1980–81 WHL season explained

The 1980–81 WHL season was the 15th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL), featuring thirteen teams and a 72-game regular season. The Victoria Cougars won both the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for topping the regular season standings—setting a league record with 60 wins—and the President's Cup as league champions, defeating the Calgary Wranglers in the playoff finals.^[1]

The season was the first for both the Spokane Flyers, who reactivated the dormant Great Falls Americans franchise, and the expansion Winnipeg Warriors.

Team changes

• The Great Falls Americans are reactivated and relocated to Spokane, Washington, becoming the Spokane Flyers.
• The Winnipeg Warriors join the WHL as an expansion team.

Regular season

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

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		68	64	96	160	187
		72	67	86	153	37
		55	65	82	147	65
		72	55	84	139	60
		72	28	111	139	61
		72	56	79	135	121
		72	62	71	133	39
		69	64	60	124	295
Mark Sochatsky		70	40	79	119	279
		72	53	65	118	176

1981 WHL Playoffs

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

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

Division finals

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

WHL Championship

• Victoria defeated Calgary 4 games to 3

All-Star game

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

WHL awards

Most Valuable Player Steve Tsujiura, Medicine Hat Tigers
Top Scorer - Bob Clarke Trophy: Brian Varga, Regina Pats
Most Sportsmanlike Player Steve Tsujiura, 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

All-Star Teams

	First Team		Second Team
Goal				Medicine Hat Tigers
Defense			Len Dawes	Victoria Cougars
				Portland Winter Hawks
Center				Medicine Hat Tigers
Left Wing				Victoria Cougars
Right Wing				Regina Pats

See also

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

References

• 2005–06 WHL Guide

Notes and References

1. News: Dheensaw . Cleve . 2015-09-20 . Mystery of the missing VIctoria Cougars champion banner . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211203034559/https://www.timescolonist.com/islander/mystery-of-the-missing-victoria-cougars-champion-banner-4627103 . 2021-12-03 . 2024-06-05 . The Times-Colonist.