The 1985–86 WHL season was the 20th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). It featured fourteen teams and a 72-game regular season. The Medicine Hat Tigers captured their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for the best regular season record, while the Kamloops Blazers won their second President's Cup as playoff champions. The season was the first for the Spokane Chiefs, with the Kelowna Wings relocating to Spokane, Washington prior to the season. The Chiefs became the third American-based WHL team. In addition, the Seattle Breakers were renamed the Thunderbirds.

Team changes

Regular season

Final standings

Scoring leaders

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

1986 WHL Playoffs

First round

The East division played a round robin format amongst the top six teams:

Division semi-finals

Division finals

WHL Championship

All-Star games

On January 20, the Portland Winter Hawks defeated the West All-Stars 4–3 in Portland, Oregon before a crowd of 3,106. On January 21, the East All-Stars defeated the Prince Albert Raiders 6–3 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan before a crowd of 1,475.

WHL awards

All-Star Teams