Category: Western Hockey League 1952

1964 Denver Invaders program from the Western Hockey League

Denver Invaders

February 25, 2024

The Denver Invaders were an outstanding minor league hockey club that played one season in the Western Hockey League (WHL) during the winter of 1963-64. The Invaders relocated to Denver from Spokane, Washington the previous spring and served as a farm club of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. Under head coach Rudy Pilous, the team was terrific on the ice, dominating the WHL with a 44-23-3 regular season record. But lackluster attendance at the Denver Coliseum and disputes between local investors and the Maple Leafs led the franchise to leave Colorado for British Columbia after only a year.

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1960-61 Portland Buckaroos Program from the Western Hockey League

Portland Buckaroos (1960-1976)

February 11, 2023

The Portland Buckaroos were a popular, powerhouse minor league hockey club of the 1960’s and early 1970’s. The club formed as a Western Hockey League expansion team in the fall of 1960, set to play in the brand new Portland Memorial Coliseum that would open its doors to the public that November. The Buckaroos were consistently terrific on the ice. In fourteen seasons of action, the Bucks suffered only one losing campaign and appeared in the Lester Patrick Cup Finals an amazing nine times.

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Ralph Backstrom on the cover of a 1975-76 Denver Spurs program from the World Hockey Association

Denver Spurs

September 8, 2020

The Denver Spurs started in the Western Hockey League in 1968. When that circuit folded, the joined the Central Hockey League in 1974. The following year, they joined the World Hockey Association, but moved to Ottawa halfway through the season.

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Salt Lake Golden Eagles International Hockey League

Salt Lake Golden Eagles

May 15, 2018

The Salt Lake Golden Eagles hockey team was a popular mainstay on the Utah pro sports scene for a quarter century. That Eagles endured despite the shocking and untimely deaths of two team owners, the collapse of two hockey leagues of which they were members, and several 11th hour rescues from financial calamity.

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1966-67 Victoria Maple Leafs program from the Western Hockey League

Victoria Maple Leafs

March 25, 2018

The Victoria Maple Leafs were a farm club of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the NHL club’s 1960’s dynasty era. Victoria matched the parent club’s on-ice success during their brief run in the Western Hockey League.

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