2022-23 WHL season

The 2022-23 Western Hockey League season. was the 57th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The regular season started on September 23, 2022, and ended on March 26, 2023. The 2023 WHL Playoffs began on March 31, 2023 and ended on May 19, 2023. Teams went back to inter-conference games for first time since the 2019–20 season.
The Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the Winnipeg Ice 4 games to 1 in the finals to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup and earn a spot in the Memorial Cup, hosted by the Kamloops Blazers.
==Membership changes==
*None for 2022-23
*After being unable to secure a new arena in the Winnipeg area the Winnipeg Ice are sold on June 16, 2023 and are relocated to the Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee, Washington where they will be renamed the Wenatchee Wild for the 2023-24 season. The Swift Current Broncos will remain in the Central Division for the 2023-24 season, but are due to move to the East Divsion for the 2024-25 season.https://whl.ca/article/whl-announces-relocation-of-winnipeg-ice-franchise-to-wenatchee-washington-for-2023-24-season
==Teams==
=== Eastern Conference ===
Division	Team 	City 	Arena 	Capacity
Central 	Calgary Hitmen 	Calgary, Alberta, Canada 	Scotiabank Saddledome
Stampede Corral(some playoff games)	19,289
6,450
Central 	Edmonton Oil Kings 	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 	Rogers Place 	18,641
Central 	Lethbridge Hurricanes	Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada 	ENMAX Centre 	5,479
Central 	Medicine Hat Tigers 	Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada 	Co-op Place 	5,500 (expandable to 6,500)
Central 	Red Deer Rebels 	Red Deer, Alberta, Canada 	Peavey Mart Centrium 	6,000
Central 	Swift Current Broncos	Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada	Innovation Credit Union iPlex	3,239
East 	Brandon Wheat Kings 	Brandon, Manitoba, Canada 	Keystone Centre 	5,102
East 	Moose Jaw Warriors 	Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada 	Mosaic Place 	4,714
East 	Prince Albert Raiders	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada	Art Hauser Centre 	3,366
East 	Regina Pats 	Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada 	Brandt Centre 	6,200
East 	Saskatoon Blades 	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada 	SaskTel Centre 	15,195
East 	Winnipeg Ice 	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 	Wayne Fleming Arena 	1,400
=== Western Conference ===
Division	Team 	City 	Arena 	Capacity
B.C. 	Kamloops Blazers 	Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada 	Sandman Centre 	5,464
B.C. 	Kelowna Rockets 	Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada 	Prospera Place 	6,286
B.C. 	Prince George Cougars	Prince George, British Columbia, Canada	CN Centre 	5,971
B.C. 	Vancouver Giants 	Langley, British Columbia, Canada 	Langley Event Center 	5,276
B.C. 	Victoria Royals 	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada 	Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre 	7,006
U.S. 	Everett Silvertips 	Everett, Washington, United States 	Angel of the Winds Arena 	8,149
U.S. 	Portland Winterhawks 	Portland, Oregon, United States 	Memorial ColiseumModa Center 	10,40718,280
U.S. 	Seattle Thunderbirds 	Kent, Washington, United States 	Accesso ShoWare Center 	6,500
U.S. 	Spokane Chiefs 	Spokane, Washington, United States 	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena	10,759
U.S. 	Tri-City Americans 	Kennewick, Washington, United States 	Toyota Center 	6,000
==Standings==
x – team has clinched playoff spot
y – team has clinched division
z – team has clinched best regular season record
e – team is eliminated from playoff contention
=== Statistical leaders ===
==== Scoring leaders ====
Players are listed by points, then goals.
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts. = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Connor Bedard 	Regina Pats 	57	71	72	143	62
Chase Wheatcroft	Prince George Cougars	68	47	60	107	46
Zachary Benson 	Winnipeg Ice 	60	36	62	98 	49
Logan Stankoven 	Kamloops Blazers 	48	34	63	97 	17
Riley Heidt 	Prince George Cougars	68	25	71	96 	36
Andrew Cristall 	Kelowna Rockets 	54	39	56	95 	50
Matthew Savoie 	Winnipeg Ice 	62	38	57	95 	26
Connor McClennon	Winnipeg Ice 	64	46	46	92 	49
Koehn Ziemmer 	Prince George Cougars	68	41	48	89 	43
Jagger Firkus 	Moose Jaw Warriors 	66	40	48	88 	24
=== Goaltenders ===
These are the goaltenders that lead the league in GAA that have played at least 1,200 minutes.https://whl.ca/stats/goalies/279 WHL Regular season: Goaltending leaders]. Retrieved on October 22, 2022.
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%
Thomas Milic 	Seattle Thunderbirds	33	1,964	27	3	1 	1 	4 	2.08	0.928
Scott Ratzlaff	Seattle Thunderbirds	34	2,011	25	8	0 	1 	5 	2.15	0.918
Austin Elliott	Saskatoon Blades 	37	2,123	25	6	3 	0 	2 	2.20	0.911
Daniel Hauser 	Winnipeg Ice 	42	2,504	37	4	1 	0 	2 	2.28	0.917
Rhett Stoesser	Red Deer Rebels 	25	1,480	19	6	0 	0 	2 	2.35	0.910
==2023 Ed Chynoweth Cup Playoffs==
===Format===
The league is divided up into 2 conferences with 2 divisions each. The Eastern Conference is made up of the 6-team East Division and the 6-team Central Division while the Western Conference is made up of the 5-team BC and 5-team US Divisions. The league reverted to the conference based format last used in 2014 when the top 8 teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. The division winners are seeded 1 or 2 based on record. The remaining teams are seeded 3 through 8. Teams are matched up 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, and 4 vs 5. Teams are reseeded after the first round 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3. The conference semifinal winners meet in the conference final and the conference final winners meet in the league final.
