The 1977–78 WCHL season was the 12th season for the Western Canada Hockey League, known in the present day as the Western Hockey League. Twelve teams completed a 72 game season. The New Westminster Bruins won their fourth consecutive President's Cup and second consecutive Memorial Cup.

Contents 1 League notes 2 Regular season 2.1 Final standings 2.2 Scoring leaders 3 WHL Playoffs 3.1 Division Semi-finals 3.2 Division Finals 3.3 League semi-finals 3.4 WHL Championship 4 All-Star Game 5 WHL awards 6 See also 7 References

[edit] League notes

• The Calgary Centennials relocated to Billings, Montana to become the Billings Bighorns.
• The Winnipeg Monarchs relocated to Calgary, Alberta to become the Calgary Wranglers.
• The Kamloops Chiefs relocated to Seattle, Washington to become the Seattle Breakers.

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Final standings

East Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Brandon Wheat Kings	72	46	12	14	106	424	299
x Flin Flon Bombers	72	33	30	9	75	396	380
x Regina Pats	72	29	38	5	63	363	405
Saskatoon Blades	72	20	50	2	42	340	460

Central Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Lethbridge Broncos	72	36	29	7	79	341	328
x Billings Bighorns	72	32	31	9	73	342	336
x Medicine Hat Tigers	72	22	41	9	53	293	365
Calgary Wranglers	72	18	40	14	50	303	404

West Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Portland Winter Hawks	72	41	20	11	93	361	296
x Victoria Cougars	72	34	29	9	77	365	333
x New Westminster Bruins	72	33	28	11	77	345	310
Seattle Breakers	72	32	28	12	76	359	316

[edit] Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Brian Propp	Brandon Wheat Kings	70	70	112	182	200
Ray Allison	Brandon Wheat Kings	71	73	86	160	254
Steve Tambellini	Lethbridge Broncos	66	75	80	155	32
Errol Rausse	Seattle Breakers	72	62	92	154	60
Bill Derlago	Brandon Wheat Kings	52	89	63	152	105
Geordie Robertson	Victoria Cougars	61	64	72	136	85
Gerald Minor	Regina Pats	66	54	75	129	236
Merlin Malinowski	Medicine Hat Tigers	72	48	78	126	131
Ryan Walter	Seattle Breakers	62	54	71	125	148
Wayne Babych	Portland Winter Hawks	68	50	71	121	218

[edit] WHL Playoffs

[edit] Division Semi-finals

Round Robin format

• Flin Flon (4–4) advanced
• Regina (4–4) advanced
• Brandon (4–4) eliminated

• Billings (6–2) advanced
• Medicine Hat (3–5) advanced
• Lethbridge (3–5) eliminated

• New Westminster (7–1) advanced
• Victoria (4–4) advanced
• Portland (1–7) eliminated

[edit] Division Finals

• Flin Flon defeated Regina 4 games to 1
• Billings defeated Medicine Hat 4 games to 0
• New Westminster defeated Victoria 4 games to 1

[edit] League semi-finals

Round Robin format

• Billings (3–1) advanced
• New Westminster (3–1) advanced
• Flin Flon (0–4) eliminated

[edit] WHL Championship

• New Westminster defeated Billings 4 games to 0

[edit] All-Star Game

On January 18, the West All-Stars defeated the East All-Stars 2–1 at Regina, Saskatchewan with a crowd of 2,814.

[edit] WHL awards

Most Valuable Player: Ryan Walter, Seattle Breakers

Top Scorer: Brian Propp, Brandon Wheat Kings

Most Sportsmanlike Player: Steve Tambellini, Lethbridge Broncos

Top Defenseman: Brad McCrimmon, Brandon Wheat Kings

Rookie of the Year: (tie)Keith Brown, Portland Winter Hawks and John Ogrodnick, New Westminster Bruins

Top Goaltender: Bart Hunter, Portland Winter Hawks

Coach of the Year: (tie) Dave King, Billings Bighorns and Jack Shupe, Victoria Cougars

Regular season champions: Brandon Wheat Kings

[edit] See also

• 1978 Memorial Cup
• 1978 NHL Entry Draft
• 1977 in sports
• 1978 in sports

[edit] References

• whl.ca
• 2005–06 WHL Guide

Preceded by 1976–77 WCHL season

WHL seasons

Succeeded by 1978–79 WHL season