Western Canada Hockey League

History

The Stanley Cup was first presented in 1893 for Canada’s top amateur hockey team, but it opened to professional clubs in 1906. A new trophy, the Allan Cup, then took over for amateurs. With the Canadian Prairies filling up fast, the Regina Victorias from Saskatchewan became the first team from that region to win the Allan Cup in 1914. By then, the Stanley Cup was decided by a best-of series between the top professional leagues in the East and West, much like baseball’s World Series.

The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) and the National Hockey Association (NHA) were the two leagues involved. The PCHA won two of the first three matchups, but after the National Hockey League (NHL) replaced the NHA in 1917, the NHL took control of the Cup. In 1921, the Big Four League fell apart when its Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Tigers were accused of paying amateur players. Those two teams, plus the Regina Capitals and Saskatoon Sheiks, formed the openly professional Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL).

E. L. “Ernie” Richardson of Calgary became its president, with directors Wesley Champ, Robert Pinder, K. C. “Kenny” MacKenzie, and J. Lloyd Turner. Like the NHL, the WCHL used six-man hockey, dropping the rover position. It was seen as equal to the PCHA, and the winner of a series between those two leagues would then challenge the NHL champion for the Stanley Cup.