The Regina Capitals were a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team originally based in the city of Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

in the

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. The WCHL's Victoria C ...

(WCHL), founded in

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in Brazil. ** The Spanish liner ''Santa Isabel'' bre ...

Western Canada Hockey League Capitals (1921–1926)

1921 was the Regina Capitals' first season in the new Western Canada Hockey League, they finished second overall and then upset the Edmonton Eskimos in the playoffs to win the league championship. Winning the league championship meant that the team had to face the winner of the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was co ...

(PCHA) before being able to challenge for the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

. Unfortunately, the up-start Capitals lost to the

Vancouver Millionaires The Vancouver Millionaires (later known as the Vancouver Maroons) were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926. Based in Vancouver, British ...

of the PCHA. Vancouver went on to face the

Toronto St. Patricks The Toronto St. Patricks (colloquially known as the St. Pats) were a professional ice hockey team which began playing in the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1919. The Toronto NHL franchise (league membership) had previously been held by the Arena ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL), but would lose the best-of-five series for the Stanley Cup 3 games to 2. Percy Traub

They finished second overall in each of their first three seasons, with their third season only one point behind first place, but that first season would be the only one in which they would win the playoffs and advance to the next series. After three seasons well above .500, they fell to last place overall in their fourth season ( 1924–25) with only 8 wins in 28 games. The Capitals tried spending their way out of their difficulties, but that only caused more problems. With the team in debt and losing money, they followed the NHL's example of heading south across the border and moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

for the start of the

1925–26 WHL season The 1925–26 WHL season was the fifth and last season for the now defunct Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), which was renamed Western Hockey League (WHL) at the start of the season due to one of its Canadian teams, the Regina Capitals, moving ...

. The Regina Capitals renamed themselves the Portland Rosebuds, which was a rekindling of an older, then defunct, team from the PCHA. With that move, they became the only

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

-based team in their league. Since they moved to the States, the league had to change its name to reflect that not all of its teams were based in Canada anymore. So, the "Canada" part of the league's name was dropped and it was renamed the

Western Hockey League 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 ...

. The move didn't help the on-ice performance of the team very much. They didn't finish last overall, but with an extra eight games played from the previous season, they only managed to better their total wins by 4 giving them 12 wins in 36 games. After that season, the Western Hockey League folded. The National Hockey League bought every contract of ever player from the WHL for $258,000. The former Capitals/Rosebuds players would go on to form the nucleus of the expansion

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

franchise, which began play the following season.

Prairie Hockey League Capitals (1926–1927)

With the collapse of the WHL, many of the players and teams that didn't become part of the NHL re-grouped and formed a new semi-pro league called the

Prairie Hockey League The Prairie Hockey League (PHL) was a Canadian professional ice hockey league in Alberta and Saskatchewan that was created following the demise of the Western Hockey League in 1926. It operated for two seasons. The creation of the league was an ...

(PrHL). A "new" Regina Capitals were born. They finished third overall in the inaugural season of the PrHL, but faltered badly for the second season with only two wins in 26 games. That second season would be the final season for both the Regina Capitals and the Prairie Hockey League as the league disbanded following the season's end.

Season-by-season record

''Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points''

Head coach

Wes Champ Wes or WES may refer to: * Westmorland, county in England, Chapman code __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Wes (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Wes Madiko (1964–2021), Cameroonian music ...

(1921–1925) * Pete Muldoon (1925–26)

Notable players

* George Hay, 1921–1926 (later to

) *

Dick Irvin James Dickinson "Dick" Irvin Jr. (or II) (July 19, 1892 – May 16, 1957) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played for professional teams in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Western Canada Hockey League, and th ...

, 1922–1925 (later to Chicago Black Hawks) *

Barney Stanley Russell "Barney" Stanley (June 1, 1893 – May 16, 1971) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) and the Calgary Tigers, Regina Capitals and Edmonto ...

, 1922–1924 *

Eddie Shore Edward William Shore (November 23, 1902 – March 16, 1985) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, principally for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians of the American ...

, 1924–1925 (later to Edmonton, then to

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making ...

)

References

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Notes