | ||
| Vancouver Canucks | |||
| New Westminster Royals | |||
| Vancouver Canucks | Calgary Stampeders | ||
| Calgary Stampeders | |||
| Vancouver Canucks | Victoria Cougars | ||
| Seattle Totems | |||
| Edmonton Flyers | Spokane Comets | ||
| Seattle Totems | |||
| San Francisco Seals | Los Angeles Blades | ||
| Portland Buckaroos | Victoria Maple Leafs | ||
| Portland Buckaroos | |||
| Seattle Totems | Vancouver Canucks | ||
| Seattle Totems | Portland Buckaroos | ||
| Vancouver Canucks | Portland Buckaroos | ||
| Vancouver Canucks | Portland Buckaroos | ||
| Portland Buckaroos | Phoenix Roadrunners | ||
| Portland Buckaroos | |||
| Salt Lake Golden Eagles | |||
| Phoenix Roadrunners | Portland Buckaroos |
Championships by team
| Team | Championships | Runner-up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | ||
| 3 | 2 | ||
| 3 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 3 | ||
| 1 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 1 |