# 1985–86 WHL season

The 1985–86 WHL season was the 20th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). It featured fourteen teams and a 72-game regular season. The Medicine Hat Tigers captured their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for the best regular season record, while the Kamloops Blazers won their second President's Cup as playoff champions.
The season was the first for the Spokane Chiefs, with the Kelowna Wings relocating to Spokane, Washington prior to the season. The Chiefs became the third American-based WHL team. In addition, the Seattle Breakers were renamed the Thunderbirds.

## Team changes

* The Kelowna Wings relocated to Spokane, Washington, becoming the Spokane Chiefs.
* The Seattle Breakers are renamed the Seattle Thunderbirds.

## Regular season
### Final standings

| East Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
| x Medicine Hat Tigers | 72 | 54 | 17 | 1 | 109 | 384 | 245 |
| x Prince Albert Raiders | 72 | 52 | 17 | 3 | 107 | 424 | 257 |
| x Regina Pats | 72 | 45 | 26 | 1 | 91 | 384 | 295 |
| x Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 38 | 28 | 6 | 82 | 381 | 360 |
| x Lethbridge Broncos | 72 | 27 | 42 | 3 | 57 | 314 | 379 |
| x Moose Jaw Warriors | 72 | 25 | 44 | 3 | 53 | 294 | 375 |
| Brandon Wheat Kings | 72 | 24 | 46 | 2 | 50 | 324 | 438 |
| Calgary Wranglers | 72 | 23 | 47 | 2 | 48 | 288 | 378 |
| West Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
| x Kamloops Blazers | 72 | 49 | 19 | 4 | 102 | 449 | 299 |
| x Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 47 | 24 | 1 | 95 | 438 | 348 |
| x Spokane Chiefs | 72 | 30 | 41 | 1 | 61 | 373 | 413 |
| x Seattle Thunderbirds | 72 | 27 | 43 | 2 | 56 | 330 | 406 |
| New Westminster Bruins | 72 | 25 | 45 | 2 | 52 | 276 | 373 |
| Victoria Cougars | 72 | 22 | 49 | 1 | 45 | 346 | 439 |

### Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Rob Brown | Kamloops Blazers | 69 | 58 | 115 | 173 | 171 |
| Simon Wheeldon | Victoria Cougars | 70 | 61 | 96 | 157 | 85 |
| Ken Morrison | Kamloops Blazers/Prince Albert Raiders | 72 | 83 | 67 | 150 | 65 |
| Randy Smith | Saskatoon Blades | 70 | 60 | 86 | 146 | 44 |
| Ken Priestlay | Victoria Cougars | 72 | 73 | 72 | 145 | 45 |
| Rod Matechuk | Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 57 | 78 | 135 | 93 |
| Ray Podloski | Portland Winter Hawks | 66 | 59 | 75 | 134 | 69 |
| Mike Nottingham | Kamloops Blazers | 70 | 61 | 70 | 131 | 101 |
| Craig Endean | Seattle Thunderbirds | 70 | 58 | 70 | 128 | 34 |
| Dave Waldie | Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 68 | 58 | 126 | 63 |

## 1986 WHL Playoffs
### First round

The East division played a round robin format amongst the top six teams:
* Prince Albert (9–1) advanced
* Medicine Hat (8–2) advanced
* Saskatoon (7–3) advanced
* Moose Jaw (4–6) advanced
* Lethbridge (1–9) eliminated
* Regina (1–9) eliminated

### Division semi-finals

* Medicine Hat defeated Moose Jaw 3 games to 0
* Prince Albert defeated Saskatoon 3 games to 0
* Kamloops defeated Seattle 5 games to 0
* Portland defeated Spokane 5 games to 4

### Division finals

* Medicine Hat defeated Prince Albert 4 games to 3
* Kamloops defeated Portland 5 games to 1

### WHL Championship

* Kamloops defeated Medicine Hat 4 games to 1

## All-Star games

On January 20, the Portland Winter Hawks defeated the West All-Stars 4–3 in Portland, Oregon before a crowd of 3,106. On January 21, the East All-Stars defeated the Prince Albert Raiders 6–3 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan before a crowd of 1,475.

## WHL awards

* Note: In some cases, the WHL handed out separate awards for the East and West divisions.
* Most Valuable Player: East: Emanuel Viveiros, Prince Albert Raiders; West: Rob Brown, Kamloops Blazers
* Scholastic Player of the Year - Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy: Mark Janssens, Regina Pats
* Top Scorer - Bob Clarke Trophy: Rob Brown, Kamloops Blazers
* Most Sportsmanlike Player: East: Randy Smith, Saskatoon Blades; Ken Morrison, Kamloops Blazers
* Top Defenseman - Bill Hunter Trophy: East: Emanuel Viveiros, Prince Albert Raiders; West: Glen Wesley, Portland Winter Hawks
* Rookie of the Year - Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy: East: Neil Brady, Medicine Hat Tigers; West: (tie) Ron Shudra, Kamloops Blazers and Dave Waldie, Portland Winter Hawks
* Top Goaltender - Del Wilson Trophy: Mark Fitzpatrick, Medicine Hat Tigers
* Coach of the Year - Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy: Terry Simpson, Prince Albert Raiders
* Regular season champions - Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy: Medicine Hat Tigers

## All-Star Teams

East Division :
| | First Team | First Team | Second Team | Second Team |
| Goal | Darryl Gilmour | Moose Jaw Warriors | Mark Fitzpatrick | Medicine Hat Tigers |
| Defense | Emanuel Viveiros | Prince Albert Raiders | Robert Dirk | Regina Pats |
| Defense | Ken Spangler | Calgary Wranglers | Dave Manson | Prince Albert Raiders |
| Center | Al Conroy | Medicine Hat Tigers | Randy Smith | Saskatoon Blades |
| Left Wing | Tim Iannone | Regina Pats | Larry DePalma | Saskatoon Blades |
| Right Wing | Pat Elynuik | Prince Albert Raiders | Kim Issel | Prince Albert Raiders |
| West Division |||||
| | First Team | First Team | Second Team | Second Team |
| Goal | Larry Dyck | Seattle Thunderbirds | Bill Ranford | New Westminster Bruins |
| Defense | Glen Wesley | Portland Winter Hawks | Mike Berger | Spokane Chiefs |
| Defense | Jim Agnew (tied) | Portland Winter Hawks | Ron Shudra | Kamloops Blazers |
| Defense | Greg Hawgood (tied) | Kamloops Blazers | - | - |
| Center | Rob Brown | Kamloops Blazers | Simon Wheeldon | Victoria Cougars |
| Left Wing | Dave Waldie | Portland Winter Hawks | Ken Priestlay | Victoria Cougars |
| Right Wing | Ken Morrison | Kamloops Blazers | Terry Perkins | Spokane Chiefs |