Edward Chynoweth (December 14, 1941 – April 22, 2008) was a Canadian

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. He served as president of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a 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 hocke ...

and the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; , LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three me ...

for over 20 years each. He was also a league director, team owner, and reported by

The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a privately-held company, pr ...

to have been one of the most influential men in

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

in Canada.

Career

Chynoweth became the WHL's first full-time president in 1972, a job he held until 1995, except for a brief stint as the general manager of the Calgary Wranglers in 1979–80. Chynoweth also helped to form the CHL in 1972, bringing Canada's three major junior leagues under one banner, and served as its president from 1975 until 1995.

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

commissioner David Branch called Chynoweth "the architect of the Canadian Hockey League as we know it today." Chynoweth left his posts to form the expansion

Edmonton Ice The Edmonton Ice were a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta. A Western Hockey League expansion team established in 1996, the team played only two seasons from 1996 to 1998 before relocating to Cranbrook, British Columbi ...

in 1995. He remained the team's president and governor after it became the Kootenay Ice, as well as the WHL's chairman of the board, at the time of his death.

Personal life

Chynoweth was married to Linda and had two sons. Dean Chynoweth was a

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

player and coach of the

Lake Erie Monsters A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a depression (geology), basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land an ...

. Jeff Chynoweth was a general manager of the Calgary Hitmen. Chynoweth died of kidney

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in Calgary at the age of 66.

Honours and awards

Chynoweth was elected to the

Alberta Sports Hall of Fame The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, dedicated to the preservation and history of sports within the province. It was created in 1957 by the Alberta Amateur Athletic Union (AAAU). The museum w ...

in 2000. In 2007, the WHL renamed its championship trophy the Ed Chynoweth Cup in his honour. The Ed Chynoweth Trophy, awarded to the top scorer at the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

tournament is named after him. Chynoweth was a member of the selection committee at the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

. Chynoweth was posthumously inducted as a builder into the

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on November 10, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chynoweth, Ed 1941 births 2008 deaths Alberta Sports Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Hockey League executives Canadian people of Cornish descent Canadian sports executives and administrators Deaths from cancer in Alberta Deaths from kidney cancer in Canada Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Western Hockey League executives