Part 1 of Round Two
Matchup No. 9
Victoria, British Columbia’s first WHL team was the Victoria Cougars. Founded in 1962 as part of the Pacific Coast Junior Hockey League the franchise would move into the British Columbia Junior Hockey League in 1967. In 1971 the team would join the WHL. The Cougars would win the WHL Championship in 1981. The Victoria Cougars still hold a place in the WHL record books, their 60 wins in that championship (1980/81) season still remains as the most wins in a season. At the other end of the spectrum their five wins and 12 points in 1989/90 are both WHL records for futility in a 72 game season. After five consecutive seasons missing the playoffs in 1994 the franchise would move from Victoria to Prince George and become the current Prince George Cougars. This would leave the British Columbia capital without a WHL team for 17 years before the Chilliwack Bruins would relocate to Vancouver Island. Grant Fuhr, as well as both Courtnall brothers (Russ and Geoff), played junior hockey in Victoria for the Cougars.
The Victoria Cougars logo is one of those great vintage logos. The V in the background of the Victoria Cougars circle and the cougar in front of it all. The authentic look of the cougar makes it stand out that much more. While it’s not a perfect rendition of the large cat, it’s also not a cartoon version either.
The Kamloops Chiefs knocked off their previous franchise locale, the Vancouver Nats, by a count of 42 to 9 votes in the first round.
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Matchup No. 10
The Seattle Breakers waved goodbye to the Winnipeg Clubs, 45 to 6 in the first round.
The Kelowna Wings were the first WHL franchise to call Kelowna, British Columbia home. The team started play in 1982, however would only manage three years in the Okanagan before relocating to Spokane, Washington and becoming the Spokane Chiefs in 1985. The franchise would only win 56 of the 216 games they played as the Wings. The WHL would be absent from Kelowna for 10 years until 1995 when the Tacoma Rockets would relocate and become the Kelowna Rockets.
The Kelowna Wings logo would mimic the Detroit Red Wings, replacing the spoke rim with an apple more fitting to the Okanagan and it’s orchards.
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Matchup No. 11
The Moose Jaw Canucks were one of the founding members of the Western Canada Hockey League, which would turn into the WHL. The franchise was founded in the early 1930’s as the Moose Jaw Cubs and would bounce between leagues from 1936 to 1966. When the WCHL first started in 1966 it was considered a “rebel league” by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and teams were denied the right to compete for the Memorial Cup. The Canucks would only play two years in the WCHL, as they were concerned about the leagues poor reputation with the CAHA they would return to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. When junior hockey was reorganized in 1970 and the WCHL gained Tier-1 status Moose Jaw would attempt to rejoin the league, however they were denied. They would remain in the SJHL until 1984 when they folded to make room for the relocation of the Winnipeg Warriors to Moose Jaw.
There may not be a more Canadian logo in all of sports than that of the Moose Jaw Canucks. A moose, “Canucks”, and the wheat representing the prairies, and it’s all in red and white.
The Billings Bighorns knocked out the Calgary Centennials inf the first round by 28 votes (33-5).
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Matchup No. 12
The Calgary Wranglers stampeded over the Winnipeg Monarchs in the first round corralling 30 votes to only 4.
When the Monarchs left Winnipeg for Calgary in 1977 the Manitoba capital was without a WHL franchise until 1980 when they would receive their second franchise, the expansion Winnipeg Warriors. However, the second franchise in Winnipeg would not fare so well. Struggling with attendance due to the NHL Jets the team would move to Moose Jaw in 1984 after only four seasons and become the current Moose Jaw Warriors. The last season in Winnipeg the Warriors would only win nine games (9-63-0), the second worse record in the history of the WHL
A ‘warrior’ with a hockey stick riding something, over top of a “Warriors” wordmark.
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FIRST ROUND RESULTS:
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[yop_poll id=”42″][yop_poll id=”43″]
[yop_poll id=”44″][yop_poll id=”45″]