WHL Western Hockey League

WHL Announces Weekly Award Winners

December 4, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL) News Release


Calgary, Alta. - The Western Hockey League announced today Conor Geekie of the Wenatchee Wild has been named Tempo WHL Player of the Week for the week ending December 3, 2023.

The Arizona Coyotes prospect made Wild history as he erupted for six goals and seven assists in four appearances last week, leading Wenatchee to a 3-0-1-0 record.

Geekie would tally an assist in Wenatchee's lone loss of the week, a 5-4 overtime effort against the Kelowna Rockets.

The 19-year-old served up the secondary assist on Karter Prosofsky's Teddy Bear Toss goal and played set up-man to Matthew Savoie twice as the Wild jumped out to a 6-2 lead against the Portland Winterhawks at the Town Toyota Center on December 1. Geekie would add an empty netter for good measure.

The following night, the Winterhawks would soar to a 5-1 lead on home ice heading into the third period.

Matthew Savoie would jumpstart the Wenatchee comeback with an early lamp-lighter, but Geekie rolled into the record books with four straights goals in 10:05. Geekie kicked off the run on the powerplay with an expertly placed tip on Graham Sward's shot. The duo would link up just over a minute-and-a-half later on a clean play that started with a Wenatchee faceoff win in the offensive zone. Sward fed Geekie in the slot for a slick one-timer to get the Wild within one. With a minute to play in regulation and six attackers on the ice, Geekie found the equalizer- and the hat trick- by tucking the puck just past the outstretched pad of Justen Maric.

In overtime, Geekie did it all himself, skating coast-to-coast, splitting the defenders with a neat move and firing home the game-winner. This marked the organization's first four-goal hat trick in almost a decade and the first time in franchise history that a player scored four goals consecutively.

The Wild wrapped up the week with a grueling third game in as many nights, returning home to take on the Tri-City Americans. Geekie continued his point streak by earning the secondary assist on Sward's game-opening goal. He'd crack the 20-goal mark with a wicked wrister to close out the opening frame.

Geekie would add two more assists as the Wild trampled the Americas 7-4 in Wenatchee's 12th straight home victory.

Geekie is riding an eight-game point streak that has seen him put up nine goals and 13 assists. He enters the week sitting fourth in the league in points (49), sixth in goals (20) and fourth in assists (29) while playing fewer games than his fellow leaders.

The Strathclair, Man. Product was selected in the first round, 11th overall by the Arizona Coyotes at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

The Wild (18-8-3-0) lead the U.S. Division and have a commanding nine points in its past 10 games. Wenatchee will host Tri-City in a rematch on December 9 at 6:05 p.m. PST.

2023-24 Tempo WHL Player of the Week

November 27, 2023: Andrew Basha, Medicine Hat Tigers

November 20, 2023: Koehn Ziemmer, Prince George Cougars (Los Angeles Kings)

November 13, 2023: Gabe Klassen, Portland Winterhawks

November 6, 2023: Trevor Wong, Saskatoon Blades

October 30, 2023: Jagger Firkus, Moose Jaw Warriors (Seattle Kraken)

October 23, 2023: Andrew Cristall, Kelowna Rockets (Washington Capitals)

October 16, 2023: Ryder Ritchie, Prince Albert Raiders

October 10, 2023: Easton Armstrong, Wenatchee Wild

October 2, 2023: Jagger Firkus, Moose Jaw Warriors (Seattle Kraken)

September 25, 2023: Zac Funk, Prince George Cougars

WARRIORS NETMINDER UNGER NAMED WHL GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK

Calgary, Alta. - The Western Hockey League announced today that Moose Jaw Warriors netminder Jackson Unger has been named WHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending December 3, 2023.

The 18-year-old Calgary-born netminder went 2-0-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .969 save percentage in his two appearances last week as the Warriors outscored the opposition 9-2.

Unger started the week strong with a dominant 4-0 clean sheet against Swift Current. He stopped all 32 shots he faced, including a dramatic diving stick save to deny Josh Filmon in the first period to earn first star of the game. It marks the second shutout of the young netminder's WHL career.

