2020-21 WHL season

This is the 2020-21 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.

Return to Play

On June 17, 2020 following the league's annual general meeting the following was release: The WHL has targeted a start date of Friday, October 2 for the 2020-21 WHL Regular Season, but this date remains contingent on receiving the necessary approvals from government and health authorities in each of the six jurisdictions in WHL territory. The WHL is committed to protecting the integrity of the WHL Regular Season schedule, and fully intends to complete a full 68-game schedule for 2020-21, regardless of when the season begins.

The WHL is also working with government and health authorities in each jurisdiction on the level of spectator capacities that will be permitted in each WHL Club arena facility. The WHL is a spectator-driven league and the welcoming back of WHL fans is vital to a successful return to hockey for all 22 WHL member Clubs.

On October 14, 2020 the league announced that it scheduling a strictly divisional schedule that would begin on January 8, 2021. Also as part of the reorganization of scheduling the Swift Current Broncos are moved from the Central Division to the Eastern Division so that the Eastern Division is teams from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the Central Division is all Alberta teams, and the Western Conference is unchanged with the BC and US Divisions.

The league would finally begin play on February 26th. The schedule is tentatively scheduled to end on May 12th. Each team is scheduled to play 24 games.

On April 26th the province of Manitoba announced restrictions on indoor social gatherings and limiting outdoor gatherings to 10 starting on April 27th, this should not cause any complications with the leagues schedule as the Manitoba based teams are playing in a bubble envioronment in Regina, Saskatchewan along with the other East Division teams.

Cancellation of Playoffs

On April 20th the league would announce that the season would conclude with the completion of the 24 game per team schedule on May 12th. The league cited logistical challenges involving travel across so many jurisdictions as the main reason for the cancellation of the playoffs.

Membership changes

• None

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	Westerner Park Centrium	6,000
East (Hub Centre)	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
	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 (Hub Centre)

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts	%
Brandon Wheat Kings	24	18	4	2	0	104	61	38	.792
Winnipeg Ice	24	18	5	1	0	100	70	37	.771
Saskatoon Blades	24	16	5	2	1	80	62	35	.729
Prince Albert Raiders	24	9	11	3	1	70	81	22	.458
Regina Pats	24	9	12	2	1	76	96	21	.438
Moose Jaw Warriors	24	8	13	3	0	71	95	19	.396
Swift Current Broncos	24	6	16	2	0	72	108	14	.292

Central Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts	%
Edmonton Oil Kings	23	20	2	0	1	104	41	41	.891
Medicine Hat Tigers	23	14	8	0	1	87	69	29	.630
Calgary Hitmen	21	10	8	3	0	72	79	23	.548
Lethbridge Hurricanes	24	9	12	3	0	81	108	21	.438
Red Deer Rebels	23	4	15	4	0	59	106	12	.261

Western Conference

BC Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts	%
Kamloops Blazers	22	18	4	0	0	87	51	36	.818
Kelowna Rockets	16	10	5	1	0	58	53	21	.656
Vancouver Giants	22	12	10	0	0	71	59	24	.545
Prince George Cougars	22	9	10	2	1	57	62	21	.477
Victoria Royals	22	3	17	1	1	48	96	8	.182

US Division

Team	GP	W	L	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts	%
Everett Silvertips	23	19	4	0	0	91	45	38	.826
Portland Winterhawks	24	13	8	3	0	96	72	29	.604
Seattle Thunderbirds	23	10	12	0	1	67	82	21	.457
Spokane Chiefs	21	6	10	4	1	55	79	17	.405
Tri-City Americans	19	7	12	0	0	47	78	14	.368

Playoffs

Cancelled due to logistical issues with the number of jurisdictions involved.