1969–70 WHL season

The 1969–70 WHL season was the 18th season of the Western Hockey League. Seven teams played a 74-game schedule, and the Vancouver Canucks were the Lester Patrick Cup champions, defeating the Portland Buckaroos four games to one in the final series. The Salt Lake Golden Eagles joined the WHL as seventh team.

1969–70 WHL season
League	Western Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Number of games	72 (73[1])
Number of teams	7
Regular season
Season champions	Portland Buckaroos
Top scorer	Art Jones
Lester Patrick Cup
Champions	Vancouver Canucks
Runners-up	Portland Buckaroos

Prior to the start of the season the Vancouver Canucks were purchased by a group that was awarded a National Hockey League expansion team for the 1970–71 season, with plans to move the team to the NHL.

Teams

1969–70 Western Hockey League
Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Denver Spurs	Denver, Colorado	Denver Coliseum	8,140
Phoenix Roadrunners	Phoenix, Arizona	Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum	12,371
Portland Buckaroos	Portland, Oregon	Memorial Coliseum	12,000
Salt Lake Golden Eagles	Salt Lake City, Utah	Salt Palace	10,594
San Diego Gulls	San Diego, California	San Diego International Sports Center	12,920
Seattle Totems	Seattle, Washington	Seattle Center Coliseum	12,250
Vancouver Canucks	Vancouver, British Columbia	Pacific Coliseum	15,038

Map of teams

Spurs

Road
runners

Buckaroos

Golden Eagles

Gulls

Totems

Canucks

WHL Teams

Final standings

WHL Standings^[2]

R	Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Vancouver Canucks	72	47	17	8	334	219	102
2	Portland Buckaroos	72	42	23	7	322	241	91
3	San Diego Gulls	72	33	29	10	263	242	76
4	Seattle Totems	73[1]	30	35	8	240	260	68
5	Phoenix Roadrunners	73[1]	27	34	12	252	257	66
6	Denver Spurs	72	24	37	11	250	316	59
7	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	72	15	43	14	240	366	44

bold - qualified for playoffs

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Finals
	1	Vancouver Canucks	4
	3	San Diego Gulls	2
						1	Vancouver Canucks	4
						2	Portland Buckaroos	1
	2	Portland Buckaroos	4
	4	Seattle Totems	2

The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Portland Buckaroos 4 games to 1 to win the Lester Patrick Cup.^[3]