| 2021–22 WHL season | |
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| League: | Western Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | Regular season October 1, 2021 – April 17, 2022 Playoffs April 21, 2022 – June 13, 2022 |
| Playoffs: | Playoffs |
| Playoffs Mvp: | Kaiden Guhle (Oil Kings) |
| Finals Champ: | Edmonton Oil Kings (3) |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Seattle Thunderbirds |
| No Of Teams: | 22 |
| Tv: | KRCW-TV, KZJO, CBC, TSN, RDS |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champ Name: | Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy |
| Season Champs: | Winnipeg Ice (1) |
| Mvp Link: | Four Broncos Memorial Trophy |
| Mvp: | Logan Stankoven (Kamloops Blazers) |
| Top Scorer Link: | Bob Clarke Trophy |
| Top Scorer: | Arshdeep Bains (Red Deer Rebels) |
| Seasonslistnames: | WHL |
| Prevseason Year: | 2020–21 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2022–23 |
| 2021–22 CHL seasons | |
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| League: | Canadian Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | OHL October 2021–May 2022 QMJHL October 2021–May 2022 WHL October 2021–June 2022 |
| No Of Teams: | 60 |
| Tv: | CBC Television/Gem, TSN, RDS, Rogers TV, Shaw TV |
| Playoffs: | Memorial Cup |
| Finals Champ: | Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) |
| Num Championships: | 2 |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL) |
The 2021–22 WHL season was the 56th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The league played a full regular season schedule for the first time since the 2018–19 season. The season began on October 1, 2021, and ended on April 17, 2022.[1]
The WHL announced in the summer of 2021 that no inter-conference games would be played during the regular season.[2] On August 16, the WHL announced a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for players, hockey operations staff, officials, and all other employees who would regularly interact with players.[3] On September 8, the WHL announced that due to COVID-19 border restrictions, the schedule had been re-aligned so that the B.C. Division and U.S. Division would not play inter-division games until at least November.[4] The Winnipeg Ice, playing their first full WHL season since relocating from Cranbrook, British Columbia in 2019—with their first two seasons shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic—won their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for topping the regular season standings.[5]
The playoffs—the first since 2019—began on April 22 and ended on June 13.[6] The Edmonton Oil Kings won their third Ed Chynoweth Cup, defeating the Seattle Thunderbirds and earning the right to participate in the 2022 Memorial Cup tournament, which was hosted by the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at TD Station in Saint John, New Brunswick.[7]
x – team has clinched playoff spot y – team has clinched division z – team has clinched conference title
e – team is eliminated from playoff contention
Players are listed by points, then goals.[8]
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts. = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Arshdeep Bains | align=left | Red Deer Rebels | 68 | 43 | 69 | 112 | 56 |
| align=left | Ben King | align=left | Red Deer Rebels | 68 | 52 | 53 | 105 | 57 |
| align=left | Logan Stankoven | align=left | Kamloops Blazers | 59 | 45 | 59 | 104 | 16 |
| align=left | Connor Bedard | align=left | Regina Pats | 62 | 51 | 49 | 100 | 42 |
| align=left | Kyle Crnkovic | align=left | Saskatoon Blades | 68 | 39 | 55 | 94 | 20 |
| align=left | Dylan Guenther | align=left | Edmonton Oil Kings | 59 | 45 | 46 | 91 | 45 |
| align=left | Matthew Savoie | align=left | Winnipeg Ice | 65 | 35 | 55 | 90 | 32 |
| align=left | Jared Davidson | align=left | Seattle Thunderbirds | 64 | 42 | 47 | 89 | 68 |
| align=left | Cross Hanas | align=left | Portland Winterhawks | 63 | 26 | 60 | 86 | 73 |
| align=left | Alex Swetlikoff | align=left | Everett Silvertips | 68 | 33 | 51 | 84 | 69 |
These are the goaltenders that lead the league in GAA that played at least 1,500 minutes.[9]
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; Sv% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | OTL | SOL | SO | GAA | Sv% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Daniel Hauser | align=left | Winnipeg Ice | 40 | 2,344 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2.00 | 0.914 |
| align=left | Dylan Garand | align=left | Kamloops Blazers | 45 | 2,689 | 34 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2.16 | 0.925 |
| align=left | Sebastian Cossa | align=left | Edmonton Oil Kings | 46 | 2,631 | 33 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2.28 | 0.913 |
| align=left | Gage Alexander | align=left | Winnipeg Ice | 29 | 1,703 | 18 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.40 | 0.911 |
