2015-16 WHL season

This is the 2015-16 Western Hockey League season.  This is the league's 50th season dating back to its' founding as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League in 1966 and subsequent renaming to the Western Canada Hockey League in 1968 and to the present name in 1978. 
In marking the league's 50th season, the schedule started on September 24th with a match up between the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Regina Pats which was done in honour of the league's first championship series in 1967.  The league also had an online survey to choose the top 50 players in league history.  The list was be released starting in January with a countdown format.
The league hosted two games of the Canada/Russia Challenge with games November 9th in Kelowna, BC and November 10th in Kamloops, BC.  The league also hosted the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on January 28th in Vancouver, BC.  Kamloops also hosted Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada on February 6th.  The final event was be the 2016 Memorial Cup which wil be held in Red Deer, Alberta, returning to Alberta for the first time since the 1974 tournament.
The league announced rules changes similar to the National Hockey League for the 2015-16 season involving 3-on-3 overtime, the marking on on the ice (face off circle hash marks and increasing the area behind the net where goalies are allowed to play the puck) and the procedure for face-offs.
The season also marks the move of the Medicine Hat Tigers to the new Canalta Centre.
==Membership changes==
*none
==Teams==
=== Eastern Conference ===
Division	Team 	City 	Arena 	Capacity
East 	Brandon Wheat Kings 	Brandon, Manitoba, Canada 	Westman Communications Group Place	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 	Swift Current Broncos	Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada	Credit Union iPlex 	3,239
Central 	Calgary Hitmen 	Calgary, Alberta, Canada 	
Scotiabank Saddledome
Stampede Corral (some playoff games)	
19,289
6,450
Central 	Edmonton Oil Kings 	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 	Rexall Place 	16,839
Central 	Kootenay Ice 	Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada	Western Financial Place 	4,654
Central 	Lethbridge Hurricanes	Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada 	ENMAX Centre 	5,479
Central 	Medicine Hat Tigers 	Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada 	
Canalta Centre 	
5,500 (expandable to 6,500)
Central 	Red Deer Rebels 	Red Deer, Alberta, Canada 	ENMAX Centrium 	6,000
=== 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 	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 	Pacific Coliseum 	16,281
B.C. 	Victoria Royals 	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada 	Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre 	7,006
U.S. 	Everett Silvertips 	Everett, Washington, United States 	Xfinity Arena at Everett 	8,149
U.S. 	Portland Winterhawks 	Portland, Oregon, United States 	Memorial ColiseumModa Center 	10,40718,280
U.S. 	Seattle Thunderbirds 	Kent, Washington, United States 	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==
Eastern Conference 	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference	Eastern Conference
East Division 	East Division 	East Division 	East Division 	East Division 	East Division 	East Division 	East Division 	East Division 	East Division 	East Division
Team 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OTL 	SOL 	GF 	GA 	PIM 	P
Brandon Wheat Kings 	72 	48 	18 	- 	4 	2 	319 	197 	- 	102
Prince Albert Raiders	72 	38 	26 	- 	7 	1 	222 	223 	
- 	84
Moose Jaw Warriors 	72 	36 	27 	- 	7 	2 	249 	239 	- 	81
Regina Pats 	72 	36 	28 	- 	3 	5 	243 	253 	- 	80
Swift Current Broncos	72 	24 	38 	- 	7 	3 	189 	249 	- 	58
Saskatoon Blades 	72 	26 	42 	- 	4 	0 	219 	318 	- 	56
Central Division 	Central Division 	Central Division 	Central Division 	Central Division 	Central Division 	Central Division 	Central Division 	Central Division 	Central Division 	Central Division
Team 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OTL 	SOL 	GF 	GA 	PIM 	P
Lethbridge Hurricanes	72 	46 	24 	- 	1 	1 	304 	218 	- 	94
Red Deer Rebels 	72 	45 	24 	- 	1 	2 	26 	205 	- 	93
Calgary Hitmen 	72 	42 	26 	- 	2 	2 	246 	219 	- 	88
Edmonton Oil Kings 	72 	29 	36 	- 	6 	1 	197 	238 	- 	65
Medicine Hat Tigers 	72 	30 	37 	- 	3 	2 	223 	287 	- 	65
Kootenay Ice 	72 	12 	53 	- 	6 	1 	155 	320 	- 	31
Western Conference 	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference	Western Conference
B.C. Division 	B.C. Division 	B.C. Division 	B.C. Division 	B.C. Division 	B.C. Division 	B.C. Division 	B.C. Division 	B.C. Division 	B.C. Division 	B.C. Division
Team 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OTL 	SOL 	GF 	GA 	PIM 	P
Victoria Royals 	72 	50 	16 	- 	3 	3 	281 	166 	- 	106
Kelowna Rockets 	72 	48 	20 	- 	4 	0 	269 	218 	- 	100
Kamloops Blazers 	72 	38 	25 	- 	5 	4 	237 	218 	- 	85
Prince George Cougars	72 	36 	31 	- 	3 	2 	240 	225 	- 	77
Vancouver Giants 	72 	23 	40 	- 	5 	4 	199 	273 	- 	55
U.S. Division 	U.S. Division 	U.S. Division 	U.S. Division 	U.S. Division 	U.S. Division 	U.S. Division 	U.S. Division 	U.S. Division 	U.S. Division 	U.S. Division
Team 	GP 	W 	L 	T 	OTL 	SOL 	GF 	GA 	PIM 	P
Seattle Thunderbirds 	72 	45 	23 	- 	4 	0 	228 	186 	- 	94
Everett Silvertips 	72 	38 	26 	- 	5 	3 	182 	172 	- 	84
Portland Winterhawks 	72 	34 	31 	- 	6 	1 	228 	227 	- 	75
Spokane Chiefs 	72 	33 	30 	- 	5 	4 	223 	245 	- 	75
Tri-City Americans 	72 	35 	34 	- 	2 	1 	236 	253 	- 	73
==2016 Ed Chynoweth Cup Playoffs==
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 uses the same format as the NHL does with the top 3 teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs and the next two best records in the conference qualifying as the 7 and 8 seeds and joining the playoffs for the division they start the playoffs in.
