# 1980–81 WHL season

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.
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 | Regina Pats | 68 | 64 | 96 | 160 | 187 |
| Jock Callander | Regina Pats | 72 | 67 | 86 | 153 | 37 |
| Barry Pederson | Victoria Cougars | 55 | 65 | 82 | 147 | 65 |
| Steve Tsujiura | Medicine Hat Tigers | 72 | 55 | 84 | 139 | 60 |
| Jim Benning | Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 28 | 111 | 139 | 61 |
| Gary Yaremchuk | Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 56 | 79 | 135 | 121 |
| Dave Michayluk | Regina Pats | 72 | 62 | 71 | 133 | 39 |
| Dave Chartier | Brandon Wheat Kings | 69 | 64 | 60 | 124 | 295 |
| Mark Sochatsky | Spokane Flyers | 70 | 40 | 79 | 119 | 279 |
| Brian Shaw | Portland Winter Hawks | 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 | First Team | Second Team | Second Team |
| Goal | Grant Fuhr | Victoria Cougars | Kelly Hrudey | Medicine Hat Tigers |
| Defense | Jim Benning | Portland Winter Hawks | Len Dawes | Victoria Cougars |
| Defense | Garth Butcher | Regina Pats | Gary Nylund | Portland Winter Hawks |
| Center | Barry Pederson | Victoria Cougars | Steve Tsujiura | Medicine Hat Tigers |
| Left Wing | Ken Solheim | Medicine Hat Tigers | Torrie Robertson | Victoria Cougars |
| Right Wing | Mike Moller | Lethbridge Broncos | Dave Michayluk | Regina Pats |