One may have wondered why I elected to launch a month-long Canadian Hockey League history series this May specifically. By end of day, their question was likely answered if they were attentive to junior hockey-related feeds. Yesterday marked the CHL’s golden anniversary, as the official announcement of its formation was made fifty years prior to the day (May 8th, 1975). I thought teasing this series with a prelude of sorts via the Detroit Junior Red Wings story (which you can read here if you haven’t already) was a nice appetizer, even though it robbed me of the chance to put this out on the anniversary itself. It was a lure, if you will. Now that the hype has subsided a bit, I can get into the meat of this.

The commemoration of the golden anniversary was placed against a good backdrop, as two storied OHL teams kicked off the “beginning of the end” of the CHL’s championship season with the commencing of a rematch of last year’s J. Ross Robertson Cup final. The Generals Oshawa won 4-2 in a special teams-dominated game to hand the London Knights their first loss of the postseason. The present will get its spotlight, though, even as this series progresses. There is a lot of intriguing backstory as to how the CHL came into existence and what the long-term implications were, as well as the conversations and ideas it was predicated upon. Let us cover as much of it as we can, shall we?

The early history of what eventually became the Ontario Hockey League is quite curious. Per this source: “The three leagues that the CHL oversees each formed separately and were brought together under unified oversight in 1975. Junior hockey—competitive hockey for amateur players generally between the ages of 16 and 21—has existed for over 100 years in North America. There have been a number of leagues formed for these players over the decades, with major junior hockey being the most elite level in Canada and the United States. The league that became the OHL began informally in 1892. At that time, teams of mixed aged players would simply challenge each other to games. Eventually, various divisions developed based on age and ability. By the 1920s, the league was known as the Ontario Hockey Association and was involved in play for the Memorial Cup, which is now the championship trophy for the CHL.”

As one would anticipate, there is a very granular version of this history available on the OHL Arena Guide. It includes the following passage: “Junior hockey has been played in Ontario for well over a century, but at first, there was no firm division between different levels of play. ‘Junior’ was any hockey played by players between ages 16 and 19, and leagues throughout the country were loosely organized, if at all, by region. The Memorial Cup was first awarded in 1919, but early tournaments were unwieldy in terms of their organization, and vast discrepancies in level of play between different parts of the country led to calls for the governing body to take action. In 1933, the forerunner of Hockey Canada did just that. Junior hockey was divided that year into junior ‘A’ and ‘B’, a division that continues to this day. As a result of that reorganization, Junior A – the top level and forerunner to today’s Major Junior – was organized into eight leagues of equal stature – BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northern Ontario, (Southern) Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. These leagues all still exist in some form or other today, from Provincial Junior A in Ontario to the BCHL or SJHL in the west.

For playoffs, the Southern Ontario champion faced off against the Northern Ontario champion, while the Quebec and Atlantic champions would compete against each other. The winners of those series would then face off in a seven game series for the George Richardson Memorial Trophy. The winner of that would then contest the Memorial Cup against the winner of the Abbott Cup, a comparable four-league playoff between the BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba junior leagues. This organization of junior hockey formed the bedrock of the junior game in Canada, lasting until 1971. A quick look at the 1933-34 OHA standings shows teams in towns as small as Ingersoll and Paris, Ontario – that year was a transition year between the previous free-for-all organization of hockey and the more rigid division that was to follow. You’d also notice in looking at those standings that some teams played twelve games that year and some played only six, and the St. Michael’s Majors won something called the ‘OHA Grand Championship’ by beating their own Junior B team. While 1933-34 was the first year of what would eventually become the OHL, it wasn’t until the following year that the future pattern of OHL hockey was established – a closed league with teams that played only each other, leading to the J. Ross Robertson Cup. The period between 1933 and 1945 had teams arriving and fading into the ether on a yearly basis, in addition to several clubs which remained ever-present. There were always a huge number of teams in Toronto, nearly all of which played at Maple Leaf Gardens, plus there were also teams in many cities across Ontario. Many arenas from this period remained standing and in use for junior hockey well into the modern era, and teams that existed between 1933-45 in Stratford, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Windsor, Galt, Barrie, and Oshawa all played exactly where you’d think.” Beyond just Ontario, some elaborate context is provided here, additionally, on the precursors for what is contemporarily known as major junior and Junior A across Canada. Some of these leagues would play vital roles in the history of the Memorial Cup.

