The 1995âÂÂ96 WHL season was the 30th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL), featuring seventeen teams and a 72-game regular season. The Brandon Wheat Kings won the franchise's fourth Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for posting the best regular season record, and followed this up in the playoffs by securing their second President's Cup as league champions, their first since 1978âÂÂ79.
The Calgary Hitmen joined the WHL as its seventeenth franchise, and the first to be located in Calgary since the Calgary Wranglers in 1987. The Tacoma Rockets relocated to Kelowna, British Columbia and became the Kelowna Rockets.
League notes
- Following the addition of the Calgary Hitmen and the relocation of the Rockets to Kelowna, the WHL divided into three divisions: The East and Central Divisions formed the Eastern Conference, consisting of five teams per division. The West Division was made up of the seven B.C. and U.S.-based teams.
- The playoff format was changed so that the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference and the top six in the West Division qualified. The 14 playoff qualifiers all played best-of-seven series in the first round. The East semifinals were best-of-seven affairs, while the highest remaining seed in the West earned a bye. The remaining two West teams played a best-of-five series. Conference and League final series remained best-of-seven.
- The Spokane Chiefs became the first team in WHL history to win a seven-game playoff series after being down 3 games to 0, against the Portland Winter Hawks in the first round of the West Division playoffs.
Regular season
Final standings
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
1996 WHL Playoffs
All-Star game
On January 23, the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 10âÂÂ7 at Prince George, British Columbia before a crowd of 5,992.
Awards
All-Star teams
See also
References