The winner of the Chynoweth Cup advances to the 2023 Memorial Cup.
===Bracket===
== Conference Quarter-finals ==
=== Eastern Conference ===
====(E1) Winnipeg Ice vs. (E8) Medicine Hat Tigers ====
====(E2) Red Deer Rebels vs. (E7) Calgary Hitmen ====
====(E3) Saskatoon Blades vs. (E6) Regina Pats ====
====(E4) Moose Jaw Warriors vs. (E5) Lethbridge Hurricanes ====
=== Western Conference ===
====(W1) Seattle Thunderbirds vs. (W8) Kelowna Rockets ====
====(W2) Kamloops Blazers vs. (W7) Vancouver Giants ====
====(W3) Portland Winterhawks vs. (W6) Everett Silvertips ====
====(W4) Prince George Cougars vs. (W5) Tri-City Americans ====
== Conference Semi-finals ==
=== Eastern Conference ===
====(E1) Winnipeg Ice vs. (E4) Moose Jaw Warriors ====
====(E2) Red Deer Rebels vs. (E3) Saskatoon Blades ====
=== Western Conference ===
====(W1) Seattle Thunderbirds vs. (W4) Prince George Cougars ====
====(W2) Kamloops Blazers vs. (W3) Portland Winterhawks ====
== Conference Finals ==
=== Eastern Conference ===
====(E1) Winnipeg Ice vs. (E3) Saskatoon Blades====
=== Western Conference ===
====(W1) Seattle Thunderbirds vs. (W2) Kamloops Blazers ====
== WHL Championship ==
=== (E1) Winnipeg Ice vs. (W1) Seattle Thunderbirds ===
The Seattle Thunderbirds advance to the 2023 Memorial Cup.
==Playoff scoring leaders==
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Logan Stankoven 	Kamloops Blazers 	14	10	20	30 	4
Olen Zellweger 	Kamloops Blazers 	14	11	18	29 	10
Matthew Savoie 	Winnipeg Ice 	19	11	18	29 	8
Dylan Guenther 	Seattle Thunderbirds	19	16	12	28 	12
Brad Lambert 	Seattle Thunderbirds	17	6 	20	26 	8
Ben Zloty 	Winnipeg Ice 	19	1 	23	24 	2
Connor McClennon	Winnipeg Ice 	19	14	9 	23 	15
Jared Davidson 	Seattle Thunderbirds	19	11	12	23 	17
Jeremy Hanzel 	Seattle Thunderbirds	19	5 	17	22 	18
Jagger Firkus 	Moose Jaw Warriors 	10	10	11	21 	10
==Playoff leading goaltenders==
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; SV& = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player 	Team 	GP	Mins 	W 	L	GA	SO	Sv% 	GAA
Thomas Milic 	Seattle Thunderbirds	19	1,141	16	3	37	1 	0.933	1.95
Kyle Kelsey 	Red Deer Rebels 	11	636 	7 	3	25	1 	0.912	2.36
Dylan Ernst 	Kamloops Blazers 	14	863 	10	4	37	3 	0.913	2.57
Daniel Hauser	Winnipeg Ice 	19	1,042	13	5	47	1 	0.906	2.71
Connor Ungar 	Moose Jaw Warriors 	10	635 	6 	4	29	0 	0.915	2.74
== WHL awards ==
Regular season Champions 	Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy 	Winnipeg Ice
Player of the Year 	Four Broncos Memorial Trophy 	Connor Bedard, Regina Pats
Top Scorer 	Bob Clarke Trophy 	Connor Bedard, Regina Pats
Top Defenseman 	Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy 	Olen Zellweger, Kamloops Blazers
Rookie of the Year 	Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy 	Ryder Ritchie, Prince Albert Raiders
Top Goaltender 	Del Wilson Trophy 	Thomas Milic, Seattle Thunderbirds
Top Plus-Minus Rating 	WHL Plus-Minus Award 	Jeremy Hanzel, Seattle Thunderbirds
Most Sportsmanlike Player 	Brad Hornung Trophy 	Brayden Yager, Moose Jaw Warriors
Scholastic player of the Year 	Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy 	Quinn Mantei, Brandon Wheat Kings
Coach of the Year 	Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy 	Brennan Sonne, Saskatoon Blades
Executive of the Year 	Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy 	Bil La Forge, Seattle Thunderbirds
Top Official 	Allen Paradice Memorial Trophy 	Chris Crich
Marketing/Public Relations Award	St. Clair Group Trophy 	Spokane Chiefs
Humanitarian of the Year 	Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy 	Logan Stankoven, Kamloops Blazers
WHL Finals Most Valuable Player 	airBC Trophy 	Thomas Millic, Seattle Thunderbirds
Alumni Achievement Awards 	Professional Hockey AchievementAcademic Recipient	
== See also ==
* List of WHL seasons
* 2023 Memorial Cup
* 2022-23 OHL season
* 2022-23 QMJHL season
==References==
== External links ==
* Official website of the Western Hockey League
* Official website of the Canadian Hockey League
Category:2023 in hockey
Category:Western Hockey League seasons
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