The 1980–81 WHL season was the 15th season for the Western Hockey League. Thirteen teams completed a 72 game season. The Victoria Cougars 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 First round 3.2 Division semi-finals 3.3 Division finals 3.4 WHL Championship 4 All-Star game 5 WHL awards 6 See also 7 References

[edit] League notes

• The Spokane Flyers and Winnipeg Warriors joined the WHL as its 12th and 13th franchises.

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Final standings

East Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Regina Pats	72	49	21	2	100	423	315
x Calgary Wranglers	72	46	24	2	94	368	295
x Medicine Hat Tigers	72	40	29	3	83	358	302
x Lethbridge Broncos	72	37	33	2	76	339	332
x Billings Bighorns	72	30	40	2	62	336	334
x Brandon Wheat Kings	72	29	40	3	61	342	352
Winnipeg Warriors	72	28	43	1	57	298	345
Saskatoon Blades	72	22	47	3	47	297	427

West Division	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
x Victoria Cougars	72	60	11	1	121	462	217
x Portland Winter Hawks	72	56	15	1	113	443	266
x Seattle Breakers	72	26	46	0	52	318	393
x Spokane Flyers	72	17	54	1	35	288	488
New Westminster Bruins	72	17	54	1	35	306	512

[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 Varga	Regina Pats	68	64	96	160	187
Jock Callander	Regina Pats	72	67	86	153	37
Barry Pederson	Victoria Cougars	55	65	82	147	65
Steve Tsujiura	Medicine Hat Tigers	72	55	84	139	60
Jim Benning	Portland Winter Hawks	72	28	111	139	61
Gary Yaremchuk	Portland Winter Hawks	72	56	79	135	121
Dave Michayluk	Regina Pats	72	62	71	133	39
Dave Chartier	Brandon Wheat Kings	69	64	60	124	295
Mark Sochatsky	Spokane Flyers	70	40	79	119	279
Brian Shaw	Portland Winter Hawks	72	53	65	118	176

[edit] WHL Playoffs

[edit] First round

• Regina defeated Brandon 4 games to 1
• Calgary defeated Billings 4 games to 1
• Lethbridge defeated Medicine Hat 4 games to 1

• Spokane defeated New Westminster in 4th place tiebreaker game

[edit] Division semi-finals

• Regina earned a bye
• Calgary defeated Lethbridge 3 games to 1

• Victoria defeated Spokane 4 games to 0
• Portland defeated Seattle 4 games to 1

[edit] Division finals

• Calgary defeated Regina 4 games to 2
• Victoria defeated Portland 4 games to 0

[edit] WHL Championship

• Victoria defeated Calgary 4 games to 3

[edit] All-Star game

On January 20, the WHL All-Stars defeated the Victoria Cougars 8–3 at Victoria, British Columbia with a crowd of 3,520.

[edit] WHL awards

Most Valuable Player: Steve Tsujirua, Medicine Hat Tigers

Top Scorer - Bob Clarke Trophy: Brian Varga, Regina Pats

Most Sportsmanlike Player: Steve Tsujirua, Medicine Hat Tigers

Top Defenseman - Bill Hunter Trophy: Jim Benning, Portland Winter Hawks

Rookie of the Year - Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy: Dave Michayluk, Regina Pats

Top Goaltender - Del Wilson Trophy: Grant Fuhr, Victoria Cougars

Coach of the Year - Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy: Ken Hodge, Portland Winter Hawks

Regular season Champions - Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy: Victoria Cougars

[edit] See also

• 1981 Memorial Cup
• 1981 NHL Entry Draft
• 1980 in sports
• 1981 in sports

[edit] References

• whl.ca
• 2005–06 WHL Guide

Preceded by 1979–80 WHL season

WHL seasons

Succeeded by 1981–82 WHL season