The 1960–61 WHL season was the ninth season of the Western Hockey League. The Portland Buckaroos were the Lester Patrick Cup champions as they beat the Seattle Totems four games to two in the final series.[1]
| 1960–61 WHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Western Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Number of games | 70 |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Calgary Stampeders |
| Season MVP | Lou Jankowski (Calgary) |
| Top scorer | Art Jones (Portland) |
| Lester Patrick Cup | |
| Champions | Portland Buckaroos |
| Runners-up | Seattle Totems |
Lester Patrick died on June 1, 1960, and in honour of him the WHL voted to rename the championship trophy from the President's Cup to the Lester Patrick Cup.[2]
The Portland Buckaroos joined the league, and the eight teams played in one division.[3]
Lou Jankowski of Calgary set a league record with 57 goals, and was named most valuable player. Art Jones of Portland won the scoring title with 100 points, one more than Jankowski.[4]
Final standings
| R | Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calgary Stampeders | 70 | 44 | 22 | 4 | 300 | 215 | 92 |
| 2 | Portland Buckaroos | 70 | 38 | 23 | 9 | 242 | 192 | 85 |
| 3 | Vancouver Canucks | 70 | 38 | 29 | 3 | 208 | 191 | 79 |
| 4 | Seattle Totems | 70 | 37 | 28 | 5 | 262 | 222 | 79 |
| 5 | Spokane Comets | 70 | 33 | 34 | 3 | 247 | 258 | 69 |
| 6 | Victoria Cougars | 70 | 27 | 41 | 2 | 220 | 267 | 56 |
| 7 | Edmonton Flyers | 70 | 27 | 43 | 0 | 229 | 295 | 54 |
| 8 | Winnipeg Warriors | 70 | 21 | 45 | 4 | 191 | 259 | 46 |
bold – qualified for playoffs
Playoffs
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | Calgary Stampeders | 1 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Seattle Totems | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Portland Buckaroos | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Portland Buckaroos | 3 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Seattle Totems | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Spokane Comets | 1 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Portland Buckaroos | 3 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Vancouver Canucks | 1 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Vancouver Canucks | 3 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Victoria Cougars | 2 | |||||||||||
The final, between Portland and Seattle, was the first in league history to feature two American teams.[6] The Portland Buckaroos defeated the Seattle Totems 4 games to 2 to win the Lester Patrick Cup.[1]
References
Bibliography
- Stott, Jon C. (2008), Ice Warriors: The Pacific Coast/Western Hockey League 1948–1974, Surrey, British Columbia: Heritage House Publishing, ISBN 978-1-894974-54-7