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47-669: Edmonton has a long history in the Western Hockey League. The original Oil Kings, owned and managed by Bill Hunter , were one of the league's founding franchises in 1966, and one of its most successful, winning back-to-back championships in 1970 and 1971. However, the arrival of the Edmonton Oilers in the World Hockey Association led to the Oil Kings relocating to Portland in 1976, becoming

94-506: A National Hockey League (NHL) team to Edmonton. The NHL was expanding rapidly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but the league rebuffed Hunter's proposal for an Edmonton team. Hunter offered to purchase and relocate the Pittsburgh Penguins , but this proposal was rejected. In 1971, Hunter was introduced to Gary Davidson and Dennis Murphy , two American investors who wanted to establish a professional league that could rival

141-607: A formal bid, and needing an additional $ 20 million, requested support from the Saskatchewan government. However, unlike in 1983, the province turned down that support, and Hunter's bid collapsed by 1992 when the NHL welcomed the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning as expansion teams. Following his unsuccessful attempts to bring the NHL to Saskatoon, Hunter organized softball tournaments in his hometown and invested in

188-544: A group of investors who purchased the struggling Atlanta Flames and re-located the team to Calgary , bringing a second NHL team to Alberta. The Oilers became a dynasty in the ensuing decade; coached by Glen Sather and led on the ice by Wayne Gretzky , the team won the Stanley Cup five times between 1984 and 1990. Today, the Edmonton Oilers' mascot, Hunter , is named in Bill Hunter's honour. After divesting

235-571: A match. The Alberta Oilers, who were renamed the Edmonton Oilers after their inaugural season, won the first game in WHA history, defeating the Ottawa Nationals 7–4. Hunter took over as the Oilers coach mid-season on three occasions, in 1973, 1975, and 1976. The team initially played in the dated, 4,500 seat Edmonton Gardens , but the team's financial success enabled Hunter and Allard to secure

282-465: A new 18,000-seat stadium to replace the aging Saskatoon Arena , along with thousands of season-ticket deposits. The team was prepared to play games in Regina until the new arena was ready. Moreover, Hunter negotiated a 20-year, $ 20 million sponsorship agreement with Molson's , and also worked with Air Canada to ensure new flight schedules between Saskatoon and NHL markets. Finally, Hunter even offered

329-568: A new arena, the 16,500 seat Northlands Coliseum , which was completed in 1974. That same year, Hunter and Allard sold the franchise to Nelson Skalbania and Peter Pocklington ; Pocklington would become sole owner in 1977. Ironically, the success of the Oilers ultimately led to the demise of Hunter's old junior team, as the Oil Kings relocated to Portland in 1976 and became the Winter Hawks . The WHA struggled with financial stability, and franchises commonly relocated or folded altogether. By

376-512: The 1978–79 season, the league was down to six teams. The league had long been in talks with the NHL about a merger, and in 1979 reached an agreement whereby the Oilers, Jets, Quebec Nordiques , and New England Whalers —thereafter renamed the Hartford Whalers—joined the NHL for the 1979–80 season. Although he was no longer the Oilers' owner, this fulfilled Hunter's dream of bringing the NHL to Edmonton. Moreover, in 1980, Skalbania led

423-567: The 2007–08 WHL season . The Oil Kings struggled in their first four seasons, missing the playoffs twice and failing to win a playoff round. However, beginning in 2011–12, their fifth season, and led by the likes of Griffin Reinhart , Curtis Lazar , and Tristan Jarry , they began a three-year run of success. That season, they captured the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy with the best regular season record, and advanced all

470-480: The 2019–20 season short and resulted in a shortened 2020–21 campaign that was played in-division only and without playoffs. Regular play resumed in 2021–22; led by Dylan Guenther and Sebastian Cossa , that season the Oil Kings won their third Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions, defeating the Seattle Thunderbirds in the finals and advancing to the 2022 Memorial Cup . With only an overtime win over

517-610: The Alberta Oilers became one of the 12 charter WHA franchises, founded by Hunter and a partner, Edmonton surgeon and entrepreneur Chuck Allard . Hunter named the team after the junior Oil Kings. The team was to be based in Edmonton, fulfilling Hunter's promise to bring the city a professional franchise, and they were joined in the WHA by another small market western Canadian team, the Winnipeg Jets . Hunter knew that

