Former WHL president Chynoweth dies of cancer

The Western Hockey League family is grieving after losing its father on Tuesday morning.

Ed Chynoweth, WHL chairman of the board and president of the Kootenay Ice, died Tuesday in Okotoks, Alberta, after a lengthy battle with kidney cancer. He was 66.

“The WHL and the entire Canadian hockey community have lost a great leader today in Ed Chynoweth,” WHL commissioner Ron Robison said in a release. “The success the WHL and our member clubs are experiencing today is a direct result of the vision and leadership Ed Chynoweth provided to this league over the past 37 years.”

Among his many contributions at the major junior hockey level, Chynoweth served for more than 20 years as president of both the WHL and Canadian Hockey League, starting in the mid 1970s.

Along the way he presented the Memorial Cup Trophy to his son, Dean, the captain of the 1988 champion Medicine Hat Tigers, and won another as owner of the Cranbrook, British Columbia-based Kootenay Ice in 2002. His other son, Jeff Chynoweth, is currently the general manager of the Ice, and Dean Chynoweth is the head coach and general manager of the Swift Current Broncos.

Spokane Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz, who first met Chynoweth in the early 1980’s when Speltz was working for the Tigers, called Chynoweth a mentor and his strongest recommendation to Chiefs owner Bobby Brett.

He also called Chynoweth a friend.

“His thing was that you had to be able to think and you had to be able to manage and to see more than just what was going on that day,” said Speltz. “He was real special. We got to become friends through everything. He saw what was best for the league and he was an incredible person. It’s a big loss for our league.”