2000–01 WHL season

The 2000–01 WHL season was the 35th season of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The season featured eighteen teams completing a 72-game season. The Red Deer Rebels won both the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy, for best regular season record, and the President's Cup as playoff champions, both for the first time in team history. The latter earned the Rebels a berth in the 2001 Memorial Cup tournament, hosted by the Regina Pats, where the Rebels finished their season by winning the national title.^[1]

2000–01 WHL season
League	Western Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Number of teams	18
Regular season
Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy	Red Deer Rebels (1)
Season MVP	Justin Mapletoft (Red Deer Rebels)
Top scorer	Justin Mapletoft (Red Deer Rebels)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP	Shane Bendera (Rebels)
Finals champions	Red Deer Rebels (1)
Runners-up	Portland Winter Hawks

2000–01 CHL season
League	Canadian Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Number of teams	54
OHL
QMJHL
WHL
Memorial Cup
Finals champions	Red Deer Rebels (WHL) (1st title)
Runners-up	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)

Regular season

Final standings

East Division	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
x Swift Current Broncos	72	43	20	7	2	95	275	215
x Regina Pats	72	40	27	3	2	85	285	242
x Moose Jaw Warriors	72	34	29	4	5	77	287	291
x Brandon Wheat Kings	72	32	32	5	3	72	244	242
Saskatoon Blades	72	19	43	5	5	48	193	265
Prince Albert Raiders	72	18	47	3	4	43	204	348

Central Division	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
x Red Deer Rebels	72	54	12	3	3	114	304	168
x Kootenay Ice	72	45	17	4	6	100	286	213
x Calgary Hitmen	72	37	27	5	3	82	284	250
x Lethbridge Hurricanes	72	29	35	4	4	66	200	229
Medicine Hat Tigers	72	24	40	5	4	56	271	316

West Division	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA
x Kelowna Rockets	72	37	23	7	5	86	259	240
x Portland Winter Hawks	72	37	27	5	3	82	244	237
x Kamloops Blazers	72	35	28	7	2	79	289	274
x Spokane Chiefs	72	35	28	7	2	79	242	219
x Prince George Cougars	72	31	33	4	4	70	242	266
x Seattle Thunderbirds	72	30	33	8	1	69	262	299
Tri-City Americans	72	21	36	8	7	57	217	284

Map of WHL, 1998–97 to 2000–01

200km
125miles

Wheat Kings

Pats

Warriors

Raiders

Blades

Broncos

Tigers

Hurricanes

Rebels

Hitmen

Ice

Chiefs

Americans

Rockets

Blazers

Thunderbirds

Winterhawks

Cougars

  

   East Division

   Central Division

   West Division

Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Justin Mapletoft	Red Deer Rebels	70	43	77	120	111
Layne Ulmer	Swift Current Broncos	68	63	56	119	75
Jared Aulin	Kamloops Blazers	70	31	77	108	62
Jarret Stoll	Kootenay Ice	62	40	66	106	105
Blake Evans	Tri-City/Regina	67	52	50	102	120
Kyle Wanvig	Red Deer Rebels	69	55	46	101	202
Konstantin Panov	Kamloops Blazers	69	44	56	100	52
Jordan Krestanovich	Calgary Hitmen	70	40	60	100	32
Nathan Barrett	Lethbridge Hurricanes	70	46	53	99	66
Rory McDade	Kelowna Rockets	72	28	70	98	50

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
Shane Bendera	Red Deer Rebels	45	2604	32	8	2	107	5	.903	2.47
B. J. Boxma	Kootenay/Swift Current	48	2791	28	15	2	123	0	.903	2.64
Dan Blackburn	Kootenay Ice	50	2924	33	14	2	135	1	.907	2.77
Michael Garnett	Red Deer/Saskatoon	49	2640	21	22	3	122	4	.902	2.77
Joel Martin	Lethbridge Hurricanes	44	2352	17	18	1	107	2	.884	2.88