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564-537: The Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, but were unsuccessful. In 2010, he was elected as an inaugural inductee into the new World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in the builders category. Bill Hunter's Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame profile Val-d%27Or Foreurs The Val-d'Or Foreurs are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Val-d'Or , in the region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue , Quebec. The team

611-917: The Saint John Sea Dogs in three preliminary round games, the Oil Kings were eliminated from the tournament. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTL = Overtime losses, SOL = Shootout losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy WHL Plus-Minus Award Brad Hornung Trophy WHL Playoff MVP Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy St. Clair Group Trophy Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy Ed Chynoweth Trophy George Parsons Trophy Bill Hunter (ice hockey) William Dickenson Hunter , OC (May 5, 1920 – December 16, 2002)

658-603: The San Diego Gulls hockey club. He remained active in the 1990s, helping to organize the Flexi-Coil curling cashspiel in his hometown before his health began to fail. He also played an ambassadorial role for the Edmonton Oilers. Upon Hunter's death in 2002, Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe noted that Hunter was important to keep the Oilers in Edmonton through the 1990s, a decade that saw two other former WHA franchises,

705-602: The Winter Hawks . The Oil Kings were briefly resurrected for a single season in 1978–79, when the Flin Flon Bombers played in Edmonton before moving on to Great Falls, Montana . Edmonton was awarded an expansion franchise in 1996—the Edmonton Ice —but the team survived only two seasons before moving to Cranbrook, British Columbia , and becoming the Kootenay Ice —the team had found itself in conflict with

752-516: The $ 1 million commitment, making Hull's contract the first instance in professional sports where every member of a league pitched in to sign a player to one team. Another major scheme was the staging of a second Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union , but this time having the Canadian team made up of WHA players. This second Summit Series took place in 1974 , further increasing

799-533: The 1940s; the team featured Saskatchewan native and former Saskatoon Blades star Bernie Federko ; and Hunter's son, Bart, even played goal for the Blues' minor-league affiliate, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles . Although Saskatoon's population was 160,000 at the time, which would have made it by far the smallest market in the NHL, Hunter's plan included securing financial backing from the province for

846-527: The NHL and provide smaller markets the opportunity to join the major leagues. Hunter became the key figure in securing further investment and franchise commitments—he later recalled that it quickly became apparent that Davidson and Murphy "didn’t know a damn thing about hockey"—and before the end of 1971, the World Hockey Association was taking shape, set to begin play in 1972. Hunter was the league's founding president. On November 1, 1971,

893-765: The Oilers and was barred from playing at Northlands Coliseum , playing instead at the Northlands Agricom . These challenges, along with similar difficulties in Calgary, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, suggested that the WHL struggled to compete with professional hockey in Western Canada's largest markets. In 2004, with the Calgary Hitmen —owned by the Calgary Flames —leading the WHL in attendance for

940-446: The Oilers, Hunter continued to aim to bring NHL hockey to new markets, and his last major project was an attempt to secure a franchise for Saskatoon. In 1983, Hunter led a group that purchased the struggling St. Louis Blues , with plans to relocate the team to Saskatchewan. The Blues appeared to be an ideal fit for such a move. The team's general manager, Emile Francis , was from Saskatchewan and had played for Hunter's Regina Capitals in

987-668: The Quaker Car Curling Bonspiel. He also managed and coached the Saskatoon Quakers hockey club until 1952. From 1953 to 1956, he was the owner, manager, and coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers . In September 1956, Hunter claimed that, as owner, he could rightfully sell players. Alberta Amateur Hockey Association president Art Potter disagreed that any junior team owned its players or had the right to sell them to another team, and compared

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1034-534: The WHA needed to make a splash to gain credibility, and he came up with a scheme to sign NHL superstar Bobby Hull , then in a contract dispute with the Chicago Black Hawks , to hockey's first million-dollar contract. Ben Hatskin , who Hunter had recruited to help get the WHA off the ground and who founded the Jets, agreed to sign Hull to the contract; however, it took contributions from every team to meet

1081-755: The WHL have won the Memorial Cup 19 times, compared to 17 times for teams from the Ontario Hockey League and 14 times for teams from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League . In 1978 the WCHL shortened its name to the Western Hockey League with the admission of American-based teams. Following the establishment of the Western Junior League, Hunter set his sights on professional hockey, desiring to bring

