2015-16 WSHL season

This is the 2015-16 Western States Hockey League season. This is the league's 22nd season and the league's 5th under the sponsorship of the Amateur Athletic Union's United Hockey Union. The league was elevated to "Tier-II" Status by the AAU; however no explanation has been issued to explain the distinction between this and its previous status within the AAU.

Membership changes[]

The league grew to 29 teams for the 2015-16 season.

On April 21, 2015 the Lake Tahoe Blue announced they were changing their name to the Tahoe Icemen.
The San Diego Gulls announced they were changing their name to the San Diego Sabers to allow for the new American Hockey League team in town to take the San Diego Gulls moniker.
On June 1, 2015 the league announced the addition of an expansion team to begin play for the 2015-16 season based in Vancouver, Washington. The team has some of the same ownership as the Lake Tahoe Icemen The later announced it would be called the Vancouver Rangers. According to the release the league is hoping to add a couple more teams in the northwest region for the 2016-17 season.
The Arizona RedHawks shortened their name to the Arizona Hawks.

Teams[]

Division	Team	City	Arena	Joined
Midwest
	Dallas Snipers	Euless, Texas	Dr. Pepper StarCenter	2011
	El Paso Rhinos	El Paso, Texas	Sierra Providence Event Center	2006
	Oklahoma City Blazers	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	Blazers Ice Centre	2014
	Springfield Express	Springfield, Missouri	Mediacom Ice Park	2005
	Tulsa Jr. Oilers	Tulsa, Oklahoma	Oilers Ice Center	2012
	Wichita Jr. Thunder	Wichita, Kansas	Wichita Ice Center	2012
Mountain	Casper Coyotes	Casper, Wyoming	Casper Ice Arena	2014
	Cheyenne Stampede	Cheyenne, Wyoming	Cheyenne Ice and Events Center	2004
	Colorado Evolution	Denver, Colorado	Big Bear Ice Arena	2014
	Colorado Jr. Eagles	Fort Collins, Colorado	NoCo Ice Center	2013
	Ogden Mustangs	Ogden, Utah	The Ice Sheet	2002
	Salt Lake City Moose	Salt Lake City, Utah	Accord Ice Rink	2011
	Superior Roughriders	Superior, Colorado	Bouler Valley Ice at Superior	2007
Western	Arizona Hawks	Peoria, Arizona	AZ Ice Peoria	2009
	Fresno Monsters	Fresno, California	Gateway Ice Center	2009
	Las Vegas Storm	Las Vegas, Nevada	Las Vegas Ice Center	2014
	Long Beach Bombers	Lakewood, California	Glacial Garden Skating Arena	1994
	Ontario Avalanche	Ontario, California	The Center Ice Arena	2012
	Phoenix Knights	Gilbert, Arizona	AZ Ice Gilbert	1999
	San Diego Sabers	Escondido, California	Iceoplex Escondido	2001
	Valencia Flyers	Valencia, California	Ice Station Valencia	2001
Northwest	Butte Cobras	Butte, Montana	Butte Community Ice Center	2014
	Idaho Jr. Steelheads	McCall, Idaho	Manchester Ice & Event Centre	2009
	Missoula Maulers	Missoula, Montana	Glacier Ice Rink	2013
	Seattle Totems	Mountlake Terrace, Washington	Olympic View Arena	2012
	Southern Oregon Spartans	Medford, Oregon	The RRRink	2012
	Tahoe Icemen	South Lake Tahoe, California	South Lake Tahoe Ice Arena	2012
	Vancouver Rangers	Vancouver, Washington	Mountain View Ice Arena	2015
	Whitefish Wolverines	Whitefish, Montana	Stumptown Ice Den	2014

Standings[]

