The 1979–80 WHL season was the 14th season of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

(WHL). It featured eleven teams completing a 72-game regular season. The

Portland Winter Hawks The Portland Winterhawks are a junior ice hockey team based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1950 as the Edmonton Oil Kings, the team relocated to Portland in 1976 and was known as the Winter Hawks until 2009. The team plays in the U.S. Divisio ...

became the first American-based club to top the regular season standings, capturing the

Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy The Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the regular season champion of the Western Hockey League. It is named after one of the league's founders, Scotty Munro. Munro served as the general manager of the Estevan Bruins, one of the ...

. In the playoffs, the

Regina Pats The Regina Pats are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. Founded in 1917, the Pats are the world's oldest continuously operating major junior hockey franchise in its original location and using its original name. The ...

won their second President's Cup, defeating the Victoria Cougars in the championship final. The season was the first for the Great Falls Americans, after the Edmonton Oil Kings relocated to Great Falls prior to the season. However, the team lasted only 28 games before ceasing operations on December 16, 1979, for the remainder of the season. Thus while twelve teams opened the season, only eleven played it through to completion.

League notes

*The WHL changed its divisional format, opting for a two division format of eight teams in the East and four in the West over the previous three division format.

Team changes

*The Edmonton Oil Kings relocated to

Great Falls, Montana Great Falls is the List of cities and towns in Montana, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

, becoming the Great Falls Americans.

Regular season

Final standings

¹Folded mid-season

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes''

1980 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

WHL awards

All-Star Teams

References

* 2005–06 WHL Guide {{DEFAULTSORT:1979-80 Whl Season Western Hockey League seasons WCHL WCHL