Two members of the club picked up league awards, with forward Brayden Tracey winning the James Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL Rookie of the Year, while Justin Almeida picked up the Brad Hornung Trophy as the WHL's Most Sportsmanlike Player.
Defenceman Josh Brook was the Eastern Conference nominee for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the WHL Defenceman of the Year, with that honour going to Ty Smith of the Spokane Chiefs.
For Tracey, the season was as outstanding as one would think given the award he was presented with – playing alongside Almeida and Tristin Langan, he was part of the highest-scoring line in the Canadian Hockey League while putting up 36 goals and 81 points in 66 games to lead all rookies and finish tied for 13th in WHL scoring.
“I’m pretty honoured to be recognized like this by the league in my first year, but once again it doesn’t come without the whole organization in Moose Jaw,” Tracey told Cam Moon of the Red Deer Rebels after accepting the award. “Being a part of that organization is something special and my teammates back in Moose Jaw helped a lot in me getting here”
The 17-year-old Calgary product felt the welcoming nature of the Warriors’ veterans made a major difference when it came to his success.
“I think being a rookie in the league, you have to learn a lot and with the older guys on the team, they were great to me,” he said. “It’s always tough switching schools and being on a new team but all the older guys taught me a lot and I just have to take it into next year.”
Tracey is the third Warrior to be named the WHL Rookie of the Year, Donovan Nunweiler won the award in 1996-97 and Mark MacKay captured the award in 1984-85.
For Almeida, staying out of the penalty box and playing a clean game was all part of the plan as he racked up 33 goals and 111 points while picking up only 14 penalty minutes – the lowest total of any player in the top-15 scorers.
“I gotta be on the ice more than I’m in the box watching the game, so any time I’m on the ice I can help my team and when you’re in the box you’re hurting your team and I never want to do that,” Almeida said while interviewed by Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino. “Then being respectful to the officials and your opponents is important, too.”
The Warriors’ surprisingly stellar season was no small part due to Almeida’s contribution, but he was quick to give credit to the whole organization.
“Our team had great success, and it starts with our coaching staff and our management giving us the right tools and the mindset of our team,” Almeida said. “We had a lot younger team this year with a lot of new guys, so it was a hard-working attitude that contributed to my success.”
Jason Bast was named the WHL and CHL Most Sportsmanlike player in 2009-2010, Blair Atcheynum captured the award in 1988-1989.
Former Warriors head coach and general manager Curtis Hunt, now the g.m. of the Prince Albert Raiders, won the Executive of the Year award.
Joachim Blichfeld won the Four Broncos Trophy as the WHL Player of the Year, while Prince Albert’s Ian Scott was named the Goaltender of the Year, the Raiders Marc Habscheid the Coach of the Year, Everett’s Dustin Wolf the Scholastic Player of the Year and Edmonton’s Will Warm the WHL Humanitarian of the Year.
All the league winner will represent the WHL at the Canadian Hockey League Awards banquet later this month, with the national awards winners announced during the Memorial Cup in Halifax.
