Ed Chynoweth
Encyclopedia
Ed Chynoweth was the long time president of the Western Hockey League
Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada...

 and Canadian Hockey League
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canadian-based major junior ice hockey leagues for players 16 to 20 years of age. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three member leagues, the Western Hockey...

, a director of the CHL, team owner, pioneer, and one of the most influential men in junior ice hockey
Junior ice hockey
Junior hockey is a catch-all term used to describe various levels of ice hockey competition for players generally between 16 and 20 years of age...

 in Canada.

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
Calgary Wranglers
The Calgary Wranglers were a junior ice hockey team that played in the Western Hockey League from 1977 until 1987. The Wranglers played their home games in Calgary, Alberta, at the Stampede Corral.-Season-by-season Record:...

 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
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada....

 commissioner David Branch
David Branch
David E. Branch has served as the Commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League since September 15, 1979, and as the President of the Canadian Hockey League since 1996...

 called Chynoweth "the architect of the Canadian Hockey League as we know it today." In 1995, Chynoweth left his posts to form the expansion Edmonton Ice
Edmonton Ice
The Edmonton Ice were a junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta that played two seasons in the Western Hockey League.Despite the long held belief that Major-Junior hockey could not compete against the NHL, the WHL expanded to Calgary in 1995, and to Edmonton in 1996...

, now the Kootenay Ice
Kootenay Ice
The Kootenay Ice are a major junior ice hockey team based in Cranbrook, British Columbia and competing in the Western Hockey League. The team plays its home games at the Cranbrook Recreational Complex, also nicknamed the RecPlex.-History:...

. He remained the team's president and governor, as well as the WHL's chairman of the board, at the time of his death.

Chynoweth died of kidney cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 in Calgary at the age of 66. He is survived by his wife, Linda, and two sons. Dean Chynoweth
Dean Chynoweth
Dean Chynoweth is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins. Drafted 13th overall by the Islanders in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, Chynoweth played 241 regular season games in 10 NHL seasons, scoring 4 goals and...

 is a former National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 player, and is currently an assistant coach with the New York Islanders
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

. Jeff Chynoweth is the general manager of the Kootenay Ice. Chynoweth is an ancient Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...

 name.

Chynoweth was elected to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2007, the WHL renamed its championship trophy the Ed Chynoweth Cup in his honour. The Ed Chynoweth Trophy
Ed Chynoweth Trophy
The Ed Chynoweth Trophy is awarded to the leading scorer at the Memorial Cup tournament. It was first awarded in 1996. In the case of a tie in points, the award is given to the player with the fewest games played. If they have played the same number of games, the award goes to the player with the...

, awarded to the top scorer at the Memorial Cup
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League , Quebec Major...

 tournament is named after him. Chynoweth was a member of the selection committee at the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

.

Chynoweth was posthumously inducted as a builder into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...

 in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

on November 10, 2008.
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