1979–80 WHL season

The 1979–80 WHL season was the 14th season for the Western Hockey League. Eleven teams completed a 72 game season. The Regina Pats won the President's Cup.
==League notes==
*The Edmonton Oil Kings relocated to Great Falls, Montana to become the Great Falls Americans, however the team only lasted 28 games, as the Americans ceased operations on December 16, 1979.
*The WHL abandoned the three division format, opting instead for a two division format of eight teams in the East and four in the West.
==Regular season==
===Final standings===
East Division 	GP	W 	L 	T	Pts	GF 	GA
x Regina Pats 	72	47	24	1	95 	429	311
x Calgary Wranglers 	72	43	27	2	88 	376	319
x Medicine Hat Tigers 	72	37	30	5	79 	344	315
x Billings Bighorns 	72	37	34	1	75 	326	284
x Brandon Wheat Kings 	72	33	37	2	68 	319	343
x Lethbridge Broncos 	72	28	39	5	61 	329	349
Saskatoon Blades 	72	27	40	5	59 	331	382
Great Falls Americans1	28	2 	25	1	5 	73 	186
West Division 	GP	W 	L 	T	Pts	GF 	GA
x Portland Winter Hawks	72	53	18	1	107	398	293
x Victoria Cougarss 	72	51	21	0	102	349	226
x Seattle Breakers 	72	29	41	2	60 	297	364
New Westminster Bruins 	72	10	61	1	21 	244	443
1Folded mid-season
===Scoring leaders===
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Doug Wickenheiser	Regina Pats 	71	89	81	170	99
Tim Tookey 	Portland Winter Hawks	70	58	83	141	55
Barry Pederson 	Victoria Cougars 	72	52	88	140	50
Kelly Kisio 	Calgary Wranglers 	71	65	73	138	64
Jim Dobson 	Portland Winter Hawks	72	66	68	134	179
Ryan Flockhard 	Regina Pats 	65	54	76	130	63
Gord Williams 	Lethbridge Broncos 	72	57	65	122	92
Darren Veitch 	Regina Pats 	71	29	93	122	118
Brian Varga 	Regina Pats 	70	39	79	118	97
Doug Morrison 	Lethbridge Broncos 	68	58	59	117	188
==WHL Playoffs==
===First round===
*Regina defeated Lethbridge 4 games to 0
*Brandon defeated Calgary 4 games to 3
*Medicine Hat defeated Billings 4 games to 3
===Division semi-finals===
Round Robin format
*Medicine Hat (3–1) advanced
*Regina (2–2) advanced
*Brandon (1–3) eliminated
*Victoria (5–3) advanced
*Seattle (4–4) advanced
*Portland (3–5) eliminated
===Division finals===
*Regina defeated Medicine Hat 4 games to 1
*Victoria defeated Seattle 4 games to 0
===WHL Championship===
*Regina defeated Victoria 4 games to 1
==All-Star Game==
There was no All-Star game in 1979–80.
==WHL awards==
Most Valuable Player: Doug Wickenheiser, Regina Pats
Top Scorer - Bob Clarke Trophy: Doug Wickenheiser, Regina Pats
Most Sportsmanlike Player: Steve Tsujirua, Medicine Hat Tigers
Top Defenseman - Bill Hunter Trophy: Dave Babych, Portland Winter Hawks
Rookie of the Year - Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy: Grant Fuhr, Victoria Cougars
Top Goaltender - Del Wilson Trophy: Kevin Eastman, Victoria Cougars
Coach of the Year - Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy: Doug Sauter, Calgary Wranglers
Regular season Champions - Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy: Portland Winter Hawks
==All-Star Teams==
Florent Robidoux (tied)	Portland Winter Hawks	- 	- 	
Right Wing 	Jim Dobson 	Portland Winter Hawks	Mike Blaisdell (tie)	Regina Pats
Right Wing 	- 	- 	Don Gillen (tie) 	Brandon Wheat Kings
==Team Photos==
79-80BraWK.jpg|Brandon Wheat Kings
79-80SeaBre.jpg|Seattle Breakers
==Game Ads==
79-80JrReginaGameAd.jpg|Regina
79-80WHLNewWestmGameAd.jpg|New Westminster
==References==
*whl.ca
* 2005–06 WHL Guide
Category:Western Hockey League seasons
WHL