This is the 2018-19 Western Hockey League season. This is the league's 53rd 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.
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.[1]
Teams[]
Eastern Conference[]
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | Calgary Hitmen | Calgary, Alberta, Canada | Scotiabank Saddledome
Stampede Corral (some playoff games) |
19,289
6,450 |
| Edmonton Oil Kings | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | Rogers Place | 18,641 | |
| 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 | |
| East | Brandon Wheat Kings | Brandon, Manitoba, Canada | Keystone Centre | 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 |
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 | Langley, British Columbia, Canada | Langley Event Center | 5,276 | |
| Victoria Royals | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre | 7,006 | |
| U.S. | Everett Silvertips | Everett, Washington, United States | Angel of the Winds Arena | 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[]
Eastern Division[]
| Team | GP | W | L | OL | SL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince Albert Raiders | 68 | 54 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 307 | 156 | 112 |
| Saskatoon Blades | 68 | 45 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 259 | 190 | 98 |
| Moose Jaw Warriors | 68 | 40 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 234 | 192 | 88 |
Central Division[]
| Team | GP | W | L | OL | SL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton Oil Kings | 68 | 42 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 259 | 196 | 92 |
| Lethbridge Hurricanes | 68 | 40 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 268 | 234 | 90 |
| Calgary Hitmen | 68 | 36 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 255 | 240 | 78 |
Eastern Conference Wild Card[]
| Team | GP | W | L | OL | SL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine Hat Tigers | 68 | 35 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 217 | 222 | 76 |
| Red Deer Rebels | 68 | 33 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 223 | 225 | 72 |
| Brandon Wheat Kings | 68 | 31 | 29 | 4 | 4 | 230 | 243 | 70 |
| Regina Pats | 68 | 19 | 45 | 1 | 3 | 173 | 271 | 42 |
| Kootenay Ice | 68 | 13 | 45 | 7 | 3 | 181 | 324 | 36 |
| Swift Current Broncos | 68 | 11 | 51 | 4 | 2 | 135 | 301 | 28 |
Western Conference[]
BC Division[]
| Team | GP | W | L | OL | SL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Giants | 68 | 48 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 228 | 162 | 101 |
| Victoria Royals | 68 | 34 | 30 | 2 | 2 | 199 | 227 | 72 |
| Kamloops Blazers | 68 | 28 | 32 | 6 | 2 | 196 | 212 | 64 |
US Division[]
| Team | GP | W | L | OL | SL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everett Silvertips | 68 | 47 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 223 | 130 | 99 |
| Spokane Chiefs | 68 | 40 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 267 | 222 | 87 |
| Portland Winterhawks | 68 | 40 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 258 | 210 | 86 |
Western Conference Wild Card[]
| Team | GP | W | L | OL | SL | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tri-City Americans | 68 | 34 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 214 | 230 | 74 |
| Seattle Thunderbirds | 68 | 31 | 29 | 6 | 2 | 231 | 245 | 70 |
| Kelowna Rockets | 68 | 28 | 32 | 6 | 2 | 169 | 209 | 64 |
| Prince George Cougars | 68 | 19 | 41 | 5 | 3 | 152 | 237 | 46 |
2018 Ed Chynoweth Cup Playoffs[]
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 advances to the 2019 Memorial Cup, which is being held at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia and hosted by the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Bracket[]
| Conference Quarter-finals | Conference Semi-finals | Conference Finals | WHL Championship | |||||||||||||||
| E1 | Prince Albert | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Red Deer | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Prince Albert | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Saskatoon | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Saskatoon | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Moose Jaw | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Prince Albert | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Eastern | ||||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Edmonton | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Edmonton | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Medicine Hat | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Edmonton | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| C3 | Calgary | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Lethbridge | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| C3 | Calgary | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Prince Albert | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| B1 | Vancouver | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| U1 | Everett | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Tri-City | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| U1 | Everett | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| U2 | Spokane | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| U2 | Spokane | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| U3 | Portland | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| B1 | Vancouver | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Western | ||||||||||||||||||
| U2 | Spokane | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| B1 | Vancouver | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Seattle | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| B1 | Vancouver | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| B2 | Victoria | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| B2 | Victoria | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| B3 | Kamloops | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Western Conference Tie-Breaker[]
Due to the Kamloops Blazers and Kelowna Rockets finishing with identical records they would play on one game tie-breaker.
- Kamloops Blazers defeated Kelowna Rockets 5-1
Eastern Division Semifinals[]
- Prince Albert Raiders defeated Red Deer Rebels 4 games to none
- Saskatoon Blades defeated Moose Jaw Warriors 4 games to none
Central Division Semifinals[]
- Edmonton Oil Kings defeated Medicine Hat Tigers 4 games to 2
- Calgary Hitmen defeated Lethbridge Hurricanes 4 games to 3
Due to the 2019 Men's World Curling championships being held at the ENMAX Centre, the Lethbridge Hurricanes were forced to move game 7 of the series to the Nicholas Sheran Arena in Lethbridge which was played April 2nd.
BC Division Semifinals[]
- Vancouver Giants defeated Seattle Thunderbirds 4 games to 2
- Victoria Royals defeated Kamloops Blazers 4 games to 2
US Division Semifinals[]
- Everett Silvertips defeated Tri City Americans 4 games to 1
- Spokane Chiefs defeated Portland Winterhawks 4 games to 1
Eastern Division Final[]
- Prince Albert Raiders defeated Saskatoon Blades 4 games to 2
Central Division Final[]
- Edmonton Oil Kings defeated Calgary Hitmen 4 games to none
BC Division Final[]
- Vancouver Giants defeated Victoria Royals 4 games to none
US Division Final[]
- Spokane Chiefs defeated Everett Silvertips 4 games to 1
Eastern Conference Final[]
- Prince Albert Raiders defeated Edmonton Oil Kings 4 games to 2
Western Conference Final[]
- Vancouver Giants defeated Spokane Chiefs 4 games to 1
Ed Chynoweth Cup Final[]
- Prince Albert Raiders defeated Vancouver Giants 4 games to 3
The Prince Albert Raiders advance to the 2019 Memorial Cup. Ian Scott was named Chynoweth Cup Most Valuable Player.
2019 WHL champions Prince Albert Raiders