The first true modernization period of what eventually came to be known as the OHL seemed to start in the post-WWII era. The OHL Arena Guide refers to the space from 1945 to 1967 as “The Sponsorship Era.” Here are some excerpts about the most important events in that space: “For our purposes, 1945-46 is the first season of an OHL that is recognizable to the modern observer. That season was contested by teams across southern Ontario, as opposed to a league primarily based in Toronto. Every team played in a building that was large enough to be economically viable, and in a city where their presence was becoming interwoven into the local sporting culture. […] In 1961, the Memorial Cup was won by the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors [founded and operated by all-boys Catholic private school St. Michael’s College School], who were then withdrawn from the league by Father David Bauer. Bauer cited as his reasons ‘growing professionalism, [the] long schedule and rough play … [it was] difficult for the educational institution to handle gracefully.’ (Cited in Over the Boards: The Ron Ellis Story by Kevin Shea.) Prior to 1967, all junior teams had affiliations with NHL teams, no different from the way that minor league teams do today. It was this that led to OHL teams called Blackhawks, Red Wings, Jr. Canadiens, and of course, the Kitchener Rangers. The Toronto Maple Leafs had been affiliated with both the St. Michael’s Majors (for their Catholic prospects) and the Toronto Marlboros (for Protestants and others), and with the loss of the Majors, they were concerned about the loss of development space in the OHA. Stafford Smythe’s solution to this problem was to start what in essence was an entire Toronto Maple Leaf Junior League, which became the Metro Junior A League. […] In 1961-62, the Marlies dropped out of the OHA. The previous seven-team league became six, with Guelph, Peterborough, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, and Hamilton surviving from before, while the Montreal Junior Canadiens, who had played out of the Montreal Forum, were convinced to join the OHA from their previous home in a Quebec-based league.

Stafford Smythe was convinced that he could build a junior league that would feed the Leafs and drive the OHA out of business. However, with the addition of Montreal, the six-team OHA was still able to continue operating, and the calibre of play in the Metro League was essentially junior B save for the dominant Marlboros and former Majors organization, which kept operating under the same name that year even though it was no longer affiliated with the private school.

Nearly all the Metro League games involving Toronto teams directly were played at Maple Leaf Gardens, while others were played at St. Michael’s Arena. The other new teams in the Metro League were the Whitby Mohawks, playing out of the demolished-in-1972 Whitby Community Arena, the Brampton 7Ups, playing out of the 1950-vintage Brampton Memorial Arena, and the Unionville Seaforths, playing out of 1928’s Crosby Memorial Arena. All of those teams had been Junior B teams the previous year. 1963-64 marks the beginning of the OHA’s modern era as the Leafs gave up on the Metro League experiment. The Marlboros and Generals applied to join the OHA, while the remainder of the league returned to Junior B. However, the Generals re-affiliated with the Boston Bruins, who hadn’t previously had an OHA affiliate, so to fill the Majors-sized hole in the Leafs’ development program, they applied to the league for a new Leaf-sponsored team that would play in London out of the brand new London Gardens for 1963-64. However, the OHA rejected the London expansion plan, in spite of the Marlboros playing a regular season game in October 1963 in London to demonstrate the strength of the market.

The stacked Marlboros, who now had the best players from both the Marlboros and Majors organizations, dominated the OHA that year with a 40-9-7 record in an eight-team league that also included the Kitchener Rangers, who had moved from Guelph. The Generals were still forced to play their first season and part of their second in Bowmanville, but they would return to Canada’s Motor City partway through 1964-65 with the opening of the Oshawa Civic Auditorium. For 1965-66, after witnessing the Marlboros dominating the OHA for two years, the league finally relented to MLG’s plans and allowed a second Leaf-sponsored team to be placed in London, called the Nationals. But the era of NHL sponsorship was about to end, and junior hockey in Canada was about to become fully independent.” This is a good window into how the dynamics shifted within the microgenerations, as well as how the old farm system worked, and how it changed.

Per the guide, 1968 marked the beginning of major junior hockey teams being independently owned and operated. League and association dynamics would change drastically in the coming years, as well. The following excerpts are the most noteworthy: “1974 saw the biggest shakeup to junior hockey in Ontario since the split between Junior A and B in 1933. Prior to that year, all levels of hockey in the province of Ontario had been governed by the Ontario Hockey Association, from Major Junior all the way down to Tyke. However, taking a cue from the rebel WHL and the newly-established QMJHL, major junior hockey in Ontario split from the sport’s provincial governing body, forming a semi-independent league that would be known as the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League. For the first time, a league commissioner – Clarence ‘Tubby’ Schmalz – was appointed, and the OMJHL started to oversee its own affairs as an independent body for the first time.” Six years later, the landscape really changed, though: “1980 was the dawn a new era in the Ontario Hockey League’s history, as the league finally split completely with the OHA, becoming fully independent. David Branch was hired as commissioner around this time too, a position [he held until 2024]. Most notable to hockey fans, though, was the league’s third name in a decade – the cumbersome OMJHL name was shortened to the simpler Ontario Hockey League.”

We won’t go too far down that path, though, as the crux of our story takes place in 1975. So, what about the origins of the QMJHL and WHL, then? Well…

The Q itself describes its origins in these terms: “The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League began play in 1969. Since its creation, the major junior hockey circuit (which used to be called the Quebec Junior A League) has witnessed several great players launch their careers and each marked the League in his own way. Builders, players and coaches have all contributed to the rise and the excellence of major junior hockey because in Eastern Canada thanks to their talent, passion, efforts and respect for the country’s national sport. In 1969, the QMJHL housed 11 teams, led by President and Founder Mr. Robert LeBel. The league was comprised of the Cornwall Royals, Drummondville Rangers, Laval Saints, Quebec Remparts, Rosemont National, Shawinigan Bruins, Sherbrooke Castors, Sorel Éperviers, St-Jérôme Alouettes, Trois-Rivières Ducs and Verdun Maple Leafs.”

Never letting us down, the QMJHL Arena Guide does a good job in explaining the background for the Q’s formation: “The story of junior hockey in Quebec dates back ages, but information is scarce, and what there is tends to be written – obviously – en français. Before 1969, the forerunner Quebec Junior Hockey League sent a number of the province’s top players to the NHL, and three Montreal-based teams had won the Memorial Cup before 1969 – but overall, the QJHL was nowhere near the quality of the rival major junior leagues in Ontario and elsewhere. From the 1930’s onward, entrance to the Memorial Cup in Eastern Canada was decided by the tournament for the George Richardson Memorial Trophy. The winners of the OHA faced off against the winners of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association, while the QJHL champion played the champion from the Maritimes. The winners of those two series played in a best-of-seven series for the Richardson Trophy, with the winner advancing to the Memorial Cup against a team from the West. Although upsets did happen, before the 1960’s it was uncommon for anyone but the OHA champion to take the Richardson Trophy home. No Maritime team ever won the Richardson Trophy, and the last NOHA team to win it was the Copper Cliff Redmen in 1937. In 1961, Toronto Maple Leafs owner Stafford Smythe, in a move intended to drive the OHA out of business and create a complete junior feeder system for the Leafs’ own use, created the Metro Junior League in Toronto […] but the unwitting consequence of Smythe’s action was to usher junior hockey in Ontario into the modern age. The Montreal Junior Canadiens, owned by Sam Pollock and long the dominant force of junior hockey in Quebec, were lured out of the QJHL and into the OHA. The OHA was only interested in survival, where the Junior Habs viewed it as an opportunity to play against a higher level of competition. Yet the defection of the QJHL’s marquee franchise was a wake-up call to the powers that existed in Quebec at the time, and soon groundwork was being laid for a Major Junior league chez nous.

Correspondent Glenn Singleton says, ‘[Prior to 1969], there were three junior leagues in Quebec, which eventually amalgamated to become the QMJHL. The Metropolitian Junior Hockey League (MJHL) included the Verdun Maple Leafs, Lachine Maroons, Lakeshore Flyers, Montreal North Beavers, Rosemont Bombers, Laval Saints, and Palestre Nationale. All these teams were affiliates of the Canadiens. The Quebec Junior League included the Shawinigan Bruins, Thetford Mines Canadiens, Drummondville Rangers, Trois-Rivières Maple Leafs and a few others. The other league I believe was called the Saguenay Junior League and included such teams as Chicoutimi Saguenéens (wearing the same jerseys as today), Dolbeau and other teams from northern Quebec.’ […] 1969 in Quebec was a watershed year. The Quiet Revolution had given way to the much louder FLQ, and enormous change was ripping through the previously insular fabric of la belle province. A merger and amalgamation was agreed between the QJHL and the Metropolitan Montreal Junior Hockey League, in an effort to finally have a single Major Junior Hockey League in Quebec. Eleven teams competed the first year, ten from the two aforementioned leagues, along with an interloper from the [Ontario] Central Junior A League.”

So, what of the Q’s early history, then? Well, as is a recurring theme in many of these stories, the success on the ice was good, but the business side had some question marks: “The early years of the Q were filled with both turmoil and success. Teams from Quebec only won three Memorial Cup titles from 1919 to 1969, but all of a sudden the new Quebec Major Junior league won two more in its first three years of existence, with the Quebec Remparts taking the title in 1970-71 and the Cornwall Royals following up in 1971-72. However, many of the newly-promoted franchises couldn’t meet the financial demands of the new league. Laval folded after only one year in operation, and the Rosemont National moved to Laval to take up residence in the same Colisée de Laval home the next year, 1971. 1972 witnessed the folding of the Verdun Maple Leafs and the St-Jérôme Alouettes. Also in 1972, the nascent league welcomed back a team in the heart of Montreal, as the old Junior Canadiens were welcomed back in from the Ontario league, although the terms of their move were such that the team had to change its name. (The team was officially ‘suspended’ from the OHL and recreated as an expansion team, even though the ownership, arena, and players remained the same.) They became the Montreal Bleu, Blanc et Rouge (Blue, White and Red) and played out of the legendary Montreal Forum. In 1973, the league expanded outside the narrow Montreal-Quebec City corridor for the first time, adding two franchises that would become cornerstones of the league. To the north, the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, playing out of the Colisée de Chicoutimi, were promoted from the Saguenay junior A league, while to the west, the Hull Festivals (later Olympiques) began playing out of the Hull Arena. That same year, the Shawinigan Bruins renamed themselves to the Shawinigan Dynamos. A year later, the Drummondville Rangers folded, while the Trois-Rivieres Ducs became the Draveurs (lumberjacks or raftmen). The name changes continued in 1975 and 1976, first with the Montreal Bleu Blanc et Rouge becoming the shorter Montreal Juniors, and then with the Hull Festivals becoming the Olympiques. In 1978 the Shawinigan Dynamos renamed again, becoming the Cataractes, after the famous Shawinigan Falls.” Of course, the biggest league-wide dynamic change that has occurred since is expansion to incorporate the Maritime provinces. In recognition of this expansion, the effects that it had on the league, and the contributions of the Maritimes to the QMJHL’s landscape, the Q changed its name to the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League in December of 2023.

This sets the table well for how the Q would be involved in the story. Lastly, we have the Dub. What are its origins and how did it become what it is? Graeme Frisque gives us some perspective on the pre-history: “Established in 1966, the Western Hockey League (WHL) was born during a tumultuous time of transition for junior hockey in Canada. The establishment of a major junior hockey league in western Canada was the brainchild of Scotty Munro, who had made a name himself in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) after moving the Humboldt Indians to Estevan, Saskatchewan, re-establishing the team as the Estevan Bruins in 1956. Prior to 1966, major junior hockey in western Canada was pretty much a one-team show, with the Edmonton Oil Kings considered the gold standard of junior hockey in the western provinces, wining six Memorial Cups between 1954-1965. After a successful 10-year run in the SJHL, Munro decided there was a market for major junior hockey in Western Canada and enlisted Oil Kings owner Bill Hunter in an effort to create the region’s first major junior league. Jim Piggott, owner of the SJHL’s Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats GM and eventual owner, Del Wilson, were also on-board with the plan. That foursome is celebrated today as the league’ s co-founders. The WHL began life as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (CMJHL) in the 1966-67 season with seven member clubs: The Calgary Buffaloes, Edmonton Oil Kings, Estevan Bruins, Moose Jaw Canucks, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades and Weyburn Red Wings.”

The WHL Arena Guide describes its formation as iconoclastic and rebellious at its core. Here is some precise framing of the origins: “The Ontario and Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leagues both were founded as an evolution of previous junior hockey leagues that existed in those provinces. The OHL’s history dates back to 1933, and forerunners of that league have existed for more than a century. The QMJHL’s forerunner leagues, the QJHL and the Montreal Junior Hockey League, both also date back to the early days of hockey in Quebec. The Western Hockey League, in comparison, represents not an evolution through history but a break from it. The WHL was founded in 1966 by Edmonton Oil Kings owner Bill Hunter as an outlaw league – free from sanction by CAHA (later Hockey Canada). It originally consisted of teams in Alberta and Saskatchewan who broke away from the AJHL and SJHL to begin a new, interprovincial junior league, without the permission or blessing of any of hockey’s governing structure in Canada. Bill Hunter’s brainchild was founded to compete with the growing power of the junior leagues in the East. In the twenty-one years between the end of the war and the founding of the WHL, western-based teams only won five times – and remember, they contested every Memorial Cup final in those days, so five wins means they were 5-16! The only winners from the west were the Winnipeg Monarchs (1946 and 1959), the Flin Flon Bombers (1957), and the Edmonton Oil Kings (1963 and 1966). The WHL was intended as a consolidation of talent and power across the region, so that the top teams in the West would play at a higher level of competition. The first breakaway season of the WHL was competed between two Alberta teams and five in Saskatchewan. […] In 1971, the CAHA reorganized junior hockey throughout the country, dropping the previous structure of provincial junior leagues having equal status, and recognizing the WHL as one of three Major Junior leagues in the country, alongside the OHL and QMJHL. No longer a rebel league; the WHL was now the big dog of Western Canada as the Memorial Cup tournament expanded from a best-of-seven between the top two teams to a round-robin played between the champions of the W, O and Q.”

Now, how did these three leagues converge? What underscored the formation of an umbrella organization? What would it entail for the future of junior, professional, and collegiate hockey?

From the CHL’s commemorative article by Matt Tidcombe published yesterday: “On May 8, 1975, the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (CMJHL) was formed in Kitchener, ON. On that day, the Western Canada Hockey League (present-day Western Hockey League / WHL), Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A series (present-day Ontario Hockey League / OHL) and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (present-day Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League / QMJHL) announced a constitution to establish the CMJHL (present-day Canadian Hockey League / CHL). The constitution was drawn up by Toronto-based lawyer Joe Kane with the goal of establishing a linear set of rules for players in all three member leagues. At the top of the wish-list were standard player contracts, consistent fees to sign any player in the CMJHL as well as a ‘common auction’ where teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA) could alternately select players. Of course, this is now known as the NHL Draft. […] The establishment of the CMJHL also allowed players to return to junior hockey after they had signed a professional contract – something that is an integral part of what makes the present-day CHL the best development league in the world. It also opened the door for junior players to make a professional team out of training camp – and play NHL games – before returning to their junior club. In 2024-25, the Guelph Storm’s Jett Luchanko and Oshawa’s Cal Ritchie were each a beneficiary of that rule.” If you want to see how the press handled it the following day (50 years ago today), the article has a clipping from a Medicine Hat newspaper (fittingly, ahead of the Tigers kicking things off against the Spokane Chiefs for the WHL championship). The early history faced some challenges, as then-NHLPA executive director and since disbarred lawyer and convicted criminal Alan Eagleson contested that the organization violated antitrust laws. It withstood these, though, and has since become a remarkable talent producer for the NHL, USports, and beginning next season, the NCAA.

The sheer volume of talent the Canadian Hockey League (by the way, the current name was adopted in advance of the 1986-87 season as part of a rebranding effort – Check out Tidcombe’s previously linked article to see the logo evolution throughout the years) has produced through the decades could be written about for ages. I have committed plenty of time and words to that throughout the last nearly two years, and will more than likely produce many, many more. This month will be about some of the great teams that have played some very memorable hockey and the narratives that have unfolded in the last fifty years. Which teams and which seasons? Well, you will just have to wait and find out! There will be plenty of classic campaigns and playoffs/tournaments discussed in the coming weeks, so you will be given much to read about and not have to sit around long.