Western Hockey League (1955-1961)
Tombstone
Born: 1955
Folded: Postseason 1961
First Game:
Last Game: April 1, 1961 (L 5-3 @ Calgary Stampeders)
President’s Cup Champions: 1956
Arena
Winnipeg Arena
Opened: 1955
Demolished: 2006
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owner: Jack Perrin
Background
The Winnipeg Warriors were a professional minor league hockey team that played six campaigns in the Western Hockey League between 1955 and 1961.
The Warriors’ big name was Bill Mosienko. The diminutive winger was a Winnipeg native who helped to launch the Warriors after completing a 14-year NHL career. At the time Mosienko retired from the NHL, he was the league’s 7th all-time leading scorer. He would go on to play four more seasons in the WHL, finally retiring in 1959 at the age of 38.
The Warriors won the President’s Cup as champions of the Western Hockey League during their charmed debut season of 1955-56.
Demise
The Warriors struggled financially at Winnipeg Arena and with the long travel distances required to reach WHL opponents in Alberta, British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. The club’s closest rival, the Calgary Stampeders, were 600 miles away. After a failed effort by Warriors owner to move the team to San Francisco in the spring of 1961, the Warriors ceased operations.
Winnipeg Warriors Shop
Editor's Pick
ICE WARRIORS
The Pacific Coast/Western Hockey League 1948-1974
By Jon C. Stott
Between 1948 and 1974, more than 2,500 minor-league professional hockey players skated across the Pacific Northwest states and western Canada as part of the 23 teams that made up the Western Hockey League (known as the Pacific Coast Hockey League before 1952). Some of the young players went on to enjoy careers in the National Hockey League; others were former NHLers willing to extend their careers by returning to the minors. Many of the most colorful, however, were minor-league “lifers” who simply had hockey in their blood and built their reputations in the WHL and other minor pro leagues.Ice Warriors traces the WHL’s origins, rise and fall, and includes interviews with players, coaches and fans as well as statistical records and pictures from the era.
When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
Links
###
