The 1925–26 WHL season was the fifth and last season for the now defunct Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), which was renamed Western Hockey League (WHL) at the start of the season due to one of its Canadian teams, the Regina Capitals, moving to Portland, Oregon in the United States and being renamed the Portland Rosebuds. Six teams played 30 games each. At season's end, some of the teams reorganised to create a minor pro league called the Prairie Hockey League that lasted for two seasons. The WHL was the last league other than the National Hockey League to contest for the Stanley Cup.
Regular season[]
Final standings[]
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
| Western Hockey League | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Eskimos | 30 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 38 | 90 | 77 |
| Saskatoon Sheiks | 30 | 18 | 11 | 1 | 37 | 93 | 64 |
| Victoria Cougars | 30 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 34 | 68 | 53 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 30 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 26 | 84 | 106 |
| Calgary Tigers | 30 | 10 | 17 | 3 | 23 | 71 | 80 |
| Vancouver Maroons | 30 | 10 | 18 | 2 | 22 | 64 | 90 |
Scoring leaders[]
Goalkeeper Averages[]
| Name | Club | GP | GA | SO | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holmes, Harry | Victoria | 30 | 53 | 4 | 1.8 |
| Hainsworth, George | Saskatoon | 30 | 64 | 4 | 2.1 |
| Stuart, Herbert | Edmonton | 30 | 77 | 2 | 2.6 |
| Winkler, Hal | Calgary | 30 | 80 | 6 | 2.7 |
| Lehman, Hugh | Vancouver | 30 | 90 | 3 | 3.0 |
| McCusker, Red | Regina | 30 | 110 | 3.7 |
All-Star Team[]
- Goaltender: George Hainsworth, Saskatoon Sheiks
- Defenceman: Eddie Shore, Edmonton Eskimos
- Defenceman: Bobby Trapp, Portland Rosebuds
- Center: Duke Keats, Edmonton
- Left Winger: George Hay, Portland
- Right Winger: Bill Cook, Saskatoon
- Coach: Lester Patrick, Victoria Cougars / Frank Patrick, Vancouver Maroons (tied)
- Substitute: Corbett Denneny, Saskatoon
- Substitute: Frank Fredrickson, Victoria
- Substitute: Mickey MacKay, Vancouver
- Substitute: Art Gagne, Edmonton
Playoffs[]
As in the previous season, the third place Victoria Cougars won the playoff championship. In the semi-final, the Cougars met the Saskatoon Sheiks.
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 12 | Victoria | 3 | Saskatoon | 3 | |
| March 16 | Saskatoon | 0 | Victoria | 1 | 8'10" overtime |
Victoria wins two-game, total-goals series 4–3.
In the final, the Cougars faced off against the Edmonton Eskimos. As there was no ice available in Edmonton, Edmonton's 'home' game was played in Vancouver.
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 20 | Edmonton | 1 | Victoria | 3 | |
| March 22 | Victoria | 2 | Edmonton | 2 |
Victoria wins two-game, total-goals series 5–3.
Stanley Cup playoffs[]
As in the previous season, the third place Victoria Cougars won the playoff championship and represented the league in the Stanley Cup finals. They faced the National Hockey League champion Montreal Maroons in a best-of-five series, losing 3 games to 1. After the WHL folded at the end of this season, the Stanley Cup would no longer be contested as a challenge tournament between league champions, but would only be awarded to the NHL champion, a custom formalized in 1947.
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 30 | Victoria Cougars | 0 | Montreal Maroons | 3 | |
| April 1 | Victoria Cougars | 0 | Montreal Maroons | 3 | |
| April 3 | Victoria Cougars | 3 | Montreal Maroons | 2 | |
| April 6 | Victoria Cougars | 0 | Montreal Maroons | 2 |
Team Photos[]
Game Ads[]
References[]
| Preceded by 1924–25 WCHL season |
WHL seasons | Succeeded by 1926-27 PHL season |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1925-26 WHL season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |