The 2005–06 WHL season was the 40th season for the Western Hockey League. Twenty teams completed a 72-game schedule. The Vancouver Giants won their first President's Cup, defeating the Moose Jaw Warriors in the championship series and earning a berth in the 2006 Memorial Cup tournament. The Medicine Hat Tigers won the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for the best regular season record for the first time since 1985–86.

League notes

Following changes introduced by the National Hockey League following the 2004–05 NHL lockout, the WHL announced that it would adopt many of the new rules put in place by the National Hockey League this season to increase scoring, including: The WHL did not immediately modify the goal and blue lines to increase the size of the offensive zones like the NHL, as the league felt that the teams did not have enough time to modify their arenas. Only the Calgary Hitmen, sharing an arena with the NHL's Calgary Flames, played using the new alignment. The new standard was to be employed by the remaining teams beginning in the 2006–07 season.

Internet broadcasts

On September 14, 2005, Commissioner Ron Robison announced the league's intention to broadcast the entire 2005–06 season and playoffs live online on a pay-per-view basis. Partnering with streaming media company INSINC, this marked the first time in WHL history that fans, media and scouts were able to watch WHL action online.

Regular season

Final standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Scoring leaders

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

Goaltending leaders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SOL = Shootout losses ; GA = Goals against; SO = Total shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

2006 WHL Playoffs

Overview

Conference quarterfinals

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Conference semifinals

Conference finals

WHL Championship

ADT Canada-Russia Challenge

On November 30, Team WHL defeated the Russian Selects 9–2 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan before a crowd of 5,572. On December 1, Team WHL defeated the Russian Selects 3–1 in Regina, Saskatchewan before a crowd of 4,662.

WHL awards

All-Star Teams

2006 Bantam draft

The 2006 WHL Bantam Draft took place in Calgary on Thursday, May 4. It was the 17th annual draft to take place.