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Did you know that Regina has won the Stanley Cup several times including in 2014-15? Well, it wasn’t actually Regina but it was a team that relocated from Regina. The Chicago Blackhawks would have their start thanks to a small team from Regina, Saskatchewan called the Regina Capitals.
The Regina Capitals would start off in 1921, playing their first season in the Western Canada Hockey League, which was a brand new league at the time. Finishing second overall, they won the league championship over the Edmonton Eskimos and would face the winner of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. They would lose the series to the Vancouver Millionaires, who then received the chance to play for the Stanley Cup, which they lost three games to two against the Toronto St. Patricks.
For the next three seasons, the Capitals would finish in second place but would never again advance past the first series of the playoffs.
The fortunes of the team quickly began to change, and they would win only eight games in their fourth season.
In an attempt to get great players, the team began throwing money at their on-ice problems but that only made things worse. In the end, the Capitals decided to go south to Portland for the 1925-26 season. Now called the Portland Rosebuds, the move resulted in the name change for the league to the Western Hockey league.
Things didn’t change for the team and they finished in last place, winning 12 games in total. After that season, the Western Hockey League came to an end and every contract for each player in the league was bought by the National Hockey League for $258,000. The original Capitals players would form most of the roster of the new Chicago Black Hawks. Chicago would go on to become one of the iconic NHL teams, winning six Stanley Cups.
The Prairie Hockey League would pop up in 1926-27, and a new Regina Capitals were created. They finished second overall, and won only two games in the second season. The team, and the league, folded after that second season.
Out of 206 games as the Regina Capitals, from 1921 to 1928, the team would win 83 games, lose 106 games and tie 17.
Two players would play on the team and go on to great success in the NHL and the Hockey Hall of Fame. Eddie Shore played for the team in 1924-25, scoring six goals in 24 games. Dick Irvin would play for the team from 1921 to 1925, earning 82 points in 102 games.
