The Edmonton Flyers

Lost in all of the hoopla over the Montreal Canadiens' centennial anniversary is the nice job the Edmonton Oilers are doing to commemorate their own 30th anniversary.

On Saturday night the Oilers honoured another legendary Edmonton team, the Edmonton Flyers.

The Flyers were an amateur team that turned pro in the old Western Hockey League. They existed from 1945 through 1963, winning the Allan Cup in 1948 and three WHL championships. Famous alumni include Glenn Hall, Al Arbour, Johnny Bucyk, Norm Ullman and Len "Comet" Haley.

I admittedly do not know a whole lot about the Edmonton Flyers. But I found a couple of good resources for those who want to learn more.

Firstly Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal has a real nice piece about the Flyers.

Also, author Jim Vantour has a book called The Fabulous Flyers, and is pictured above. The book is the story of the 1954-55 WHL championship squad that featured hometown heroes Norm Ullman, Johnny Bucyk and Jerry Melnyk, as well as Bronco Horvath, Larry Zeidel and goaltending great Glenn Hall. You can get a copy by contacting Jim at fabulousflyers@yahoo.ca

As mentioned not long ago, Jon Stott has a nice book out called Ice Warriors. It is not about the Flyers so much as the old professional Western Hockey League.