Plains Conference

Midwest Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	OL	SL	GF	GA	PIM	P
Oklahoma City Blazers	52	42	9	-	2	-	274	147	1293	86
Springfield Express	52	27	17	-	8	-	237	208	805	62
Wichita Jr. Thunder	52	30	21	-	1	-	230	206	915	61
El Paso Rhinos	52	27	23	-	2	-	208	192	1012	56
Tulsa Jr. Oilers	52	19	27	-	6	-	188	230	1094	44
Dallas Snipers	52	19	29	-	4	-	182	257	890	42
Mountain Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	OL	SL	GF	GA	PIM	P
Colorado Jr. Eagles	52	43	7	-	2	-	325	126	1082	88
Ogden Mustangs	52	38	12	-	2	-	263	130	1054	78
Casper Coyotes	52	37	12	-	3	-	284	153	962	77
Superior Roughriders	52	26	23	-	3	-	172	159	616	55
Salt Lake City Moose	52	25	27	-	0	-	158	167	772	50
Cheyenne Stampede	52	22	28	-	2	-	209	222	1065	46
Colorado Evolution	52	4	43	-	5	-	120	417	997	13
Pacific Conference Western Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	OL	SL	GF	GA	PIM	P
Valencia Flyers	52	45	7	-	0	-	257	94	742	90
Long Beach Bombers	52	39	10	-	3	-	247	135	1333	81
Fresno Monsters	52	36	12	-	4	-	267	147	1214	76
Ontario Avalanche	52	28	23	-	1	-	175	166	877	57
Phoenix Knights	52	22	27	-	3	-	198	221	1208	47
Arizona RedHawks	52	16	32	-	4	-	142	225	1452	36
Las Vegas Storm	52	10	34	-	8	-	142	279	892	28
San Diego Sabers	52	9	40	-	3	-	110	275	1015	21
Northwest Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	OL	SL	GF	GA	PIM	P
Idaho Jr. Steelheads	52	44	7	-	1	-	335	78	818	89
Missoula Maulers	52	38	12	-	2	-	257	143	710	78
Southern Oregon Spartans	52	33	18	-	1	-	227	184	1390	67
Vancouver Rangers	52	30	18	-	4	-	278	242	1331	64
Whitefish Wolverines	52	20	31	-	1	-	190	267	1107	41
Seattle Totems	52	13	31	-	8	-	160	270	1188	34
Butte Cobras	52	11	35	-	6	-	142	300	1055	28
Lake Tahoe Icemen	52	2	50	-	0	-	83	412	947	4
Western Premier League
Team	GP	W	L	T	OL	SL	GF	GA	PIM	P
Casper Coyotes T3	21	18	3	-	0	-	146	36	234	36
El Paso Rhinos T3	23	11	12	-	0	-	78	108	201	22
Ogden Mustangs T3	22	10	11	-	1	-	88	99	269	21
Cheyenne Stampede T3	23	6	15	-	2	-	53	123	24	14
Utah Golden Eagles	3	1	1	-	1	-	12	11	20	3
Ontario Avalance T3	0	0	0	-	0	-	0	0	0	0
UTEP Miners	0	0	0	-	0	-	0	0	0	0

2016 Thorne Cup Playoffs[]

Format[]

Top 6 teams in each division qualify
All series hosted by higher qualifying team except final which uses 2-3 format with team with better record having choice of which games to host
Division quarterfinals-Top 2 seed get first round bye, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5 (best-of-three)
Dvision semifinals-#1 vs lower seeded first round winner and #2 vs higher seeded first round winners (best-of-three)
Division final-semifinal winners (best-of-three)
Conference finals (best-of-three)
Thorne Cup Final-Semifinal winners (best-of-five) dates TBA

Midwest Division Quarterfinals[]

Wichita defeated Dallas 2 games to none (5-1, 2-0)
El Paso defeated Tulsa 2 games to none 5-3, 4-3)

Mountain Division Quarterfinals[]

Casper defeated Cheyenne 2 games to none (4-3, 4-0)
Superior defeated Salt Lake City 2 games to 1 (1-4, 6-1, 3-0)

Western Division Quarterfinals[]

Fresno defeated Arizona 2 games to none (6-0, 13-0)
Ontario defeated Phoenix 2 games to 1 (4-3 (ot), 2-3 (ot), 6-1)

Northwest Division Quarterfinals[]

Southern Oregon defeated Seattle 2 games to none (4-2, 2-1)
Whitefish defeated Vancouver 2 games to none (6-1, 6-5 (ot))

Midwest Division Semifinals[]

Oklahoma City defeated El Paso 2 games to none (10-2, 3-2 (2ot))
Springfield defeated Wichita 2 games to none (5-3, 3-1)

Mountain Division Semifinals[]

Colorado Jr. Eagles defeated Superior 2 games to none (8-1, 5-2)
Ogden Mustangs defeated Casper 2 games to none (5-3, 4-2)

Western Division Semifinals[]

Valencia defeated Ontario 2 games to none (2-1, 3-1)
Long Beach defeated Fresno 2 games to none (6-2, 7-0)

Northwest Division Semifinals[]

Idaho defeated Whitefish 2 games to none (7-0, 15-1)
Missoula defeated Southern Oregon 2 games to none (5-4, 6-5)

Midwest Division Final[]

Oklahoma City defeated Springfield 2 games to 1 (4-1, 2-3, 7-5)

Mountain Division Final[]

Colorado defeated Ogden 2 games to 1 (5-4, 4-5, 5-3)

Western Division Final[]

Valencia vs Long Beach defeated Valencia 2 games to none (2-0, 4-3)

Northwest Division Final[]

Idaho defeated Missoula 2 games to none (2-1, 5-4)

Conference Finals[]

Idaho defeated Long Beach 2 games to none (2-0, 3-2 (ot)
Colorado defeated Oklahoma City 2 games to 1 (6-3, 5-7, 4-3)

League Final[]

Idaho Jr. Steelheads defeated Colorado Jr. Eagles 3 games to none (3-2, 3-2, 5-4)