Victoria Maple Leafs
| Victoria Maple Leafs | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Victoria, British Columbia |
| League | Western Hockey League |
| Operated | 1964-67 |
| Home arena | Victoria Memorial Arena |
| Colors | Blue and white |
| Owner(s) | Maple Leaf Gardens Limited |
| Affiliates | Toronto Maple Leafs |
The Victoria Maple Leafs were a minor pro ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League that played three seasons in Victoria, British Columbia, beginning in 1964. The previous season they had played as the Invaders in Denver, Colorado, winning the regular season with the best record in the Western Hockey League. In 1967 they became the Phoenix Roadrunners.
From 1959 to 1963 the team had played as the Spokane Comets.
They were the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Victoria had had a baseball team named the Maple Leafs in 1915. The Victoria Cougars entered the WHL as an expansion team for the 1949-50 season, but in 1961 they moved to Los Angeles to become the Blades.
In 1964 it was announced that the Denver Invaders of the WHL would be relocated to Victoria after Denver had failed to reach a 2,000 season ticket target before the June 19 deadline the league had imposed. The team, which was owned by the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League, had lost a reported $150,000 in their first season. The team became known as the Victoria Maple Leafs for the following season.
The team logo was a stylized blue maple leaf, with the words "Victoria Maple Leafs" on it. They played in the Victoria Memorial Arena which opened in 1949 and sat 5033 spectators. Andy Stephen called the games for local radio station CKDA. Fans of the team were well known for chanting the parent-team's cheer, "Go Leafs Go!"
In June 1967, Maple Leaf Gardens Limited sold the team for $500,000 to a group from Phoenix which relocated it to become the Roadrunners, where they played until the WHL's demise in 1974. In Phoenix, the franchise won the last two WHL championships in 1973 and 1974. The Roadrunners then competed in the WHA in 1974-75 using essentially the same team from the previous year.
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