The Kelowna Rockets are the defending Western Hockey League Champions. The 2015-2016 WHL season is three weeks away from opening night on Thursday, September 24th when the Regina Pats open the season on the road versus the Moose Jaw Warriors. For all you Rockets fans, the start the next night at home vs the rival Kamloops Blazers. It’s the 50th Anniversary of the WHL.
Prior to the season getting started, we here at The Hockey Fanatic would like to make our predictions for the 2015-2016 WHL Season. The CHL is following the NHL and AHL’s lead on moving to 3-on-3 overtime format in hopes of reducing the number of games decided by a shootout. This cold work in favor of some of the faster teams out there.
WHL Predictions: 2015-2016
Can the Rockets repeat as Champions? Or is this the year that the Brandon Wheat Kings final become WHL Champions once again? Here is a look at how we think the 22 Western Hockey League teams will fair this season.
2015-2016 WHL Eastern Conference Predictions
| Rank | Eastern Conference |
| 1 | Calgary Hitmen |
| 2 | Brandon Wheat Kings |
| 3 | Medicine Hat Tigers |
| 4 | Regina Pats |
| 5 | Red Deer Rebels |
| 6 | Edmonton Oil Kings |
| 7 | Swift Current Broncos |
| 8 | Kootenay Ice |
| 9 | Moose Jaw Warriors |
| 10 | Prince Albert Raiders |
| 11 | Saskatoon Blades |
| 12 | Lethbridge Hurricanes |
We like the Wheat Kings, but think that the Hitmen might just have a better regular season. Teams to watch in the Eastern Conference include the Regina Pats and Red Deer Rebels who both could have strong seasons. I watched the Lethbridge Hurricanes and few times last season and they just looked terrible, some roster changes aside I think this could be another interesting year for the Canes.
2015-2016 WHL Eastern Conference Predictions
| Rank | Western Conference |
| 1 | Everett Silvertips |
| 2 | Kelowna Rockets |
| 3 | Portland Winterhawks |
| 4 | Victoria Royals |
| 5 | Seattle Thunderbirds |
| 6 | Prince George Cougars |
| 7 | Tri-City Americans |
| 8 | Vancouver Giants |
| 9 | Spokane Chiefs |
| 10 | Kamloops Blazers |
We like the Silvertips on top of the Western Conference this season. Kevin Constantine is a tremendous coach and has Everett perfoming well these past couple of seasons. Although we can never count our perennial contenders the Kelowna Rockets and Portland Winterhawks. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rockets finished atop the Western Conference again. They probably won’t match last seasons 113 points which was one point shy of WHL leader Brandon, but they should top the 100 point plateau again. A couple of teams to watch include the Victoria Royals and the Tri City Americans who seem to be on the rise.
Gord,
You raise a good point about the youth and strength of the T-Birds. We actually like them a lot, but we do think that Everett could have a surprisingly strong season and Portland is always so strong. Second in the West might be a little high but we’d argue that they could finish as high as third. Thanks for checking us out. We’ll update our rankings around the half-way point of the season to see how close (or far off) we really were.
You make some good points. Thanks for putting this stuff out there, by the way. The WHL doesn’t get enough coverage IMO.
Why rank the Thunderbirds in the middle of the Western Conference? I’d argue that they should be second in the Western Conference. Everett plays well and Portland still has some good players, but neither of those two have the same fire power this year. Looking at the fact that the Thunderbirds finished around the middle of the pack last year with one of the youngest rosters in the league (and then considering that they lost very little in the offseason) I think they at least belong in a conversation for the US division title.