Firkus, Yager take home three CHL Awards
Frankenmuth, Mich. – Jagger Firkus and Brayden Yager collected plenty of hardware at the 2024 CHL Awards on Saturday.
The Moose Jaw Warriors’ duo are bringing home three awards after Firkus won the David Branch Player of the Year and Top Scorer awards, while Yager was named the Sportsman of the Year.
“It means the world,” Firkus said on winning the Canadian Hockey League’s top award. “It’s special to me, it’s special to my family and I hope I can keep moving forward.”
Firkus became the first player in Warriors history to be named the CHL Player of the Year after leading the entire CHL with 126 points in 63 games.
The Seattle Kraken prospect set a career-high with 61 goals and 65 assists, leading the Warriors in scoring for the third straight season.
Firkus is the second Warrior to lead the CHL in scoring, joining Jayden Halbgewachs in 2017-18.
“There’s lots of people I can thank, obviously my trainer, my family, most importantly my family, how much support they gave me throughout the year, whether I was playing good or playing bad, they were there for me,” Firkus said.
“My teammates as well, without them, none of this happens… the culture we have in Moose Jaw is a big part of what it took this year and why I’m here right now is because of the passion we have in that dressing room.”
Firkus finishes the season as the fourth highest scoring player in Warriors’ history with 310 points and second in goals with 144 in 230 games.
Yager won his second career CHL award earning Sportsman of the Year honours this season after finishing with 95 points and 20 penalty minutes in 57 games.
The Pittsburgh Penguins first round pick joins Justin Almeida and Jason Bast as previous Warriors to win the award.
“It feels great, it’s a huge honour,” Yager said on winning a CHL award for the second time. “There’s been some really special players to win this award and to be mentioned in the same sentence as them is really special.”
Yager had previously won CHL Rookie of the Year in 2021-22 and was the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player each of the past two seasons.
“It wasn’t really a goal of mine to come home with an individual award, but it feels great, a lot of support from my teammates, my family and the organization in Moose Jaw, so it definitely feels special,” he said, joking that his dad might have to find some more room for awards after this year.
In total, the Western Hockey League collected six awards at the 2024 CHL Awards on Saturday in Frankenmuth, Mich.
Denton Mateychuk was also nominated for the CHL Defenceman of the Year, but lost out to Saginaw Spirit defenceman Zayne Parekh.
The special seasons by Firkus, Yager and Mateychuk helped lead the Warriors to their first ever WHL Championship.
“It was special, it was the [most fun] year of hockey I’ve ever hard,” Firkus said. “It was the best group of guys I’ve ever been a part of, looking back on it, I wish it could never end.”
The Warriors lost out of the 2024 Memorial Cup in the semifinal on Friday night.
The team will hold a Championship Celebration to honour the historic season with their fans coming up on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