2001 WHL Playoffs

Conference quarterfinals

Eastern Conference

Red Deer vs. Lethbridge Date Away Home March 23 Lethbridge 3 2 Red Deer OT March 24 Lethbridge 0 5 Red Deer March 27 Red Deer 6 1 Lethbridge March 28 Red Deer 6 0 Lethbridge March 30 Lethbridge 2 7 Red Deer Red Deer wins series 4–1	Swift Current vs. Brandon Date Away Home March 23 Brandon 3 0 Swift Current March 24 Brandon 2 4 Swift Current March 26 Swift Current 4 3 Brandon 2OT March 27 Swift Current 3 2 Brandon March 30 Brandon 5 2 Swift Current April 2 Swift Current 3 2 Brandon Swift Current wins series 4–2
Regina vs. Calgary Date Away Home March 23 Calgary 2 5 Regina March 24 Calgary 4 1 Regina March 26 Regina 3 4 Calgary OT March 28 Regina 2 7 Calgary March 29 Calgary 1 4 Regina April 1 Regina 3 4 Calgary Calgary wins series 4–2	Kootenay vs. Moose Jaw Date Away Home March 23 Moose Jaw 2 6 Kootenay March 24 Moose Jaw 0 4 Kootenay March 27 Kootenay 8 3 Moose Jaw March 28 Kootenay 5 1 Moose Jaw Kootenay wins series 4–0

Western Conference

Kelowna vs. Seattle Date Away Home March 30 Seattle 5 4 Kelowna OT March 31 Seattle 0 1 Kelowna April 5 Kelowna 1 5 Seattle April 6 Kelowna 2 3 Seattle OT April 8 Seattle 1 2 Kelowna OT April 9 Kelowna 2 4 Seattle Seattle wins series 4–2	Portland vs. Prince George Date Away Home March 30 Prince George 2 5 Portland March 31 Prince George 2 3 Portland OT April 3 Portland 3 6 Prince George April 4 Portland 4 5 Prince George OT April 7 Prince George 0 6 Portland April 9 Portland 5 3 Prince George Portland wins series 4–2
Kamloops vs. Spokane Date Away Home March 30 Spokane 3 1 Kamloops April 1 Spokane 5 2 Kamloops April 3 Kamloops 2 9 Spokane April 4 Kamloops 0 3 Spokane Spokane wins series 4–0

Conference semifinals

Eastern Conference
Red Deer vs. Calgary Date Away Home April 6 Calgary 4 1 Red Deer April 7 Calgary 2 3 Red Deer 2OT April 11 Red Deer 6 2 Calgary April 12 Red Deer 1 3 Calgary April 13 Calgary 3 4 Red Deer April 14 Red Deer 4 0 Calgary Red Deer wins series 4–2	Kootenay vs. Swift Current Date Away Home April 6 Swift Current 1 7 Kootenay April 7 Swift Current 3 1 Kootenay April 10 Kootenay 3 2 Swift Current OT April 11 Kootenay 3 4 Swift Current 3OT April 13 Swift Current 2 3 Kootenay April 15 Kootenay 2 3 Swift Current April 17 Swift Current 3 2 Kootenay Swift Current wins series 4–3

Western Conference
Spokane vs. Seattle Date Away Home April 13 Seattle 3 5 Spokane April 14 Seattle 1 4 Spokane April 16 Spokane 3 2 Seattle Spokane wins series 3–0	Portland earns bye

Conference finals

Eastern Conference	Western Conference
Red Deer vs. Swift Current Date Away Home April 20 Swift Current 4 3 Red Deer OT April 21 Swift Current 2 3 Red Deer April 24 Red Deer 2 3 Swift Current OT April 25 Red Deer 2 1 Swift Current April 27 Swift Current 1 3 Red Deer April 29 Red Deer 4 0 Swift Current Red Deer wins series 4–2	Portland vs. Spokane Date Away Home April 21 Spokane 0 3 Portland April 22 Spokane 1 2 Portland OT April 24 Portland 2 1 Spokane April 25 Portland 0 3 Spokane April 27 Spokane 1 4 Portland Portland wins series 4–1

