2001–02 WHL season
Junior ice hockey season
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The 2001–02 WHL season was the 36th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The league expanded to nineteen teams with the addition of the Vancouver Giants. The Red Deer Rebels won their second consecutive Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for posting the best regular season record; the Rebels also returned to the championship series for a second straight here. However, the Kootenay Ice defeated the Rebels to win their second President's Cup and a berth in the 2002 Memorial Cup, where the Ice would win their first Memorial Cup title.
| 2001–02 WHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Western Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Teams | 19 |
| Regular season | |
| Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy | Red Deer Rebels (2) |
| Season MVP | Dan Hamhuis (Prince George Cougars) |
| Top scorer | Nathan Barrett (Lethbridge Hurricanes) |
| Playoffs | |
| Playoffs MVP | Duncan Milroy (Ice) |
| Finals champions | Kootenay Ice (2) |
| Runners-up | Red Deer Rebels |
| 2001–02 CHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Canadian Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Teams | 55 |
| OHL | |
| QMJHL | |
| WHL | |
| Memorial Cup | |
| Finals champions | Kootenay Ice (WHL) (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) |
League notes
- The Vancouver Giants joined the WHL as its 19th franchise. This precipitated a new standings format, with the league moving from three divisions to four, divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. The Swift Current Broncos moved from the East to the Central division, and the Kootenay Ice movied from the Central to the new B.C. Division—the old West Division was divided into the B.C. and U.S. Divisions.
- The top four teams in each division qualified for the playoffs, with the caveat that the 5th place team in the B.C. Division could qualify in place of the 4th place team in the U.S. Division if they had a better record.
Regular season
Final standings
Eastern Conference
| East Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x Brandon Wheat Kings | 72 | 43 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 92 | 261 | 210 |
| x Regina Pats | 72 | 40 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 92 | 252 | 192 |
| x Moose Jaw Warriors | 72 | 30 | 34 | 6 | 2 | 68 | 226 | 239 |
| x Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 27 | 37 | 5 | 3 | 62 | 216 | 257 |
| Prince Albert Raiders | 72 | 26 | 41 | 2 | 3 | 57 | 234 | 324 |
| Central Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x Red Deer Rebels | 72 | 46 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 100 | 264 | 184 |
| x Swift Current Broncos | 72 | 42 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 97 | 274 | 218 |
| x Calgary Hitmen | 72 | 33 | 33 | 5 | 1 | 72 | 271 | 281 |
| x Lethbridge Hurricanes | 72 | 33 | 33 | 6 | 0 | 72 | 266 | 247 |
| Medicine Hat Tigers | 72 | 30 | 36 | 4 | 2 | 66 | 277 | 316 |
Western Conference
| B.C. Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x Kamloops Blazers | 72 | 38 | 25 | 5 | 4 | 85 | 263 | 230 |
| x Kootenay Ice | 72 | 38 | 27 | 7 | 0 | 83 | 276 | 223 |
| x Prince George Cougars | 72 | 34 | 27 | 9 | 2 | 79 | 244 | 215 |
| x Kelowna Rockets | 72 | 31 | 26 | 10 | 5 | 77 | 257 | 232 |
| Vancouver Giants | 72 | 13 | 49 | 6 | 4 | 36 | 198 | 365 |
| U.S. Division | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| x Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 36 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 83 | 269 | 243 |
| x Spokane Chiefs | 72 | 33 | 25 | 11 | 3 | 80 | 223 | 206 |
| x Tri-City Americans | 72 | 31 | 31 | 10 | 0 | 72 | 260 | 271 |
| x Seattle Thunderbirds | 72 | 21 | 40 | 6 | 5 | 53 | 235 | 313 |
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathan Barrett | Lethbridge Hurricanes | 72 | 45 | 62 | 107 | 100 |
| Joffrey Lupul | Medicine Hat Tigers | 72 | 56 | 50 | 106 | 95 |
| Eric Johansson | Tri-City Americans | 69 | 44 | 59 | 103 | 73 |
| Tyler Beechey | Kootenay/Calgary | 70 | 44 | 55 | 99 | 104 |
| Josef Balej | Portland Winter Hawks | 65 | 51 | 41 | 92 | 52 |
| Jeremy Jackson | Vancouver/Lethbridge | 71 | 38 | 53 | 91 | 91 |
| Mikhail Yakubov | Red Deer Rebels | 71 | 32 | 57 | 89 | 54 |
| Josh Olson | Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 40 | 48 | 88 | 85 |
| Duncan Milroy | Swift Current/Kootenay | 64 | 45 | 42 | 87 | 44 |
| Justin Kelly | Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 39 | 47 | 86 | 47 |
Goaltending leaders
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties ; GA = Goals against; SO = Total shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
