the beginning of the end came in 1924 when the nhl first expanded into the united states. with the nhl rapidly expanding, salaries were on the rise and the wchl was finding it difficult to keep its star players. in 1925, the regina capitals relocated to portland, oregon, and rekindled the old name of portland rosebuds, which had been out of use since 1918. with the move into the u.s. came a name change for the wchl - "canada" was dropped and the league was renamed the western hockey league (whl). in the eastern half of the continent, the nhl eventually achieved relative stability through large-scale expansion to the u.s. and the nfl achieved prosperity by abandoning most of its smaller cities in favour of large markets. such a path to success was not a viable option for the whl because few u.s. cities west of the mississippi river had large arenas with ice plants in the 1920s. for example, st. louis did not have such a facility until an ice plant was installed in the st. louis arena in 1931.