Global InformationWestern Hockey League information
Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 WHL season | |
 | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1966 |
| Commissioner | Ron Robison |
| No. of teams | 22 |
| Countries |
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| Headquarters | Calgary, Alberta |
| Most recent champion(s) | Seattle Thunderbirds (2023) |
| Most titles | Kamloops Blazers (6) |
| TV partner(s) | Canada TSN RDS CBC United States KRCW-TV KZJO |
| Official website | whl |
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada, alongside the Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. Teams play for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, with the winner moving on to play for the Memorial Cup, Canada's national junior championship. WHL teams have won the Memorial Cup 19 times. Many players have been drafted from WHL teams, and have found success at various levels of professional hockey, including the National Hockey League (NHL).
The league was founded in 1966 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (CMJHL), with seven teams in Saskatchewan and Alberta. For its 1967 season, the league was renamed the Western Canada Junior Hockey League (WCJHL). From 1968, the league was renamed the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), and finally the Western Hockey League from 1978 after the admission of American-based teams to the league.
The league was the brainchild of Bill Hunter, who intended to build a western league capable of competing with the top leagues in Ontario and Quebec. Originally considered an "outlaw league" by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, it was not sanctioned as the top junior league in Western Canada until 1970, when Canadian junior hockey was reorganized.
The WHL is composed of 22 teams divided into two conferences of two divisions. The Eastern Conference comprises 11 teams from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, while the Western Conference comprises eleven teams from British Columbia and the American states of Washington and Oregon.