Western Hockey League (1952–1974)


The Western Hockey League 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.

History

The Western Hockey League was managed for most of its history by Al Leader, it was originally founded in 1948 as the Pacific Coast Hockey League, before absorbing three teams from the Western Canada Senior Hockey League in 1951, and adopting the WHL name in 1952. In the late 1950s, Ron Butlin and Arthur Ryan Smith hosted a hot stove league on radio broadcasts of the league.
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.
In the 1965–66 and 1967–68 seasons, the WHL played an interlocking schedule with the American Hockey League. Fears that the WHL could become a rival major league was among the factors that finally convinced the National Hockey League 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 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, the WHL announced the same day that it was folding. A few of its surviving teams were absorbed into the Central Hockey League, though the Phoenix Roadrunners franchise did join the WHA for the 1974–75 season, and the Denver Spurs would jump from the CHL to the WHA for the 1975–76 season.
The championship trophy of the WHL was the Lester Patrick Cup, which is currently on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Teams


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
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id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
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width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1954 text:Seattle Bombers
bar:1 color:skyblue from:08/01/1955 till:07/01/1958 text:Seattle Americans
bar:1 color:skyblue from:08/01/1958 till:07/01/1974 text:Seattle Totems
bar:2 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1970 text:Vancouver Canucks
bar:3 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1963 text:Calgary Stampeders
bar:4 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1963 text:Edmonton Flyers
bar:5 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1961 text:Victoria Cougars
bar:5 color:skyblue from:08/01/1961 till:07/01/1967 text:Los Angeles Blades
bar:6 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1956 text:Saskatoon Quakers
bar:7 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1959 text:New Westminster Royals
bar:8 color:skyblue from:08/01/1952 till:07/01/1953 text:Tacoma Rockets
bar:9 color:skyblue from:08/01/1955 till:07/01/1961 text:Winnipeg Warriors
bar:10 color:skyblue from:08/01/1955 till:07/01/1957 text:Brandon Regals
bar:10 color:skyblue from:08/01/1957 till:07/01/1958 text:Saskatoon/Saint Paul's Regals
bar:10 color:skyblue from:08/01/1958 till:07/01/1959 text:Saskatoon Quakers
bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1958 till:07/01/1959 text:Spokane Spokes
bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1959 till:07/01/1963 text:Spokane Comets
bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1963 till:07/01/1964 text:Denver Invaders
bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1964 till:07/01/1967 text:Victoria Maple Leafs
bar:11 color:skyblue from:08/01/1967 till:07/01/1974 text:Phoenix Roadrunners
bar:12 color:skyblue from:08/01/1960 till:07/01/1974 text:Portland Buckaroos
bar:13 color:skyblue from:08/01/1961 till:07/01/1966 text:San Francisco Seals
bar:13 color:skyblue from:08/01/1966 till:07/01/1967 text:California Seals
bar:15 color:skyblue from:08/01/1966 till:07/01/1974 text:San Diego Gulls
bar:16 color:skyblue from:08/01/1968 till:07/01/1974 text:Denver Spurs
bar:17 color:skyblue from:08/01/1969 till:07/01/1974 text:Salt Lake Golden Eagles
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1952

List of champions

Championships by team
TeamChampionshipsRunner-up
Vancouver Canucks42
Seattle Totems32
Portland Buckaroos36
Edmonton Flyers31
Phoenix Roadrunners21
San Francisco Seals20
Brandon Regals10
Calgary Stampeders13
Denver Spurs10
Victoria Maple Leafs11
Winnipeg Warriors10
Saskatoon Quakers01
New Westminster Royals01
Victoria Cougars01
Spokane Comets01
Los Angeles Blades01
Salt Lake Golden Eagles01