The 6-foot-1, 188-pound puckstopper stayed steady in his next outing to turn aside 30 of the Red Deer Rebel's 32 shots in a 5-2 Moose Jaw victory to kick off an Alberta road trip.

Unger has been a workhorse for the Warriors in his first season as the starter, sporting a 9.16 save percentage and 3.05 goals-against average to go along with his 14-9-0-1 record. He's wracked up the most wins in the WHL, faced a league-high 778 shots and is second in minutes played with 1,397 (just three minutes behind Lethbridge's Harrison Meneghin).

The Warriors (17-10-0-1) are second in the East Division with points in eight of its past 10 games. Moose Jaw will host the Red Deer Rebels at 7:00 CST on December 6.

2023-24 WHL Goaltender of the Week

November 27, 2023: Dawson Cowan, Spokane Chiefs

November 20, 2023: Rhett Stoesser, Red Deer Rebels

November 13, 2023: Evan May, Medicine Hat Tigers

November 6, 2023: Joshua Ravensbergen, Prince George Cougars

October 30, 2023: Joshua Ravensbergen, Prince George Cougars

October 23, 2023: Daniel Hauser, Wenatchee Wild

October 16, 2023: Jan Špunar, Portland Winterhawks

October 10, 2023: Kyle Kelsey, Red Deer Rebels

October 2, 2023: Ethan Chadwick, Everett Silvertips

September 25, 2023: Max Hildebrand, Prince Albert Raiders

COUGARS GOALTENDER RAVENSBERGEN NAMED KAL TIRE WHL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Calgary, Alta. - The Western Hockey League announced today that Joshua Ravensbergen of the Prince George Cougars has been named Kal Tire WHL Rookie of the Week for the week ending December 3, 2023.

The 17-year-old puckstopper went 3-0-0-0 in his triad of starts and made one relief appearance with a 0.84 goals-against average, .973 save percentage and one shutout this past week.

Ravensbergen opened the week with a dominant effort over the surging Everett Silvertips. He turned aside 28 of 29 shots in a 3-1 victory, including making stops rookie Dominik Rymon and Vegas Golden Knights prospect Ben Hemmerling on breakaways. Ravensbergen was named first star of the game for his efforts.

The North Vancouver product was called on in relief the following night as the Cougars trailed the Silvertips 3-1. Ravensbergen held his side in it with 16 saves, surrendering only one goal in the 4-3 loss.

Next up, the Cougars travelled south for a three-game Washington road trip. Ravensbergen stood tall, stopping 30 of 31 shots from the Spokane Chiefs and helping the Cougars earn a fourth straight road win in the 4-1 win. Ravensbergen was named third star.

Ravensbergen closed out the week by earning his fifth shutout of the season. This time, it came against the third highest scoring team in the league, the Portland Winterhawks. He made 33 saves- the second most he's faced this season- to deny Portland in a 4-0 victory.

The 6-foot-4, 180-pound rookie has won his last nine starts in net.

The rookie leads the WHL and CHL in all major goaltending statistics with a meager 1.63 goals-against average, .944 save percentage and five shutouts.

Ravensbergen has been on a roll this season, earning WHL Goaltender of the Month in November and WHL Goaltender of the Week twice.

Prince George (21-7-0-0) sits first in the WHL and returns home to host the Victoria Royals (16-11-0-2) for a pair of games on December 8 and 9.

2023-24 WHL Rookie of the Week

November 27, 2023: Ethan Eskit, Brandon Wheat Kings

November 20, 2023: Dakota MacIntosh, Moose Jaw Warriors

November 13, 2023: Ben Kindel, Calgary Hitmen

November 6, 2023: Ethan McCallum, Medicine Hat Tigers

October 30, 2023: Julius Miettinen, Everett Silvertips (NHL CSS: C)

October 23, 2023: Terik Parascak, Prince George Cougars (NHL CSS: B)

October 16, 2023: Ty Coupland, Swift Current Broncos

October 10, 2023: Terik Parascak, Prince George Cougars (NHL CSS: B)

October 2, 2023: Terik Parascak, Prince George Cougars (NHL CSS: B)

September 25, 2023: Oscar Lovsin, Wenatchee Wild

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