1128-567: The Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques, relocate to the United States, and which saw the Oilers undergo a tumultuous sale of its own that threatened relocation. Today, the Oilers are the only franchise that joined the NHL from the WHA that remains in its original location. Hunter died of cancer in Edmonton on December 16, 2002. He is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery . Hunter was married four times, and had seven children. Hunter

1175-653: The area. The Foreurs play their home games in the Centre Agnico Eagle . The Foreurs have won the President's Cup three times: in 1997–98, 2000–01 and 2013–14 and consequently have also played for the Memorial Cup each of those years. The team was eliminated in 1998 tournament without advancing from the round robin phase, lost in the 2001 championship game to the Red Deer Rebels and in

1222-664: The college's sports teams, including organizing a 78-game tour for the baseball team. Following the outbreak of the Second World War , Hunter left school to join the Royal Air Force 's International Squadron and served as a pilot based in England. After his time in the war, Hunter returned to Saskatoon, where he worked briefly for CFQC Radio before opening Hunter's Sporting Goods in North Battleford

1269-422: The credibility of the new league, although Canada lost the series. Hunter and Allard's Oilers were assembled to prominently feature Albertan players, and its opening roster had eleven such players, including seven who had played for the junior Oil Kings. This included NHL recruit and leading scorer Jim Harrison , who on January 13, 1973, became the first major league player of the modern era to record 10 points in

1316-588: The final. In the final, Edmonton defeated the Guelph Storm 6–3 to capture the championship, Edmonton's first since the original Oil Kings won in 1966. After four seasons near the bottom of the Central Division, including two years out of the playoffs, the Oil Kings topped the division four seasons in a row beginning in 2018–19. Their run of success was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic , which cut

1363-482: The following year. Between 1945 and 1949 Hunter coached and managed hockey teams in North Battleford, Regina , Moose Jaw , Yorkton , and Saskatoon. It was during these years that Hunter was nicknamed "Wild Bill" following a dispute with a referee. Hunter did not like the nickname at first, but he ultimately embraced it. In 1950, Hunter founded the first curling bonspiel to be held on artificial ice ,

1410-561: The fourth consecutive season, and the Vancouver Giants also proving to be a success, the ownership group of the Oilers put out an open offer of $ 5 million to purchase and relocate any existing WHL franchise. With no takers, and with the 2004–05 NHL lockout looming, the Oilers chose to relocate their American Hockey League affiliate to Rexall Place. Despite finishing third in the AHL in attendance and having publicly promised to operate

1457-608: The head coaching position for the hoped-for Saskatoon team to former Boston Bruins coach Don Cherry , who agreed and joined Hunter in promoting the scheme. When Hunter announced his purchase of the Blues from Ralston Purina, he exclaimed that the Saskatoon Blues would be the "finest franchise in the league" and the new arena "the most magnificent hockey building in North America," which the "wonderful people of Saskatchewan" deserved. However, most NHL owners opposed

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1504-533: The helm—and finishing as runner-up to five teams. Hunter felt that the competitive structure of the game in Western Canada was putting the region at a disadvantage to stronger leagues in Ontario and Quebec; each western province still had its own junior league while Hunter believed the West needed a single top tier junior league to compete effectively with the larger associations out east. He found three partners who felt

1551-422: The idea to slavery. He warned that proper transfers must be completed to change teams and that players could be suspended if an agreement was not honoured to play for a team. Hunter was the owner, manager, and coach of the junior Edmonton Oil Kings in the mid-1960s. In seven years from 1960–1966, the Oil Kings played for the Memorial Cup every year, but won just twice, in 1963 and 1966—the latter with Hunter at

1598-472: The league championship. This time, Portland prevailed in a six-game series. In 2013–14, the Oil Kings and Winterhawks faced off for a third consecutive year in the playoff final; it was only the second time two teams contested the final three years in a row, with the first occurrence between the original Oil Kings and the Flin Flon Bombers from 1969 to 1971. In the 2014 meeting, the Oil Kings avenged

1645-673: The league spanned all four western provinces, from Manitoba to British Columbia. The league had a rocky early relationship with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association , the national governing body for amateur hockey, which considered the fledgling group to be an "outlaw league." The CMJHL, which was renamed the Western Canada Junior Hockey League in 1967 and the Western Canada Hockey League in 1968,