WHL Championship

Red Deer vs. Portland
Date	Away	Home
May 4	Portland 2	3 Red Deer
May 5	Portland 4	5 Red Deer
May 9	Red Deer 2	3 Portland	OT
May 11	Red Deer 4	1 Portland
May 12	Red Deer 4	3 Portland	OT
Red Deer wins series 4–1

All-Star games

On January 24, the WHL Eastern All-stars were defeated by the OHL Western All-stars 5–2 at Guelph, Ontario before a crowd of 5,074.

On January 31, the WHL Western All-stars were defeated by the QMJHL Dilio All-stars 7–5 at Kamloops, British Columbia before a crowd of 4,103.

WHL awards

Four Broncos Memorial Trophy (Player of the Year): Justin Mapletoft, Red Deer Rebels

Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy (Scholastic Player of the Year): Dan Hulak, Portland Winter Hawks

Scholastic Team of the Year: Prince Albert Raiders, Portland Winter Hawks

Bob Clarke Trophy (Top scorer): Justin Mapletoft, Red Deer Rebels

Brad Hornung Trophy (Most Sportsmanlike Player): Matt Kinch, Calgary Hitmen

Bill Hunter Trophy (Top Defenseman): Christian Chartier, Prince George Cougars

Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year): Scottie Upshall, Kamloops Blazers

Del Wilson Trophy (Top Goaltender): Dan Blackburn, Kootenay Ice

Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy (Coach of the Year): Brent Sutter, Red Deer Rebels

Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy (Executive of the Year): Brent Sutter, Red Deer Rebels

Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy (Best regular season record): Red Deer Rebels

Allen Paradice Memorial Trophy (Top Official): Kevin Acheson

St. Clair Group Trophy (Marketing/Public Relations Award): Mark Miles, Spokane Chiefs

Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy (Humanitarian of the Year): Jim Vandermeer, Red Deer Rebels

WHL Plus-Minus Award: Jim Vandermeer, Red Deer Rebels

WHL Playoff Most Valuable Player: Shane Bendera, Red Deer Rebels

All-Star Teams

Eastern Conference
	First Team		Second Team
Goal	Dan Blackburn	Kootenay Ice	Shane Bendera	Red Deer Rebels
Defense	Matt Kinch	Calgary Hitmen	Ross Lupaschuk	Red Deer Rebels
	Jim Vandermeer	Red Deer Rebels	Filip Novak	Regina Pats
Forward	Justin Mapletoft	Red Deer Rebels	Nathan Barrett	Lethbridge Hurricanes
	Layne Ulmer	Swift Current Broncos	Blake Evans	Regina Pats
	Jarret Stoll	Kootenay Ice	Kyle Wanvig	Red Deer Rebels
Western Conference
	First Team		Second Team
Goal	Tyler MacKay	Spokane Chiefs	Kevin Swanson	Kelowna Rockets
Defense	Christian Chartier	Prince George Cougars	Dan Hulak	Portland Winterhawks
	Dan Hamhuis	Prince George Cougars	Gerard Dicaire	Seattle Thunderbirds
Forward	Jared Aulin	Kamloops Blazers	Brandin Cote	Spokane Chiefs
	Jamie Lundmark	Seattle Thunderbirds	Marcel Hossa	Portland Winterhawks
	Konstantin Panov	Kamloops Blazers	Rory McDade	Kelowna Rockets

• source: Western Hockey League press release

See also

• 2001 NHL Entry Draft
• 2000 in sports
• 2001 in sports

References

1. "Red Deer Rebels win Memorial Cup in OT". CBC Sports. May 27, 2001. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2024.

• 2005–06 WHL Guide

Preceded by 1999–2000 WHL season	WHL seasons	Succeeded by 2001–02 WHL season