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.

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
	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
	Swift Current Broncos	Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada	Credit Union iPlex	3,239
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
	Winnipeg Ice	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada	Wayne Fleming Arena	1,400

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	64	36	18	6	4	210	160	82
Winnipeg Ice	63	38	24	1	0	231	207	77
Brandon Wheat Kings	63	35	22	4	2	227	173	76

Central Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts
Edmonton Oil Kings	64	42	12	6	4	239	167	94
Medicine Hat Tigers	63	41	19	2	1	265	182	85
Lethbridge Hurricanes	63	37	19	2	5	249	193	81

Eastern Conference Wild Card

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts
Calgary Hitmen	64	35	24	4	1	219	201	75
Saskatoon Blades	63	34	24	2	3	211	197	73
Red Deer Rebels	63	24	33	3	3	181	250	54
Regina Pats	63	21	34	6	2	183	258	50
Moose Jaw Warriors	62	14	44	4	0	146	291	32
Swift Current Broncos	63	10	48	2	3	129	298	25

Western Conference

BC Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts
Kamloops Blazers	63	41	18	3	1	271	166	86
Victoria Royals	64	32	24	6	2	176	190	72
Vancouver Giants	62	32	24	4	2	189	166	70

US Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts
Portland Winterhawks	63	45	11	3	4	270	164	97
Everett Silvertips	63	46	13	3	1	228	142	96
Spokane Chiefs	64	41	18	4	1	258	179	87

Western Conference Wild Card

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts
Kelowna Rockets	63	29	28	3	3	181	208	64
Seattle Thunderbirds	63	24	32	4	3	175	240	55
Prince George Cougars	62	20	34	4	4	144	205	48
Tri-City Americans	63	17	40	4	2	157	302	40

2020 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 (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.