1971–72 WCHL season

The 1971–72 WCHL season was the sixth season of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). It featured twelve teams and a 68-game regular season. While the Calgary Centennials topped the season standings with 49 wins, the Edmonton Oil Kings won their second consecutive President's Cup, defeating the Regina Pats in the championship series.

This season also saw the league expand into British Columbia, becoming a truly Western Canadian organization. On the national scene, 1972 also marked the beginning of a new era as it was decided that the Memorial Cup would be contested through a round robin tournament featuring the champions from the country's three major junior leagues—the WCHL, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and the Ontario Hockey Association.^[1] The Oil Kings became the WCHL's first participant under this new format at the 1972 Memorial Cup tournament.

League notes

The Estevan Bruins, one of the league's charter members, relocated to New Westminster and became the New Westminster Bruins. While the move left Estevan without major junior hockey, a new Estevan Bruins Junior A franchise was started in 1971, playing in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
The Victoria Cougars and the Vancouver Nats joined the WCHL as expansion clubs, bringing the number of British Columbia-based teams up to three.
With the B.C. teams joining the West Division, the Swift Current Broncos and Saskatoon Blades moved to the East division to create two divisions of six teams each.
The season schedule expanded from 66 games to 68.

Teams

Map of teams

Regular season

Final standings

Scoring leaders

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

1972 WCHL Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Brandon defeated Saskatoon 4 games to 3 with 1 tie
Regina defeated Flin Flon 3 games to 2 with 2 ties
Calgary defeated Medicine Hat 4 games to 2 with 1 tie
Edmonton defeated New Westminster 4 games to 1

Semifinals

Regina defeated Brandon 4 games to 2
Edmonton defeated Calgary 4 games to 2

Finals

Edmonton defeated Regina 4 games to 1

All-Star game

The 1971–72 WCHL All-Star Game was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, with the East Division All-Stars defeating the West Division All-Stars 4–2 before a crowd of 5,783.

Awards

All-Star Teams

References

^ Lapp, Richard; Macaulay, Alec (1997). The Memorial Cup: Canada's National Junior Hockey Championship. Madeira Park, B.C.: Harbour Publishing. p. 152. ISBN 1-55017-170-4.

2005–06 WHL Guide