William “Bill” Levins (1922 – August 26, 1991) was an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

executive and sports entrepreneur. Levins was the first general manager of the Oklahoma City Blazers of the old

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

. He is also recognized as the co-founder, along with

Ray Miron Joseph Rodolph "Ray" Miron (March 20, 1923 – August 28, 2015) was an owner of the new Central Hockey League (CHL), as well as a National Hockey League (NHL) executive, serving in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization and as general manager of th ...

, of the current

which began play with the 1992–93 season. Levins lived in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

until 1965 when he moved to

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

to become the general manager of the Oklahoma City Blazers. The William “Bill” Levins Memorial Cup was the name of the trophy awarded to the champion of the Central Hockey League from 1992 until 2000 when the honour was renamed the "Ray Miron Cup". Levins died at the age of 69 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.Oklahoma City Hockey Pioneer Bill Levins Dies at Age 69 , News OK
/ref>

Awards and honours

References

American sports businesspeople 1922 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-icehockey-bio-stub