1692-470: The move, with Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard famously stating that visiting teams would have to travel by dog sled to Saskatoon. After the purchase agreement, Hunter still had to gain approval from the NHL's board of governors; he traveled to New York to pitch his vision, but the board voted against it by an overwhelming 15–3 margin. Although the size of the Saskatoon market was one reason for

1739-409: The previous year's loss in a seven-game series, earning a berth in their second Memorial Cup tournament in three seasons. At the 2014 Memorial Cup, the Oil Kings again dropped two of their preliminary round games. However, their one win was good enough to advance to the semi-final, where they defeated the Val-d'Or Foreurs in triple overtime—it was the longest game in Memorial Cup history—to advance to

1786-493: The province followed through on building a new arena, dubbed Saskatchewan Place , which was completed in 1988. Although the arena was not built downtown, which Hunter had advocated for, the new arena helped to keep Hunter's dream alive. He made one final effort to bring the NHL to Saskatoon by putting together a bid for an expansion franchise in the early 1990s when the league was undergoing another round of rapid expansion. A Hunter-led group reportedly raised $ 50 million towards such

1833-483: The rejection, so too was Hunter's tumultuous relationship with the NHL, stemming from his earlier days with the WHA. Hunter and his group were given the option of owning the team if they committed to keeping it in St. Louis, but Hunter was not interested. The league instead took over the Blues after Ralston Purina walked away, and eventually sold the team to Harry Ornest . Although the Blues plan fell through, Saskatoon and

1880-851: The same way: Scotty Munro of the Estevan Bruins , Del Wilson of the Regina Pats , and Jim Piggott of the Saskatoon Blades . The four men co-founded the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, to begin play in 1966, and recruited the Calgary Buffaloes , Moose Jaw Canucks , and Weyburn Red Wings to join their teams in the upstart league. By its second season, the league added four more teams, including three based in Manitoba, and by 1971

1927-698: The team in Edmonton for at least three seasons, the Oilers suspended the Edmonton Road Runners after only one season with the return of the NHL. The Oilers then resumed their quest for a WHL team. When the sale of the Tri-City Americans to interests in Chilliwack, British Columbia failed, the WHL placed an expansion team in Chilliwack instead. While the league had earlier stopped considering further expansion, believing 20 teams

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1974-700: The way to the championship series, where they defeated the Portland Winterhawks—the successor to the original Oil Kings—in seven games for the Ed Chynoweth Cup . At the 2012 Memorial Cup , the Oil Kings won their first game but then dropped two straight and were eliminated in a tie breaker against the Shawinigan Cataractes . The following season, Edmonton again topped the Eastern Conference and faced Portland again for

2021-723: Was a Canadian sports promoter and ice hockey player, coach, manager, and investor. Also known as " Wild Bill ", Hunter co-founded the Western Hockey League (WHL), helped to launch the World Hockey Association (WHA), and worked to bring professional hockey to Edmonton and to his hometown of Saskatoon . Born in Saskatoon, Hunter founded his first competitive sports team when he was 18, the Saskatoon Dukes Football Club. Hunter attended Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Saskatchewan , where he managed

2068-495: Was an ideal size, the addition of the Chilliwack Bruins left the league with an odd number of franchises. Preferring an even number of teams, the league announced its return to Edmonton on March 16, 2006 with the granting of an expansion franchise, named the Oil Kings in homage to the former franchise. Moreover, the team adopted an updated version of the original Oil Kings' crown logo and jerseys. The team began play in

2115-603: Was founded for the 1993–94 season of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League , a member of the Canadian Hockey League . Former Quebec Nordiques and Trois-Rivières Draveurs star, Pierre Aubry was the team's first coach. The literal translation of Val-d'Or Foreurs is "Valley of Gold Drillers"; this name references the drilling operations associated with mining and exploration which are a major source of blue-collar work in

2162-600: Was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000. He was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. After his death, the street leading to Saskatchewan Place was renamed Bill Hunter Avenue, while a minor-hockey arena in Edmonton also bears his name. Letter-writing campaigns in 1999 and 2000 attempted to get Hunter inducted into

2209-418: Was suspended from CAHA-sanctioned events, including, ironically, the Memorial Cup. However, the new league held together, and when CAHA reorganized Canadian junior hockey in 1971, it recognized the WCHL as one of the three top-tier junior leagues in the country. By 1972, the Memorial Cup's modern round-robin format was established, featuring a playoff between each top-tier league's champion. Since then, teams from

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