Jordan Gavin named U.S. Division nominee for WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player
KENNEWICK, WA – The Tri-City Americans are proud to announce that forward Jordan Gavin has been named the U.S. Division’s nominee for the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy as the Most Sportsmanlike Player for the 2023-24 season. Each division has a nominee and one of the four will be named the winner of the award.
Gavin, from South Surrey, B.C., had a historic 2023-24 season recording 68 points (23-45-68) in 68 games, but doing so while not taking a single minor penalty. Never in the history of the Western Hockey League has a player recorded a point-per-game season with zero penalty minutes.
A rising star for the Regina Pats, Hornung’s career was cut short after being paralyzed from the waist down following a hit in a game on March 1, 1987. Noted for his talent, desire and sportsmanlike attitude, Hornung was revered in Western Canadian hockey circles. The trophy was re-dedicated in his name following his passing in 2022 at the age of 52.
Throughout his 145 career WHL games to date, including playoffs, Gavin has racked up 126 points (46-80-126) with just three minor penalties, including one in which he served a bench minor for too many men on the ice.
The Americans drafted Gavin with the second overall pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, and he now enters his NHL Draft year being a late 2006-born player.
Gavin could become the first Americans player to win the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy, and first player to win a major WHL award since Taylor Vickerman won the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy as the Humanitarian of the Year in 2014-15.