| align=left | Connor Ungar | align=left | Red Deer Rebels | 34 | 1,900 | 21 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.43 | 0.911 |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan Stankoven | 17 | 17 | 14 | 31 | 8 | |
| Jared Davidson | 25 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 10 | |
| Lukas Svejkovsky | 24 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 10 | |
| Zachary Benson | 15 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 10 | |
| Luke Toporowski | 16 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 24 | |
| Zack Ostapchuk | 12 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 4 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 16 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 10 | |
| Carter Souch | 19 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 12 | |
| Connor McClennon | 15 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 16 | |
| Reid Schaefer | 25 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 32 | |
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Allowed; SO = Shutouts; SV& = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | GA | SO | Sv% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 226 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0.954 | 1.86 | ||
| 11 | 656 | 7 | 4 | 21 | 1 | 0.937 | 1.92 | ||
| 17 | 1,029 | 11 | 6 | 33 | 3 | 0.933 | 1.92 | ||
| 19 | 1,150 | 16 | 3 | 37 | 5 | 0.919 | 1.93 | ||
| 12 | 674 | 8 | 2 | 25 | 1 | 0.910 | 2.23 | ||
| Regular season champions | Winnipeg Ice | ||
| Player of the Year | Logan Stankoven, Kamloops Blazers | ||
| Top Scorer | Arshdeep Bains, Red Deer Rebels | ||
| Top Defenceman | Olen Zellweger, Everett Silvertips | ||
| Rookie of the Year | Brayden Yager, Moose Jaw Warriors | ||
| Top Goaltender | Dylan Garand, Kamloops Blazers | ||
| Top Plus-Minus Rating | Nolan Orzeck, Winnipeg Ice | ||
| Most Sportsmanlike Player | Logan Stankoven, Kamloops Blazers | ||
| Scholastic Player of the Year | Connor Levis Kamloops Blazers | ||
| Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy | Scholastic team of the Year | Brandon Wheat Kings | |
| Coach of the Year | James Patrick, Winnipeg Ice | ||
| Executive of the Year | Matt Cockell, Winnipeg Ice | ||
| Top Official | Chris Crich | ||
| Marketing/Public Relations Award | Everett Silvertips | ||
| Humanitarian of the Year | Luke Prokop, Edmonton Oil Kings | ||
| WHL Finals Most Valuable Player | Kaiden Guhle, Edmonton Oil Kings | ||
| Professional Hockey Achievement Academic Recipient | Alumni Achievement Awards |
| First Team[10] | Pos. | Second Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | ||
| Sebastian Cossa | Edmonton Oil Kings | G | Isaac Poulter | Swift Current Broncos | |
| Kaiden Guhle | Edmonton Oil Kings | D | Simon Kubicek | Edmonton Oil Kings | |
| Christoffer Sedoff | Red Deer Rebels | D | Owen Pickering | Swift Current Broncos | |
| Arshdeep Bains | Red Deer Rebels | F | Riley Fiddler-Schultz | Calgary Hitmen | |
| Dylan Guenther | Edmonton Oil Kings | F | Justin Hall | Lethbridge Hurricanes | |
| Ben King | Red Deer Rebels | F | Jake Neighbours | Edmonton Oil Kings | |
| First Team[11] | Pos. | Second Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | ||
| Daniel Hauser | Winnipeg Ice | G | Carl Tetachuk | Moose Jaw Warriors | |
| Carson Lambos | Winnipeg Ice | D | Ryker Evans | Regina Pats | |
| Denton Mateychuk | Moose Jaw Warriors | D | Chad Nychuk | Brandon Wheat Kings | |
| Connor Bedard | Regina Pats | F | Ridly Greig | Brandon Wheat Kings | |
| Matthew Savoie | Winnipeg Ice | F | Jagger Firkus | Moose Jaw Warriors | |
| Kyle Crnkovic | Saskatoon Blades | F | Tristen Robins | Saskatoon Blades | |
| First Team[12] | Pos. | Second Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | ||
| Dylan Garand | Kamloops Blazers | G | Talyn Boyko | Kelowna Rockets | |
| Gannon Laroque | Victoria Royals | D | Ethan Samson | Prince George Cougars | |
| Jake Lee | Kelowna Rockets | D | Quinn Schmiemann | Kamloops Blazers | |
| Colton Dach | Kelowna Rockets | F | Tarun Fizer | Victoria Royals | |
| Bailey Peach | Victoria Royals | F | Pavel Novak | Kelowna Rockets | |
| Logan Stankoven | Kamloops Blazers | F | Luke Toporowski | Kamloops Blazers | |
| First Team[13] | Pos. | Second Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Player | Team | ||
| Taylor Gauthier | Portland Winterhawks | G | Thomas Milic | Seattle Thunderbirds | |
| Clay Hanus | Portland Winterhawks | D | Kevin Korchinski | Seattle Thunderbirds | |
| Olen Zellweger | Everett Silvertips | D | Ronan Seeley | Everett Silvertips | |
| Jackson Berezowski | Everett Silvertips | F | Bear Hughes | Spokane Chiefs | |
| Jared Davidson | Seattle Thunderbirds | F | Tyson Kozak | Portland Winterhawks | |
| Cross Hanas | Portland Winterhawks | F | Lukas Svejkovsky | Seattle Thunderbirds | |