1980–81 WHL season

The 1980–81 WHL season was the 15th season of the Western Hockey League. Thirteen teams completed a 72 game season. The Victoria Cougars won the President's Cup.
== League notes ==
* The Spokane Flyers and Winnipeg Warriors joined the WHL as its 12th and 13th franchises.
== 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
==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 with a crowd of 3,520.
==WHL awards==
Most Valuable Player: Steve Tsujirua, Medicine Hat Tigers
Top Scorer - Bob Clarke Trophy: Brian Varga, Regina Pats
Most Sportsmanlike Player: Steve Tsujirua, 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==
{| BORDER="1" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" width="100%"
|- bgcolor="#EEEEEE " align="center" 
80-81BraWK.jpg|Brandon Wheat Kings
==Game Ads==
80-81JrReginaGameAd.jpg|Regina
80-81WHLSpokaneGameAd.jpg|Spokane
== References ==
* whl.ca
* 2005–06 WHL Guide
Category:Western Hockey League seasons
WHL