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The 1980–81 WHL season was the 15th season of the Western Hockey League. Thirteen teams completed a 72 game season. The Victoria Cougars won the President's Cup.

League notes[]

Regular season[]

Final standings[]

East Division GP W L T Pts GF GA
x Regina Pats 72 49 21 2 100 423 315
x Calgary Wranglers 72 46 24 2 94 368 295
x Medicine Hat Tigers 72 40 29 3 83 358 302
x Lethbridge Broncos 72 37 33 2 76 339 332
x Billings Bighorns 72 30 40 2 62 336 334
x Brandon Wheat Kings 72 29 40 3 61 342 352
Winnipeg Warriors 72 28 43 1 57 298 345
Saskatoon Blades 72 22 47 3 47 297 427
West Division GP W L T Pts GF GA
x Victoria Cougars 72 60 11 1 121 462 217
x Portland Winter Hawks 72 56 15 1 113 443 266
x Seattle Breakers 72 26 46 0 52 318 393
x Spokane Flyers 72 17 54 1 35 288 488
New Westminster Bruins 72 17 54 1 35 306 512

Scoring leaders[]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Brian Varga Regina Pats 68 64 96 160 187
Jock Callander Regina Pats 72 67 86 153 37
Barry Pederson Victoria Cougars 55 65 82 147 65
Steve Tsujiura Medicine Hat Tigers 72 55 84 139 60
Jim Benning Portland Winter Hawks 72 28 111 139 61
Gary Yaremchuk Portland Winter Hawks 72 56 79 135 121
Dave Michayluk Regina Pats 72 62 71 133 39
Dave Chartier Brandon Wheat Kings 69 64 60 124 295
Mark Sochatsky Spokane Flyers 70 40 79 119 279
Brian Shaw Portland Winter Hawks 72 53 65 118 176

WHL Playoffs[]

First round[]

  • Regina defeated Brandon 4 games to 1
  • Calgary defeated Billings 4 games to 1
  • Lethbridge defeated Medicine Hat 4 games to 1
  • Spokane defeated New Westminster in 4th place tiebreaker game

Division semi-finals[]

  • Regina earned a bye
  • Calgary defeated Lethbridge 3 games to 1
  • Victoria defeated Spokane 4 games to 0
  • Portland defeated Seattle 4 games to 1

Division finals[]

  • Calgary defeated Regina 4 games to 2
  • Victoria defeated Portland 4 games to 0

WHL Championship[]

  • Victoria defeated Calgary 4 games to 3

All-Star Game[]

On January 20, the WHL All-Stars defeated the Victoria Cougars 8–3 at Victoria, British Columbia with a crowd of 3,520.

WHL awards[]

Most Valuable Player: Steve Tsujirua, Medicine Hat Tigers
Top Scorer - Bob Clarke Trophy: Brian Varga, Regina Pats
Most Sportsmanlike Player: Steve Tsujirua, Medicine Hat Tigers
Top Defenseman - Bill Hunter Trophy: Jim Benning, Portland Winter Hawks
Rookie of the Year - Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy: Dave Michayluk, Regina Pats
Top Goaltender - Del Wilson Trophy: Grant Fuhr, Victoria Cougars
Coach of the Year - Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy: Ken Hodge, Portland Winter Hawks
Regular season Champions - Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy: Victoria Cougars

All-Star Teams[]

First Team Second Team
Goal Grant Fuhr Victoria Cougars Kelly Hrudey Medicine Hat Tigers
Defense Jim Benning Portland Winter Hawks Len Dawes Victoria Cougars
Garth Butcher Regina Pats Gary Nylund Portland Winter Hawks
Center Barry Pederson Victoria Cougars Steve Tsujiura Medicine Hat Tigers
Left Wing Ken Solheim Medicine Hat Tigers Torrie Robertson Victoria Cougars
Right Wing Mike Moller Lethbridge Broncos Dave Michayluk Regina Pats

Team Photos[]

Game Ads[]


References[]

Preceded by
1979–80 WHL season
WHL seasons Succeeded by
1981–82 WHL season
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