page_title: Ron Butlin (ice hockey)
section_title: 1969–70 season
hierarchical_section_title: Ron Butlin (ice hockey) / Western Canada Hockey League / 1969–70 season
caption_attribution_description: Court of Queen's Bench, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
context_page_description: Ronald James Butlin was a Canadian ice hockey executive. He was president of the Western Canada Hockey League from 1968 to 1971, when the league separated from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association due to grievances arising from the National Hockey League agreement for the NHL Amateur Draft. He also served as president of the Canadian Hockey Association from 1968 to 1970, which was formed as a national governing body of junior ice hockey in Canada, in opposition to the CAHA. He sought to raise the age limit imposed by the NHL and negotiate better financial terms for the junior teams which developed future professional players. He criticized the CAHA for its spending on administration and wanted hockey policy to be determined by the teams instead of elected officials. He negotiated an agreement to reunite the WCHL with the CAHA in 1970, where the WCHL gained direct representation on the CAHA junior council, better financial return for drafted players, and received development grants from the NHL.
  Butlin was previously involved in sports as a host of a sports radio show, then became a founding member and later president of the Calgary Booster Club.
context_section_description: In May 1969, the CAHA released a restructuring proposal which would implement three separate councils for minor ice hockey, junior ice hockey, and senior ice hockey, to be composed of hockey businessmen and team operators; something which Butlin had demanded. On July 30, Butlin and CAHA president Earl Dawson announced a tentative agreement where the WCHL would rejoin the CAHA. Twenty players from the WCHL were chosen in the 1969 NHL amateur draft which increased the amount of disputed draft payments, with legal action on the 1968 draft money scheduled to appear before the Alberta Supreme Court in August 1969. Butlin denied he was responsible for the rift between the WCHL and the CAHA in the war of words that ensued between him and Dawson. As of September 16, 1969, the agreement had not been approved by the CAHA.
  On October 4, Butlin stated the WCHL would start its season outside of CAHA jurisdiction, and insisted on a joint meeting with the NHL and the CAHA to discuss WCHL players who signed with NHL teams. He met again with the CAHA to negotiate a settlement, but resumed legal action for the NHL draft payments when talks were unsuccessful. The WCHL and the OHA subsequently began a competition to sign each other's players, in what Butlin described as retaliation due to the OHA declaring war on the WCHL. 
  Butlin and the WCHL announced a gate receipt sharing plan where larger cities would assist the smaller cities. He attempted to expand the WCHL westward by inviting the Victoria Cougars of the BCJHL to join. Despite his efforts, westward expansion faced skepticism by some team owners in established cities due to the lower calibre of the new teams, and more time away from schooling to travel further. The WOJHL wanted to continue the east-west CHA championship, and felt that its teams were stronger than the previous season. Butlin did not agree to a national final due to last year's incidents, and concerns about the imbalance of talent.
  A meeting on March 9, 1970, between the WCHL and the CAHA to resolve all differences ended after 15 minutes. Butlin reported that the CAHA insisted the WCHL accept the same conditions as other junior leagues under CAHA jurisdiction instead of recognizing WCHL grievances. He later claimed that CAHA executives wanted to renegotiate every detail, and called the meeting "an absolute farce".
caption: Butlin began multiple legal actions which were decided at the Alberta Supreme Court in Calgary (building pictured).
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