The 1995–96 WHL season was the 30th season for the Western Hockey League (WHL). Seventeen teams completed a 72-game season. The Brandon Wheat Kings won the President's Cup.
League notes
- The Calgary Hitmen joined the WHL as its 17th franchise, playing in the Central division.
- The Tacoma Rockets relocated to Kelowna, British Columbia to become the Kelowna Rockets.
- The WHL divided into three divisions: The East and Central divisions formed the Eastern Conference, and consisted of five teams per division. The West division was made up of the seven B.C. and U.S.-based teams.
- The playoff format was changed so that the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference and the top six in the West division qualified. The 14 playoff qualifiers all played best-of-seven series in the first round. The East semifinals were best-of-seven affairs, while the highest remaining seed in the West earned a bye. The remaining two West teams played a best of five series. Conference and League final series were best of seven.
- The Spokane Chiefs became the first team in WHL history to win a seven-game playoff series after being down 3 games to 0 against the Portland Winter Hawks.
Regular season
Final standings
| East Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x Brandon Wheat Kings | 72 | 52 | 19 | 1 | 105 | 369 | 231 |
| x Prince Albert Raiders | 72 | 47 | 19 | 6 | 100 | 309 | 250 |
| x Regina Pats | 72 | 37 | 33 | 2 | 76 | 316 | 284 |
| x Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 29 | 42 | 1 | 59 | 314 | 351 |
| Moose Jaw Warriors | 72 | 18 | 49 | 5 | 41 | 223 | 331 |
| Central Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x Swift Current Broncos | 72 | 36 | 31 | 5 | 77 | 285 | 271 |
| x Lethbridge Hurricanes | 72 | 33 | 36 | 3 | 69 | 259 | 270 |
| x Medicine Hat Tigers | 72 | 30 | 37 | 5 | 65 | 243 | 288 |
| x Red Deer Rebels | 72 | 28 | 39 | 5 | 61 | 263 | 300 |
| Calgary Hitmen | 72 | 18 | 51 | 3 | 39 | 222 | 359 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x Spokane Chiefs | 72 | 50 | 18 | 4 | 104 | 322 | 221 |
| x Kamloops Blazers | 72 | 48 | 22 | 2 | 98 | 343 | 257 |
| x Tri-City Americans | 72 | 45 | 25 | 2 | 92 | 336 | 255 |
| x Kelowna Rockets | 72 | 35 | 33 | 4 | 74 | 338 | 309 |
| x Seattle Thunderbirds | 72 | 29 | 36 | 7 | 65 | 255 | 281 |
| x Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 30 | 39 | 3 | 63 | 283 | 301 |
| Prince George Cougars | 72 | 17 | 53 | 2 | 36 | 219 | 340 |
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Deyell | Saskatoon Blades | 69 | 61 | 98 | 159 | 122 |
| Frank Banham | Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 83 | 69 | 152 | 116 |
| Hnat Domenichelli | Kamloops Blazers | 62 | 59 | 89 | 148 | 37 |
| Jarome Iginla | Kamloops Blazers | 63 | 63 | 73 | 136 | 120 |
| Robb Gordon | Kelowna Rockets | 58 | 51 | 63 | 114 | 84 |
| Josh Holden | Regina Pats | 70 | 57 | 55 | 112 | 105 |
| Mike Leclerc | Brandon Wheat Kings | 71 | 58 | 53 | 111 | 161 |
| Clarke Wilm | Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 49 | 61 | 110 | 83 |
| Peter Schaefer | Brandon Wheat Kings | 69 | 47 | 61 | 108 | 53 |
| Marty Flichel | Kelowna Rockets | 69 | 28 | 79 | 107 | 107 |
1996 WHL Playoffs
| First round | Division Semi-Finals | Division Finals | WHL Championship | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Brandon | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Saskatoon | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Brandon | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| C4 | Red Deer | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Swift Current | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| C4 | Red Deer | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Brandon | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Prince Albert | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Prince Albert | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| C3 | Medicine Hat | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Prince Albert | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Regina | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Regina | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Lethbridge | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Brandon | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Spokane | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Spokane | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W6 | Portland | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Spokane | bye | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Spokane | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Kamloops | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Kamloops | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W5 | Seattle | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Kamloops | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Tri-City | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Tri-City | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| W4 | Kelowna | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
All-Star game
On January 23, the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 10–7 at Prince George, British Columbia before a crowd of 5,992.
Awards
All-Star Teams
| Eastern Conference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Team | Second Team | |||
| Goal | Chad Mercier | Regina Pats | Terry Friesen | Swift Current Broncos |
| Defense | Wade Redden | Brandon Wheat Kings | Chad Allan | Saskatoon Blades |
| Craig Millar | Swift Current Broncos | Justin Kurtz | Brandon Wheat Kings | |
| Forward | Frank Banham | Saskatoon Blades | Curtis Brown | Prince Albert Raiders |
| Mark Deyell | Saskatoon Blades | Mike Leclerc | Brandon Wheat Kings | |
| Peter Schaefer | Brandon Wheat Kings | Byron Ritchie | Lethbridge Hurricanes | |
| Western Conference | ||||
| First Team | Second Team | |||
| Goal | David Lemanowicz | Spokane Chiefs | Brian Boucher | Tri-City Americans |
| Defense | Nolan Baumgartner | Kamloops Blazers | Sean Gillam | Spokane Chiefs |
| Jason Holland | Kamloops Blazers | Sheldon Souray | Kelowna Rockets | |
| Forward | Jarome Iginla | Kamloops Blazers | Daymond Langkow | Tri-City Americans |
| Hnat Domenichelli | Kamloops Blazers | Jaroslav Svejkovsky | Tri-City Americans | |
| Robb Gordon | Kelowna Rockets | Jason Podollan (tied) | Spokane Chiefs | |
| - | Richard Zedník (tied) | Portland Winter Hawks | ||
See also
References
- whl.ca
- 2005–06 WHL Guide
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