The Regina Capitals were a professional

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 ...

team originally based in the city of Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921.

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 (PCHA) before being able to challenge for the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () 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, and the International Ic ...

. Unfortunately, the up-start Capitals lost to the Vancouver Millionaires of the PCHA. Vancouver went on to face the Toronto St. Patricks of the

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 ...

(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 the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

for the start of the 1925–26 WHL season. 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

–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 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 ...

. 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 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 (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 (1921–1925) *

Pete Muldoon Linton Muldoon Treacy (June 4, 1887 – March 13, 1929), better known as Pete Muldoon, was a Canadian ice hockey coach. He was the coach of the Seattle Metropolitans from 1915 to 1924 and led the team to a Stanley Cup championship in 1917. M ...

(1925–26)

Notable players

* George Hay, 1921–1926 * Dick Irvin, 1922–1925 * Bill Laird, 1921–1923 * Paul Rivard, 1896-1991 * Barney Stanley, 1922–1924 * Eddie Shore, 1924–1925

References

Notes

{{Defunct Saskatchewan sports teams Defunct ice hockey teams in Saskatchewan Sports clubs and teams in Regina, Saskatchewan Ice hockey clubs established in 1921 1921 establishments in Saskatchewan 1928 disestablishments in Saskatchewan Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1928