The WCHL—Pros On The Prairies—Page 2

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Angry about his wage demands, the Montréal Canadiens of the NHL shipped Newsy Lalonde to the Regina Capitals, bringing the fledgling league some Eastern star power. The PCHL, reduced to just three teams (Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle) agreed to play an interlocking schedule with the WCHL, which allowed Edmonton hockey fans the chance to see the Western franchises that continued to block NHL dominance of pro hockey in North America. The Capitals began having their games broadcast across Saskatchewan on a fledgling radio network, long before the creation of Hockey Night in Canada. But even though the two leagues played an interconference schedule, they agreed that each league champion should have the right to play for the Cup.  After defeating Vancouver, a tired Ottawa team took the Cup thanks to a pair of one-goal wins.

In 1924, the two leagues again both challenged the NHL champs, the Montréal Canadiens. However, it would be another Alberta team that would carry the WCHL banner into the final, and the Calgary Tigers were swept by the "Habs" right after Montreal defeated Vancouver.

After that season, the former Stanley Cup champions Seattle Metropolitans folded, leaving the Pacific league with just two teams, so the remaining PCHL teams merged with the WCHL. The new WCHL would have plenty of star power; Bun and Bill Cook, who would later star for the Rangers, were the dominant stars of the League and a rookie by the name of Eddie Shore made his debut in that same year. It was the last great hurrah for Western pro hockey, as the Victoria Cougars, coached and managed by PCHL founder and hockey legend Lester Patrick, defeated the Canadiens for the Stanley Cup. The 1925 final would mark the last time a non-NHL club would hoist the most-prized trophy in the sport.

In 1925-26, the WCHL was in dire financial straits; to keep talent from moving to the NHL, which had expanded to big-spending American centres like Boston and New York, the owners were forced to spend more than they earned. The Regina Capitals, burdened by overspending, moved to Portland to rekindle the Rosebuds team name that had been defunct since 1918. So, the "C" was dropped from the League’s moniker—it was now the Western Hockey League.

The Cougars took the title again, despite efforts by the Eskimos to buy themselves a championship with the purchase of Eddie Shore’s contract. The Cougars lost to the Montreal Maroons in the Cup final, and despite season-ticket drives in the WCHL cities, designed to save the League, the WHL folded. But the legacy lived on. Patrick would move back east and establish the New York Rangers as an NHL powerhouse, with the Cook brothers as his charges. And Eddie Shore would become the toast of Boston.

For Albertans, with the loss of the Eskimos and the Tigers, they would have to wait nearly 50 years before pro hockey came to their cities again.

WCHL CHAMPIONS
1922  -  Regina Capitals
1923  -  Edmonton Eskimos
1924  -  Calgary Tigers
1925  -  Victoria Cougars (won Stanley Cup)
1926  -  Victoria Cougars

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