2015-16 WHL season

This is the 2015-16 Western Hockey League season. This is the league's 50th 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.

In marking the league's 50th season, the schedule started on September 24th with a match up between the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Regina Pats which was done in honour of the league's first championship series in 1967. The league also had an online survey to choose the top 50 players in league history. The list was be released starting in January with a countdown format.

The league hosted two games of the Canada/Russia Challenge with games November 9th in Kelowna, BC and November 10th in Kamloops, BC. The league also hosted the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on January 28th in Vancouver, BC. Kamloops also hosted Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada on February 6th. The final event was be the 2016 Memorial Cup which wil be held in Red Deer, Alberta, returning to Alberta for the first time since the 1974 tournament.

WHL's 50th anniversary logo

The league announced rules changes similar to the National Hockey League for the 2015-16 season involving 3-on-3 overtime, the marking on on the ice (face off circle hash marks and increasing the area behind the net where goalies are allowed to play the puck) and the procedure for face-offs.

The season also marks the move of the Medicine Hat Tigers to the new Canalta Centre.

Membership changes[]

none

Teams[]

Eastern Conference[]

Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
East	Brandon Wheat Kings	Brandon, Manitoba, Canada	Westman Communications Group Place	5,102
	Moose Jaw Warriors	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada	Mosaic Place	4,714
	Prince Albert Raiders	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada	Art Hauser Centre	3,366
	Regina Pats	Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada	Brandt Centre	6,200
	Saskatoon Blades	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada	SaskTel Centre	15,195
	Swift Current Broncos	Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada	Credit Union iPlex	3,239
Central	Calgary Hitmen	Calgary, Alberta, Canada	Scotiabank Saddledome Stampede Corral (some playoff games)	19,289 6,450
	Edmonton Oil Kings	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada	Rexall Place	16,839
	Kootenay Ice	Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada	Western Financial Place	4,654
	Lethbridge Hurricanes	Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada	ENMAX Centre	5,479
	Medicine Hat Tigers	Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada	Canalta Centre	5,500 (expandable to 6,500)
	Red Deer Rebels	Red Deer, Alberta, Canada	ENMAX Centrium	6,000

Western Conference[]

Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
B.C.	Kamloops Blazers	Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada	Sandman Centre	5,464
	Kelowna Rockets	Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada	Prospera Place	6,286
	Prince George Cougars	Prince George, British Columbia, Canada	CN Centre	5,971
	Vancouver Giants	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada	Pacific Coliseum	16,281
	Victoria Royals	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada	Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre	7,006
U.S.	Everett Silvertips	Everett, Washington, United States	Xfinity Arena at Everett	8,149
	Portland Winterhawks	Portland, Oregon, United States	Memorial Coliseum Moda Center	10,407 18,280
	Seattle Thunderbirds	Kent, Washington, United States	ShoWare Center	6,500
	Spokane Chiefs	Spokane, Washington, United States	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena	10,759
	Tri-City Americans	Kennewick, Washington, United States	Toyota Center	6,000

Standings[]

Eastern Conference
East Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	PIM	P
Brandon Wheat Kings	72	48	18	-	4	2	319	197	-	102
Prince Albert Raiders	72	38	26	-	7	1	222	223	-	84
Moose Jaw Warriors	72	36	27	-	7	2	249	239	-	81
Regina Pats	72	36	28	-	3	5	243	253	-	80
Swift Current Broncos	72	24	38	-	7	3	189	249	-	58
Saskatoon Blades	72	26	42	-	4	0	219	318	-	56
Central Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	PIM	P
Lethbridge Hurricanes	72	46	24	-	1	1	304	218	-	94
Red Deer Rebels	72	45	24	-	1	2	26	205	-	93
Calgary Hitmen	72	42	26	-	2	2	246	219	-	88
Edmonton Oil Kings	72	29	36	-	6	1	197	238	-	65
Medicine Hat Tigers	72	30	37	-	3	2	223	287	-	65
Kootenay Ice	72	12	53	-	6	1	155	320	-	31
Western Conference
B.C. Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	PIM	P
Victoria Royals	72	50	16	-	3	3	281	166	-	106
Kelowna Rockets	72	48	20	-	4	0	269	218	-	100
Kamloops Blazers	72	38	25	-	5	4	237	218	-	85
Prince George Cougars	72	36	31	-	3	2	240	225	-	77
Vancouver Giants	72	23	40	-	5	4	199	273	-	55
U.S. Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	PIM	P
Seattle Thunderbirds	72	45	23	-	4	0	228	186	-	94
Everett Silvertips	72	38	26	-	5	3	182	172	-	84
Portland Winterhawks	72	34	31	-	6	1	228	227	-	75
Spokane Chiefs	72	33	30	-	5	4	223	245	-	75
Tri-City Americans	72	35	34	-	2	1	236	253	-	73

