The Trail Smoke Eaters won the 1962 Allan Cup and were chosen to represent Canada at the 1963 Ice Hockey World Championships. When the Western International Hockey League did not operate during the 1962–63 season, the team appealed to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) for exhibition games in preparation for the World Championships. CAHA president Art Potter noted that reports of the Smoke Eaters asking for money had not come from team executives, and that the CAHA had not planned for the team to be in financial difficulty.