PATS, PADDOCK DOMINATE EASTERN AWARD NOMINATIONS

Calgary, AB – The Western Hockey League announced on Wednesday Eastern and Western Conference individual award winners for the 2016-17 WHL season.

All individual conference award winners will be eligible for League awards at the 2017 WHL Awards in Calgary, AB on Wednesday, May 3rd.

2016-17 WHL Conference Award Winners


WHL Player of the Year (Four Broncos Memorial Trophy)
Eastern Conference Player of the Year – Sam Steel (Sherwood Park, AB), Regina Pats
Western Conference Player of the Year – Mathew Barzal (Coquitlam, BC), Seattle Thunderbirds

WHL Top Goaltender (Del Wilson Memorial Trophy)
Eastern Conference Top Goaltender – Zach Sawchenko (Calgary, AB), Moose Jaw Warriors
Western Conference Top Goaltender – Carter Hart (Sherwood Park, AB), Everett Silvertips

WHL Top Defenceman (Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy)
Eastern Conference Top Defenceman – Connor Hobbs (Saskatoon, SK), Regina Pats
Western Conference Top Defenceman – Ethan Bear (Ochapowace, SK), Seattle Thunderbirds

WHL Rookie of the Year (Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy)
Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year – Aleksi Heponiemi (Tampere, Finland), Swift Current Broncos
Western Conference Rookie of the Year – Rudolfs Balcers (Liepaja, Latvia), Kamloops Blazers

WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year (Brad Hornung Trophy)
Eastern Conference Most Sportsmanlike Player – Tyler Steenbergen (Sylvan Lake, AB), Swift Current Broncos
Western Conference Most Sportsmanlike Player – Kevin Davis (Kamloops, BC), Everett Silvertips

WHL Executive of the Year (Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy)
Eastern Conference Executive of the Year – John Paddock, Regina Pats
Western Conference Executive of the Year – Bruce Hamilton, Kelowna Rockets


WHL Coach of the Year (Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy)
Eastern Conference Coach of the Year – John Paddock, Regina Pats
Western Conference Coach of the Year – Mike Johnston, Portland Winterhawks

The following individual and team awards were won during the 2016-17 WHL regular season:

WHL Regular Season Champions, Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy
Regina Pats: 72 GP – 52 W – 12 L – 7 OTL – 1 SL – 112 PTS

WHL Top Scorer (Bob Clarke Trophy)
Sam Steel (Sherwood Park, AB), Regina Pats
72 GP – 50 G – 81 A – 131 PTS – +49 – 40 PIM

WHL Plus-Minus Award
Sergey Zborovskiy (Moscow, Russia), Regina Pats
63 GP – 7 G – 33 A – 40 PTS – +72 – 64 PIM

Conference award winners for the WHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year, Top Official and Business Award will be announced at a later date.