| Player | Team | GP | Min | W | L | T | GA | SO | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cam Ward | Red Deer Rebels | 46 | 2695 | 30 | 11 | 4 | 102 | 1 | .911 | 2.27 |
| Josh Harding | Regina Pats | 42 | 3289 | 27 | 13 | 1 | 95 | 4 | .906 | 2.39 |
| Shane Bendera | Red Deer/Kelowna | 50 | 3030 | 24 | 15 | 11 | 125 | 1 | .912 | 2.47 |
| Barry Brust | Spokane Chiefs | 60 | 3542 | 28 | 21 | 10 | 152 | 1 | .912 | 2.57 |
| Billy Thompson | Prince George Cougars | 42 | 2378 | 20 | 17 | 2 | 108 | 2 | .913 | 2.72 |
2002 WHL Playoffs
| Conference Quarter-finals | Conference Semi-finals | Conference Finals | WHL Championship | ||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Brandon | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Saskatoon | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Red Deer | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Moose Jaw | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Regina | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Moose Jaw | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Brandon | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| Eastern | |||||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Red Deer | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Red Deer | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| C4 | Lethbridge | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Brandon | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Swift Current | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Swift Current | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| C3 | Calgary | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Red Deer | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| B2 | Kootenay Ice | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| B1 | Kamloops | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| B4 | Kelowna | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| B2 | Kootenay | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| U4 | Seattle | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| B2 | Kootenay | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| B3 | Prince George | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| B2 | Kootenay | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Western | |||||||||||||||||||
| B4 | Kelowna | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| U1 | Portland | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| U4 | Seattle | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| U2 | Spokane | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| B4 | Kelowna | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| U2 | Spokane | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| U3 | Tri-City | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
Conference quarterfinals
Eastern Conference
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Western Conference
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Conference semifinals
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Conference finals
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WHL Championship
| Red Deer vs. Kootenay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Away | Home | |
| May 3 | Kootenay 2 | 1 Red Deer | OT |
| May 4 | Kootenay 1 | 2 Red Deer | |
| May 7 | Red Deer 2 | 3 Kootenay | OT |
| May 8 | Red Deer 3 | 2 Kootenay | |
| May 11 | Kootenay 4 | 3 Red Deer | |
| May 13 | Red Deer 2 | 3 Kootenay | 2OT |
| Kootenay wins series 4–2 | |||
All-Star games
On January 24, the WHL Eastern All-Stars were defeated by the OHL Western All-Stars 7–2 at Red Deer, Alberta before a crowd of 6,259.
On February 6, the WHL Western All-Stars defeated the QMJHL Dilio All-Stars 9–4 at Rimouski, Quebec before a crowd of 4,762.
WHL awards
All-Star teams
| Eastern Conference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Team | Second Team | |||
| Goal | Cam Ward | Red Deer Rebels | Josh Harding | Regina Pats |
| Defense | Filip Novak | Regina Pats | Ian White | Swift Current Broncos |
| Jay Bouwmeester | Medicine Hat Tigers | Jeff Woywitka | Red Deer Rebels | |
| Forward | Joffrey Lupul | Medicine Hat Tigers | Matt Hubbauer | Regina Pats |
| Nathan Barrett | Lethbridge Hurricanes | Mikhail Yakubov | Red Deer Rebels | |
| Tyler Beechey | Calgary Hitmen | Justin Kelly | Saskatoon Blades | |
| Western Conference | ||||
| First Team | Second Team | |||
| Goal | Barry Brust | Spokane Chiefs | Shane Bendera | Kelowna Rockets |
| Defense | Dan Hamhuis | Prince George Cougars | Craig Weller | Kootenay Ice |
| Kurt Sauer | Spokane Chiefs | Jesse Ferguson | Kelowna Rockets | |
| Forward | Jarret Stoll | Kootenay Ice | Eric Johansson | Tri-City Americans |
| Jozef Balej | Portland Winter Hawks | Scottie Upshall | Kamloops Blazers | |
| Jared Aulin | Kamloops Blazers | Marek Svatos | Kootenay Ice | |
- source: Western Hockey League press release
See also
References
- 2005–06 WHL Guide