2016 Ed Chynoweth Cup Playoffs[]

2016 WHL playoff logo

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 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 advances to the 2016 Memorial Cup.

The 2016 Memorial Cup is scheduled to be held in Red Deer, Alberta and be hosted by the Red Deer Rebels. All of the games will be held at the ENMAX Centrium. This will be the 98th Memorial Cup championship and will determine the champion of the Canadian Hockey League. This marks the first time that the Memorial Cup has been held in the province of Alberta since 1974.

The tournament wll match up the champions of the three member leagues of the Canadian Hockey League (the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the host Red Deer Rebels).

The tournament will take place from May 19-29, 2016.

Playoff for final Eastern Conference Playoff spot[]

Edmonton Oil Kings defeated Medicine Hat Tigers 6 to 4

East Divsion Semifinals[]

Brandon Wheat Kings defeated Edmonton Oil Kings
4 games to 2 (2-4, 1-2, 3-1, 5-0, 5-2, 10-3)
Moose Jaw Warriors defeated Prince Albert Raiders 4 games to 1 (3-2, 4-2, 3-7, 7-0, 5-0)

Central Division Semifinals[]

Regina Pats defeated Lethbridge Hurricanes 4 games to 1 (3-6, 3-0, 3-2, 2-0, 7-2)
Red Deer Rebels defeated Calgary Hitmen 4 games to 1 (3-1, 2-5, 4-3, 2-0, 5-3)

B.C. Division Semifinals[]

Victoria Royals defeated Spokane Chiefs 4 games to 2 ( 5-3, 4-3, 2-5, 3-2 (ot), 1-4, 6-2)
Kelowna Rockets defeated Kamloops Blazers 4 games to 3 (3-2, 4-5, 1-0, 1-5, 4-0, 2-1 (ot)

U.S. Division Semifinals[]

Seattle Thunderbirds defeated Prince George Cougars 4 games to none (3-2 (ot), 4-1, 5-0, 4-3 (ot))
Everett Silvertips vs Portland Winterhawks 4 games to none (3-0, 3-1, 5-3, 4-2)

East Division Final[]

Brandon Wheat Kings defeated Moose Jaw Warriors 4 games to 1 (5-3, 5-2, 1-7, 6-2, 7-3)

Central Division Final[]

Red Deer Rebels defeated Regina Pats 4 games to 3 (3-2, 4-3, 3-6, 4-6, 5-1, 5-1, 2-1)

B.C. Division Final[]

Kelowna Rockets defeated Victoria Royals 4 games to 3 (1-2, 2-3, 3-2, 4-3, 4-1, 2-3, 3-2 (ot))

U.S. Division Final[]

Seattle Thunderbirds defeated Everett Silvertips 4 games to 1 (0-3, 3-1, 5-0, 2-1, 3-2)

Eastern Conference Final[]

Brandon Wheat Kings defeated Red Deer Rebels 4 games to 1 (4-3 (ot), 6-4, 2-6, 4-2, 5-2)

Western Confernce Final[]

Seattle Thunderbirds defeated Kelowna Rockets 4 games to none (2-1, 3-2, 3-1, 5-4 (2ot))

Ed Chynoweth Cup Final[]

Brandon Wheat Kings defeated Seattle Thunderbirds 4 games to 1 (3-2 (ot), 3-2, 3-2 (ot), 1-6, 8-4)

The Ed Chynoweth Cup winner, Brandon Wheat Kings advance to the 2016 Memorial Cup.