The winner of the Chynoweth Cup advances to the 2016 Memorial Cup.
The 2016 Memorial Cup is scheduled to be held in Red Deer, Alberta and be hosted by the Red Deer Rebels.  All of the games will be held at the ENMAX Centrium. This will be the 98th Memorial Cup championship and will determine the champion of the Canadian Hockey League.  This marks the first time that the Memorial Cup has been held in the province of Alberta since 1974.
The tournament wll match up the champions of the three member leagues of the Canadian Hockey League (the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the host Red Deer Rebels).
The tournament will take place from May 19-29, 2016.
===Playoff for final Eastern Conference Playoff spot===
*Edmonton Oil Kings defeated Medicine Hat Tigers 6 to 4
===East Divsion Semifinals===
*Brandon Wheat Kings defeated Edmonton Oil Kings
*4 games to 2 (2-4, 1-2, 3-1, 5-0, 5-2, 10-3)
*Moose Jaw Warriors defeated Prince Albert Raiders 4 games to 1 (3-2, 4-2, 3-7, 7-0, 5-0)
===Central Division Semifinals===
*Regina Pats defeated Lethbridge Hurricanes 4 games to 1 (3-6, 3-0, 3-2, 2-0, 7-2)
*Red Deer Rebels defeated Calgary Hitmen 4 games to 1 (3-1, 2-5, 4-3, 2-0, 5-3)
===B.C. Division Semifinals===
*Victoria Royals defeated Spokane Chiefs 4 games to 2 ( 5-3, 4-3, 2-5, 3-2 (ot), 1-4, 6-2)
*Kelowna Rockets defeated Kamloops Blazers 4 games to 3 (3-2, 4-5, 1-0, 1-5, 4-0, 2-1 (ot)
===U.S. Division Semifinals===
*Seattle Thunderbirds defeated Prince George Cougars 4 games to none (3-2 (ot), 4-1, 5-0, 4-3 (ot))
*Everett Silvertips vs Portland Winterhawks 4 games to none (3-0, 3-1, 5-3, 4-2)
===East Division Final===
*Brandon Wheat Kings defeated Moose Jaw Warriors 4 games to 1 (5-3, 5-2, 1-7, 6-2, 7-3)
===Central Division Final===
*Red Deer Rebels defeated Regina Pats 4 games to 3 (3-2, 4-3, 3-6, 4-6, 5-1, 5-1, 2-1)
===B.C. Division Final===
*Kelowna Rockets defeated Victoria Royals 4 games to 3 (1-2, 2-3, 3-2, 4-3, 4-1, 2-3, 3-2 (ot))
===U.S. Division Final===
*Seattle Thunderbirds defeated Everett Silvertips 4 games to 1 (0-3, 3-1, 5-0, 2-1, 3-2)
===Eastern Conference Final===
*Brandon Wheat Kings defeated Red Deer Rebels 4 games to 1 (4-3 (ot), 6-4, 2-6, 4-2, 5-2)
===Western Confernce Final===
*Seattle Thunderbirds defeated Kelowna Rockets 4 games to none (2-1, 3-2, 3-1, 5-4 (2ot))
===Ed Chynoweth Cup Final===
*Brandon Wheat Kings defeated Seattle Thunderbirds 4 games to 1 (3-2 (ot), 3-2, 3-2 (ot), 1-6, 8-4)
The Ed Chynoweth Cup winner, Brandon Wheat Kings advance to the 2016 Memorial Cup.
Category:2016 in hockey
Category:Western Hockey League seasons
Category:Canadian Hockey League