Brandon Wheat Cities
The Brandon Wheat Cities (Wheat City Hockey Club) was an early amateur ice hockey club in Brandon, Manitoba. The club fielded senior-level, junior and intermediate teams from 1898. The club fielded teams in the Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association, followed by the Manitoba Hockey Association, the Manitoba Professional Hockey League (MPHL) and the early Manitoba Hockey League.
History
The club was founded as the Brandon Hockey Club in 1898. The club first fielded teams in the intermediate division of the Manitoba & Northwestern Hockey Association. In 1902, the club started fielding teams in the senior division. In 1904, the senior team made its first challenge for the Stanley Cup, in 1904 against the Ottawa Hockey Club (the Silver Seven). In 1906, the club fielded its first professional senior team, which challenged for the Stanley Cup in 1907 in the MPHL playoff against the Kenora Thistles. The professional league folded after a few seasons, but the Wheat City club continued fielding senior-level amateur teams until 1935. The club challenged for the Allan Cup national senior championship in 1921.[1]
Notable players
- Joe Hall (1898–1905,1906–1907) - Hockey Hall of Fame player, two-time Stanley Cup champion
- Lester Patrick (1903–1904) - Hockey Hall of Fame player, later New York Rangers general manager
- Art Ross (1905–1907) - Hockey Hall of Fame player, later Boston Bruins general manager