Hurricanes Nominated for Multiple WHL Awards

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WHL Lethbridge Hurricanes

Hurricanes Nominated for Multiple WHL Awards

April 3, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Lethbridge Hurricanes News Release


LETHBRIDGE, AB - The Western Hockey League has begun to announce their finalist for their year-end annual awards this week and the Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey Club has been nominated for three awards thus far.

The Hurricanes organization has been named a finalist for the 2024-2025 Business Award. Players Shane Smith has been nominated for the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy as the WHL 's Humanitarian of the Year Award while Brayden Yager has been nominated for the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy as the WHL 's Sportsman of the Year Award.

Business Award

The Hurricanes have been nominated for the WHL Business Award for second time in four seasons and for the fourth time in the last seven seasons dating back to 2019 while having won the Award during the 2019-2020 season. The 'Canes saw a growth in attendance for the third straight season, including a 26 percent increase on Saturday after instituting 6:00pm game times.

Lethbridge continued to strengthen their community partnerships with local businesses, non-profit charities and Lethbridge Minor Hockey during the 2024-2025 season. After collaborating with Minor Hockey on branding, the Hurricanes achieved a 31% increase in merchandise sales from the previous year. Additionally, the club helped contribute over $175,000 to local charities this season with initiatives such as the United Way Jersey Raffle, Shane Scores for Maia Campaign, Goals for Kids, CRH Saves Program, the SRI Homes Yager Bombs initiative and more during the season, all matched by the Hurricanes Hockey Club. In the previous eight seasons, the Hurricanes have helped contribute over $1-million in donations through community initiatives.

The team also saw an uptick in social media and digital content engagement with an 18% increase of followers on Facebook with a 45% rise in content interactions, Instagram followed surged by 352% while TikTok followed grew by 162% generating over 2.3-million views during the 2024-2025 season.

Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy - Humanitarian of the Year Award

Twenty-year-old Shane Smith is a WHL Humanitarian of the Year finalist for the second season in a row.

After being acquired by the Hurricanes in October of 2025, Smith dove into a variety of causes, including one that hits very close to home.

The Cessford, Alta. product founded the Shane Scores for Maia campaign, a season-long initiative that sees Smith donate $25 for every point earned to the Canadian cytomegalovirus (CMV) Foundation in honour of his niece, Maia, who was diagnosed with congenital CMV when she was born. Smith hopes to raise awareness for the virus, which is very common and even asymptomatic in adults but can have lifelong impacts on newborns who've been infected. At time of writing, Smith has 32 points (13G-19A) in 62 regular season and playoff games with the Hurricanes for a current total of $800. The Hurricanes will match Smith's total at the end of the season.

Smith also devoted over 75 hours of volunteer time throughout the regular season. This includes shifts at the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen, minor hockey and ringette practices, community skates and school visits. He's also a mainstay on the outdoor rink with kids in his billet neighbourhood.

At the rink, Smith has worked closely with the Hurricanes chaplain to organize a chapel program and is credited with helping to shape the team's locker room culture.

The Hurricanes applaud Smith's consistent, heartfelt approach to making a difference in his community as a true ambassador of the sport.

Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy - Most Sportsmanlike Award

Winnipeg Jets prospect Brayden Yager has been nominated as the WHL Sportsman of the Year for a third time after winning the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy in 2024 and 2023.

The 20-year-old is one of only seven skaters to earn the award multiple times and could become the first to complete the major award hat trick. He was also named the CHL Sportsman of the Year for 2024.

Yager averaged more than a point per game for a fourth straight season after putting up 25 goals and 57 assists for 82 points in 54 games with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Moose Jaw Warriors while only getting dinged with 22 penalty minutes. He led the Hurricanes in points after joining the Central Division squad in a blockbuster trade and ranked ninth among all WHL skaters in points per game (1.43).

The Saskatoon, Sask. product was named Captain of Team Canada for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he picked up three assists and boasted the best faceoff percentages at the tournament (71.62%) without taking a single penalty.

Yager has 332 points (129G-203) over 265 regular season games with the Hurricanes and Warriors, who drafted him with the third overall pick in the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft.

The 2024 WHL Champion is one of the most decorated active WHL Players. In addition to two Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy wins, Yager earned the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy for WHL Rookie of the Year and CHL Rookie of the Year in 2022. He was also named to the WHL East Division Second All-Star Team in 2024 and the WHL Eastern Conference Second All-Star Team in 2025.

All-Stars Nominations

The WHL also has announced their 2024-2025 First and Second All-Star teams and both Noah Chadwick and Brayden Yager were named as Eastern Conference All-Stars.

Chadwick was named to the First All-Star Team after leading the Hurricanes in scoring from the blueline with 53 points (13g-40a) along with 43 penalty minutes and a plus-11 rating. The 2024-2025 season marked the second consecutive year that the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect has eclipsed the 50-point plateau while setting a new career-high with 13 goals. He led the Hurricanes during the regular season with 21 power play assists while finishing third among defenceman in the Eastern Conference in points.

The Saskatoon, SK, product was named the WHL and CHL winner of the Scholastic Player of the Year Award in 2023- 2024 while also being named to the Central Division Second All-Star Team.

Yager was named to the Second All-Star Team after finishing the campaign with a team-high 82 points (25g-57a) along with 22 penalty minutes and a plus-5 rating. The Winnipeg Jets prospect racked up an impressive 52 points (14g-38a) along with 18 penalty minutes in just 33 regular season games with the Hurricanes after being acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors in early December. He finished the season eighth among Eastern Conference forwards in points while ranking fifth in points-per-game.

The Saskatoon, SK, product was named the WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year in 2023-2024 while being named to the East Division Second All-Star Team.

The WHL will continue to make their 2024-2025 Award nominations over the next two weeks before announcing the winners in May.

The Hurricanes will continue their first-round best-of-seven series on Friday at 7:00pm at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena as they welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings for Game 5 as the 'Canes hold a 3-1 series advantage. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre and VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.

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