Calgary, Alta.—The Western Hockey League has announced the 2024-25 Conference nominees for the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy.
The distinguished award is presented annually to the league’s Most Sportsmanlike Player.
Recent winners include Carolina Hurricanes forwards Logan Stankoven (Kamloops Blazers) and Seth Jarvis (Portland Winterhawks) and Stanley Cup Champions Sam Reinhart (Kootenay ICE) and Mark Stone (Brandon Wheat Kings).
WHL General Managers vote on the league’s major awards. This represents a return to the Conference awards format, rather than divisional, for the first time since 2019-20.
Winners of 2025 WHL Awards will be announced from Tuesday, April 22, through Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player Nominees
Eastern Conference- Jordan Gavin (Surrey, B.C.)- Brandon Wheat Kings
Eastern Conference- Oliver Tulk (Gibsons, B.C.)- Calgary Hitmen
Eastern Conference- Brayden Yager (Saskatoon, Sask.)- Lethbridge Hurricanes
Western Conference- Berkly Catton (Saskatoon, Sask.)- Spokane Chiefs
Western Conference- Emmitt Finnie (Lethbridge, Alta.)- Kamloops Blazers
Western Conference- Kenta Isogai (Nagano, Japan)- Victoria Royals
WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player Biographies
Jordan Gavin (Brandon Wheat Kings)
Jordan Gavin kept it consistent in his third full WHL season with another 20-plus goal campaign and zero penalty minutes.
The 2025 NHL Draft-eligible forward registered 21 goals (including two game-winners) and 36 assists for 57 points and no penalties in 68 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Tri-City Americans.
Gavin finished third on the Wheat Kings in scoring after being acquired by Brandon at the 2025 WHL Trade Deadline.
The 18-year-old has amassed 67 goals and 114 assists for 181 points and just four penalty minutes in 207 career games over parts of four seasons.
Gavin is ranked 123rd among all North American Skaters by NHL Central Scouting in the agency’s Midterm Rankings ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft.
The 5-foot-11, 179-pound forward helped Canada win gold at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and represented Canada Black at the 2022 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, where he picked up a goal and an assist in six games.
Oliver Tulk (Calgary Hitmen)
Calgary Hitmen veteran Oliver Tulk enjoyed a career season that saw him score a career-high 38 goals and add 62 assists for his first 100-point season. Tulk was one of only six skaters to hit the century mark in 2024-25.
The 20-year-old registered only 20 penalty minutes, all of which were minors, and tied for the third-fewest penalty minutes among Hitmen skaters who played 50 or more games. Calgary was also the second-least penalized team in the WHL in the regular season.
Tulk led the Hitmen in points, goals and plus/minus with a +40 rating while sitting second in assists. The Gibsons, B.C. product finished sixth in the WHL points race and tied for seventh in goals.
The 5-foot-8, 174-pound winger surpassed major milestones this week as he reached 259 points (111G-148A) in 262 career games over four seasons in Calgary.
Tulk was named to the WHL Central Division Second All-Star Team in 2024 before bumping up to the WHL Eastern Conference First All-Star Team in 2025.
Brayden Yager (Lethbridge Hurricanes)
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.
Berkly Catton (Spokane Chiefs)
The Spokane Chiefs Captain helped his club return to powerhouse status with a 109-point (38G-71A) season. Catton is the fifth player in franchise history to record back-to-back 100-plus point seasons- despite playing fewer games than he did in 2023-24.
Catton was third in the WHL scoring race while finishing 12th in goals, fourth in assists and fifth in plus/minus (+46) while posting a mere 30 penalty minutes.
The 19-year-old bolstered his international resume by making his first U20 appearance for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he picked up an assist. He previously won gold for Canada at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and bronze at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship.
Catton’s impressive WHL career has seen him pile up 116 goals and 168 assists for 284 points in 197 regular-season games over parts of four seasons with Spokane. Since being selected by the Chiefs with the first overall pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, Catton has climbed to rank eighth overall in franchise points and assists while sitting 10th in goals.
The Seattle Kraken prospect was nominated for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy for WHL Player of the Year in 2024 and earned a spot on the 2024 WHL U.S. Division First All-Star Team and 2025 WHL Wester Conference First All-Star Team.
Emmitt Finnie (Kamloops Blazers)
The Kamloops Blazers Captain’s breakout season was among the best in the West, with 37 goals and 47 assists for 84 points while posting a paltry 26 penalty minutes.
Finnie passed the 30-goal mark for the first time in his WHL career, ranking 15th among all WHL skaters in goals and 16th in points, despite playing on one of the lower-scoring teams in the league. Finnie is also fifth in faceoff wins with 735.
The 19-year-old from Lethbridge, Alta. has burst onto the WHL scene since being selected by the Blazers in the fourth round of the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft. He’s totaled 184 points (65G-119A) in 229 games over four seasons and appeared in four games for the Blazers at the 2023 Memorial Cup.
He was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the seventh round of the 2023 NHL Draft and signed his entry-level contract in March of 2024.
Finnie has also been named a 2025 WHL Western Conference Second All-Star Team member.
Kenta Isogai (Victoria Royals)
Twenty-year-old Kenta Isogai has turned heads since breaking into the WHL in the 2023-24 season.
The star winger bagged 32 goals and 46 assists for 78 points in 59 games with the Victoria Royals and Wenatchee Wild while being dinged with a mere 12 penalty minutes.
Victoria traded for Isogai with lofty playoff aspirations in mind. The Nagano, Japan, product ended up helping the Royals clinch the B.C. Division title while finishing third on the team in goals and points while having the fewest penalty minutes of any player to suit up for more than 50 games. He registered six multi-goal games and three game-winners.
Isogai has racked up 63 goals and 103 assists for 166 points in 123 regular-season games over two seasons.
He was named to the 2024 WHL U.S. Division First All-Star Team and was an alternate captain for Wenatchee prior to joining the Royals.
About the Western Hockey League
Regarded as the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players, the Western Hockey League (WHL) head office is based in Calgary, Alta. The WHL offers a world-class player experience featuring three key cornerstones: hockey development, education, and a safe and positive environment for all participants. A diverse and inclusive organization, the WHL consists of 22 member Clubs with 16 located in Western Canada and six in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. A member of the Canadian Hockey League, the WHL has been a leading supplier of talent for the National Hockey League for close to 60 years. The WHL is also a leading provider of hockey scholarships with over 375 graduates each year receiving WHL Scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education of their choice. Each season, WHL players also form the nucleus of Canada’s National Junior Hockey Team.
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