2020–21 WHL season

The 2020–21 WHL season was the 55th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The season began on February 26 and ended on May 12.

2020–21 WHL season
League	Western Hockey League
Sport	Hockey
Duration	February 26, 2021 – May 12, 2021
Number of teams	22
TV partner(s)	KRCW-TV KZJO Sportsnet
Finals champions	None

2020–21 CHL seasons
League	Canadian Hockey League
Sport	Hockey
Duration	OHL Did not play QMJHL October 2020–June 2021 WHL February–May 2021
Number of teams	60
TV partner(s)	TVA Sports Rogers Sportsnet Rogers TV Shaw TV

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a late start, the season was shortened from 68 to 24 games, and the WHL officially termed the season as a "developmental season".^[1][2] Teams played within their respective divisions only: the Central Division consisted exclusively of Alberta-based teams, the U.S. Division played exclusively in Washington state, all B.C.-based teams played from either Sandman Centre or Prospera Place in Kamloops and Kelowna, British Columbia, and all East Division games were played at Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan.^[3][4][5]

In Alberta due to protocols agreed upon by the league, a five-day period was required between games involving different opponents. Therefore, all Central Division games were scheduled as home-and-home series on weekends only, and thus no team was scheduled to play more than one opponent per-week.^[6]

On April 19, citing logistical issues and interprovincial travel restrictions, and following the cancellation of the 2021 Memorial Cup, the WHL announced that it had cancelled the playoffs.^[7] Therefore, no league champion was declared for the second season in a row.

Standings

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SL = Shootout losses; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PTS = Points; x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched conference title

Central Division^[8]

Pos		GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Edmonton Oil Kings yz	23	20	2	0	1	104	41	41
2	Medicine Hat Tigers	23	14	8	0	1	87	69	29
3	Calgary Hitmen	21	10	8	3	0	72	79	23
4	Lethbridge Hurricanes	24	9	12	3	0	81	108	21
5	Red Deer Rebels	23	4	15	4	0	59	106	12

East Division^[8]

Pos		GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Brandon Wheat Kings y	24	18	4	2	0	104	61	38
2	Winnipeg Ice	24	18	5	1	0	100	70	37
3	Saskatoon Blades	24	16	5	2	1	80	62	35
4	Prince Albert Raiders	24	9	11	3	1	70	81	22
5	Regina Pats	24	9	12	2	1	76	96	21
6	Moose Jaw Warriors	24	8	13	3	0	71	95	19
7	Swift Current Broncos	24	6	16	2	0	72	108	14

U.S. Division^[8]

Pos		GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Everett Silvertips y	23	19	4	0	0	91	45	38
2	Portland Winterhawks	24	13	8	3	0	96	72	29
3	Seattle Thunderbirds	23	10	12	0	1	67	82	21
4	Spokane Chiefs	21	6	10	4	1	55	79	17
5	Tri-City Americans	19	7	12	0	0	47	78	14

B.C. Division^[8]

Pos		GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Kamloops Blazers y	22	18	4	0	0	87	51	36
2	Vancouver Giants	22	12	10	0	0	71	59	24
3	Kelowna Rockets	16	10	5	1	0	58	53	21
4	Prince George Cougars	22	9	10	2	1	57	62	21
5	Victoria Royals	22	3	17	1	1	48	96	8

Map of WHL, 2019–20 to 2022–23

190km
118miles

Ice

Wheat Kings

Pats

Warriors

Raiders

Blades

Broncos

Tigers

Hurricanes

Oil Kings

Rebels

Hitmen

Chiefs

Americans

Rockets

Blazers

Silvertips

Thunderbirds

Winterhawks

Cougars

Giants

Royals

   

   East Division

   Central Division

   BC Division

   US Division

Statistics

Scoring leaders

Players are listed by points, then goals.^[9]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts. = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Peyton Krebs	Winnipeg Ice	24	13	30	43	28
Ben McCartney	Brandon Wheat Kings	24	13	24	37	29
Cole Fonstad	Everett Silvertips	23	16	18	34	14
Gage Goncalves	Everett Silvertips	23	12	22	34	12
Justin Sourdif	Vancouver Giants	22	11	23	34	29
Connor McClennon	Winnipeg Ice	24	14	19	33	27
Jake Neighbours	Edmonton Oil Kings	19	9	24	33	17
Tristen Nielsen	Vancouver Giants	22	15	17	32	14
Ridly Greig	Brandon Wheat Kings	21	10	22	32	39
Kyle Crnkovic	Saskatoon Blades	24	10	22	32	8

Leading goaltenders

These are the goaltenders that lead the league in GAA that have played at least 420 minutes.^[10]

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout Losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage

Player	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	OTL	SOL	SO	GAA	Sv%
Sebastian Cossa	Edmonton Oil Kings	19	1144	17	1	0	1	4	1.57	0.941
Dustin Wolf	Everett Silvertips	22	1298	18	3	0	0	4	1.80	0.940
Dylan Garand	Kamloops Blazers	18	1086	15	3	0	0	3	2.15	0.921
Trent Miner	Vancouver Giants	15	832	7	8	0	0	4	2.16	0.915
Gage Alexander	Winnipeg Ice	9	538	6	3	0	0	1	2.23	0.917

WHL awards

Award	Name	Winner
WHL Champions	Ed Chynoweth Cup	Not Awarded
Regular season champions	Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy	not awarded
Player of the Year	Four Broncos Memorial Trophy	Peyton Krebs, Winnipeg Ice
Top Scorer	Bob Clarke Trophy	Peyton Krebs, Winnipeg Ice
Top Defenceman	Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy	Braden Schneider, Brandon Wheat Kings
Rookie of the Year	Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy	Connor Bedard, Regina Pats
Top Goaltender	Del Wilson Trophy	Dustin Wolf, Everett Silvertips
Top Plus-Minus Rating	WHL Plus-Minus Award	Jake Neighbours, Edmonton Oil Kings
Most Sportsmanlike Player	Brad Hornung Trophy	Eli Zummack, Spokane Chiefs
Scholastic Player of the Year	Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy	Ethan Peters, Edmonton Oil Kings
Scholastic team of the Year	Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy	not awarded
Coach of the Year	Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy
Executive of the Year	Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy
Top Official	Allen Paradice Memorial Trophy
Marketing/Public Relations Award	St. Clair Group Trophy
Humanitarian of the Year	Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy
WHL Finals Most Valuable Player	airBC Trophy	Not Awarded
Alumni Achievement Awards	Professional Hockey Achievement Academic Recipient

See also

• List of WHL seasons
• 2020–21 OHL season
• 2020–21 QMJHL season
• 2020 in ice hockey