The Western Hockey League wrapped up its Annual General Meeting this week with the announcement that it will be returning to a full 68-game schedule this fall.

The season will open with the Moose Jaw Warriors hitting home ice against the Saskatoon Blades. 

The Warriors finished in 10th place last season in the shortened 24-game East Division Hub in Regina, coming away with a record of 8-13-3.  

Meanwhile, Moose Jaw opens the season against a team that had a strong showing last year. The Blades finished fourth in the East Division with a record of 16-5-2-1. 

The WHL is anticipating that games will be able to go back to full capacity as long as health restrictions are lifted in all of the team’s cities. 

Next season, however, will not have any interlocking games between Eastern and Western Conference teams. 

The full schedule of pre-season games is expected to be announced by the league on June 21. The Western Conference schedule will be announced on June 23 and the Eastern Conference schedule will come out at a later date. 

There will also be some changes to the 2022 WHL playoffs. 

The first-place teams in each division will receive the top two playoff seeds in their conference based on regular-season points. The next six teams in the conference will be ranked third to eighth. 

Those teams that move on to the second round and conference championships will be re-seeded after each round based on regular-season points. 

All series will be a best-of-seven format.