The 1978–79 WHL season was the 13th season for the Western Hockey League. Twelve teams completed a 72 game season. The Brandon Wheat Kings won the President's 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 league shortened its name to the Western Hockey League.
• The Flin Flon Bombers relocated to Edmonton, Alberta to become the second incarnation of the Edmonton Oil Kings.

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Final standings

East Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Brandon Wheat Kings	72	58	5	9	125	491	230
x Saskatoon Blades	72	26	32	14	66	385	398
x Edmonton Oil Kings	72	17	43	12	46	288	403
Regina Pats	72	18	47	7	43	297	481

Central Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Billings Bighorns	72	38	23	11	87	378	302
x Lethbridge Broncos	72	37	28	7	81	389	326
x Calgary Wranglers	72	28	38	6	62	349	392
Medicine Hat Tigers	72	15	50	7	37	270	479

West Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Portland Winter Hawks	72	49	10	13	111	432	265
x Victoria Cougars	72	34	27	11	79	318	295
x New Westminster Bruins	72	34	32	6	74	310	301
Seattle Breakers	72	21	40	11	53	299	334

[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	71	94	100	194	127
Ray Allison	Brandon Wheat Kings	62	60	93	153	191
Laurie Boschman	Brandon Wheat Kings	65	66	83	149	215
Duane Sutter	Lethbridge Broncos	71	50	75	125	212
Doug Morrison	Lethbridge Broncos	72	56	67	123	159
Kelly Kisio	Calgary Wranglers	70	60	61	121	73
Mike Toal	Portland Winter Hawks	71	38	83	121	32
Brent Ashton	Saskatoon Blades	62	64	65	119	180
Perry Turnbull	Portland Winter Hawks	70	75	43	118	191
Gord Williams	Lethbridge Broncos	72	58	59	117	60

[edit] WHL Playoffs

[edit] Division semi-finals

Round robin format

• Brandon (7–1) advanced
• Saskatoon (3–5) advanced
• Edmonton (2–6) eliminated

• Lethbridge (5–3) advanced
• Calgary (4–4) advanced
• Billings (3–5) eliminated

• Portland (7–1) advanced
• Victoria (3–5) advanced
• New Westminster (2–6) eliminated

[edit] Division finals

• Brandon defeated Saskatoon 4 games to 0
• Lethbridge defeated Calgary 4 games to 3
• Portland defeated Victoria 4 games to 3

[edit] League semi-finals

Round Robin format

• Brandon (3–1) advanced
• Portland (3–1) advanced
• Lethbridge (0–4) eliminated

[edit] WHL Championship

• Brandon defeated Portland 4 games to 2

[edit] All-Star Game

There was no All-Star game in 1978–79.

[edit] WHL awards

Most Valuable Player: Perry Turnbull, Portland Winter Hawks

Top Scorer: Brian Propp, Brandon Wheat Kings

Most Sportsmanlike Player: Errol Rausse, Seattle Breakers

Top Defenseman: Keith Brown, Portland Winter Hawks

Rookie of the Year: Kelly Kisio, Calgary Wranglers

Top Goaltender: Rick Knickle, Brandon Wheat Kings

Coach of the Year: Dunc McCallum, Brandon Wheat Kings

Regular season champions: Brandon Wheat Kings

[edit] See also

• 1979 Memorial Cup
• 1979 NHL Entry Draft
• 1978 in sports
• 1979 in sports

[edit] References

• whl.ca
• 2005–06 WHL Guide

Preceded by 1977–78 WCHL season

WHL seasons

Succeeded by 1979–80 WHL season