The 1960–61 WHL season was the ninth season of the Western Hockey League. The Portland Buckaroos were the Lester Patrick Cup champions as they beat the Seattle Totems four games to two in the final series.
Lester Patrick died on June 1, 1960, and in honour of him the WHL voted to rename the championship trophy from the President's Cup to the Lester Patrick Cup.
The Portland Buckaroos joined the league, and the eight teams played in one division.
Lou Jankowski of Calgary set a league record with 57 goals, and was named most valuable player. Art Jones of Portland won the scoring title with 100 points, one more than Jankowski.
Teams 1960–61 Western Hockey League Team City Arena Capacity Calgary Stampeders Calgary, Alberta Stampede Corral 6,475 Edmonton Flyers Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton Stock Pavilion 6,000 Portland Buckaroos Portland, Oregon Memorial Coliseum 12,000 Seattle Totems Seattle, Washington Civic Ice Arena 5,000 Spokane Comets Spokane, Washington Spokane Coliseum 5,400 Vancouver Canucks Vancouver, British Columbia PNE Forum 5,050 Victoria Cougars Victoria, British Columbia Victoria Memorial Arena 5,000 Winnipeg Warriors Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg Arena 9,500
Map of teams
Final standings + League Standings Team 1 Calgary Stampeders 70 44 22 4 300 215 92 2 Portland Buckaroos 70 38 23 9 242 192 85 3 Vancouver Canucks 70 38 29 3 208 191 79 4 Seattle Totems 70 37 28 5 262 222 79 5 Spokane Comets 70 33 34 3 247 258 69 6 Victoria Cougars 70 27 41 2 220 267 56 7 Edmonton Flyers 70 27 43 0 229 295 54 8 Winnipeg Warriors 70 21 45 4 191 259 46 bold – qualified for playoffs
Playoffs Playoff bracket
The final, between Portland and Seattle, was the first in league history to feature two American teams. The Portland Buckaroos defeated the Seattle Totems 4 games to 2 to win the Lester Patrick Cup.
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