2019-20 WHL season

This is the 2019-20 Western Hockey League season. This is the league's 54th season dating back to its' founding as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League in 1966 and subsequent renaming to the Western Canada Hockey League in 1968 and to the present name in 1978.

Pausing of Season
The Canadian Hockey League and its' three member leagues announced the following on March 12th:

"The Canadian Hockey League and its three regional leagues, the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and Western Hockey League, take the health and safety of our players, fans, volunteers, staff, and general public very seriously. CHL President Dan MacKenzie with Commissioners David Branch, Gilles Courteau, and Ron Robison have been monitoring the situation in regards to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) including what local, provincial, and federal health agencies have recommended. Following consultation with medical professionals and meetings today among the CHL Executive Council, and regional league Board of Governors, the CHL announces that the balance of the 2019-20 season and all hockey activity shall be paused immediately until further notice."

On March 18th the league would cancel the rest of the 2019-20 regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cancelling of Ed Chynoweth playoffs and the Memorial Cup
The balance of play at the major junior level would be cancelled on March 23rd. This would include the three CHL leagues playoffs and the 2020 Memorial Cup.

Membership changes

 * It was announced on January 29, 2018 that the Kootenay Ice would be relocating to Winnipeg, Manitoba for the 2019-20 WHL season as the Winnipeg Ice. The team will be based out of the Wayne Fleming Arena on the campus of the University of Manitoba while construction on a new arena near Oak Bluff, Manitoba is completed.

Format
The league is divided up into 2 conferences with 2 divisions each. The Eastern Conference is made up of the 6-team East Division and the 6-team Central Division while the Western Conference is made up of the 5-team BC and 5-team US Divisions. The league presently uses the same format as the NHL does with the top 3 teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs and the next two best records in the conference qualifying as the 7 and 8 seeds and joining the playoffs for the division they start the playoffs in.

The winner of the Chynoweth Cup (or runner up if the Kelowna Rockets win the championship) advances to the 2020 Memorial Cup being held at Prospera Place in Kelowna, British Columbia from May 22 to 31, 2020 hosted by the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.