The 1952–53 WHL season was the first season of the Western Hockey League. The Edmonton Flyers were the President's Cup champions as they beat the Saskatoon Quakers four games to two in the final series.

1952–53 WHL season
LeagueWestern Hockey League
SportIce hockey
Number of games70
Number of teams8
Regular season
Season championsSaskatoon Quakers
President's Cup
ChampionsEdmonton Flyers
  Runners-upSaskatoon Quakers
Seasons

Teams

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1952–53 Western Hockey League
Team City Arena Capacity
Calgary Stampeders Calgary, Alberta Stampede Corral 6,475
Edmonton Flyers Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton Stock Pavilion 6,000
New Westminster Royals New Westminster, British Columbia Queen's Park Arena 3,500
Saskatoon Quakers Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Saskatoon Arena 3,304
Seattle Bombers Seattle, Washington Civic Ice Arena 5,000
Tacoma Rockets Tacoma, Washington Tacoma Ice Palace 3,816
Vancouver Canucks Vancouver, British Columbia PNE Forum 5,050
Victoria Cougars Victoria, British Columbia Victoria Memorial Arena 5,000

Map of teams

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  WHL Teams

Final Standings

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Final Season Standings[1]
R Team GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 Saskatoon Quakers 70 35 26 9 268 240 79
2 Vancouver Canucks 70 32 28 10 222 216 74
3 Calgary Stampeders 70 31 27 12 254 252 74
4 Edmonton Flyers 70 31 28 11 263 227 73
5 Seattle Bombers 70 30 32 8 222 225 68
6 New Westminster Royals 70 29 33 8 217 254 66
7 Tacoma Rockets 70 27 31 12 246 249 66
8 Victoria Cougars 70 26 36 8 244 273 60

bold - qualified for playoffs

Playoffs

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Round 1 Round 2 Finals
         
1 Saskatoon Quakers 4
6 New Westminster Royals 3
1 Saskatoon Quakers -
bye -
1 Saskatoon Quakers 2
4 Edmonton Flyers 4
2 Vancouver Canucks 3
5 Seattle Bombers 2
2 Vancouver Canucks 1
4 Edmonton Flyers 3
3 Calgary Stampeders 2
4 Edmonton Flyers 3

The Edmonton Flyers win the President's Cup 4 games to 2.[2]

Awards

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1952-53 WHL awards
Award Recipient(s)
President's Cup Edmonton Flyers
Outstanding Goalkeeper Award Emile Francis[3]
Leading Scorer Award Dutch Reibel[4]
George Leader Cup Emile Francis[5]
Rookie Award Gerry Foley[6]

References

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