RED DEER, Alberta — Carter Hart has long been considered the best goaltender in the WHL. Now he’s been recognized as the league’s best player, regardless of position.
The Everett Silvertips goaltender was the big winner at the WHL’s awards ceremony held Wednesday afternoon, picking up both the Four Broncos Trophy as the league’s Player of the Year and the Del Wilson Trophy as the league’s Goaltender of the Year.
Hart is the first player in Everett’s 15-season history to be named the Player of the Year, and he is the first player from any team to win the Goaltender of the Year award three times.
Everett had one other award winner as general manager Garry Davidson won the Lloyd Saunders Trophy as the league’s Executive of the Year.
The awards were voted on by team officials, league coaches and media members.
Hart had a season for the ages in 2017-18. The 19-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alberta, only appeared in 41 games as he missed time at the beginning of the season while dealing with a bout of mononucleosis, then missed more time in December and January while backstopping Canada to the gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships. But when Hart was on the ice for Everett he was nearly unbeatable, going 31-6-1-3 with a 1.60 goals-against average and .947 save percentage. Statistically he lapped the field, as Portland’s Cole Kehler was second in goals-against average at 2.77 and Victoria’s Griffen Outhouse was second in save percentage at .914.
Hart beat out Moose Jaw’s Jayden Halbgewachs, the Eastern Conference nominee for the Four Broncos Trophy who was the league’s first 70-goal scorer in 20 years, for the Player of the Year award. Hart topped Lethbridge’s Logan Flodell for the Goaltender of the Year award, an honor he also took home in 2016 and 2017.
“It’s definitely a huge honor to be recognized for the two awards,” Hart said via cell phone from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, where he arrived a day ahead of the rest of the team in advance of Friday’s Game 1 of the WHL championships series against the Swift Current Broncos. “It was nice to share the day with my parents, who were there, and with some of the other winners who I know.
“It was definitely cool to be the first guy to win (the Goaltender of the Year award) three times in a row,” Hart added. “We’ve had some really good teams in the past and we’ve been playing some really good hockey the last few years, and now that we’re making a run to the league finals it’s definitely exciting times right now.”
Davidson, Everett’s general manager since February of 2012, assembled the roster that won the U.S. Division championship, finished with the best record in the Western Conference and advanced to the WHL championships series. His biggest move was acquiring winger Garrett Pilon and defenseman Ondrej Vala from Kamloops in exchange for a package of young players, prospects and draft picks. He also picked up several depth players to supplement the roster.
Davidson beat out Moose Jaw’s Alan Miller for the honor. It was the first time an Everett general manager won the Executive of the Year award.
“Obviously I’m honored and appreciative of my colleagues who voted for me,” Davidson said via cell phone from Red Deer. “But awards like that happen for GMs because of the support and work ethic a of a lot of other people. I’ll accept the award, but I certainly appreciate a lot of other people contributing to our success.
“When I arrived six years ago I thought it would be a three-to-five-year process to get the organization to where I wanted it to be,” Davidson added. “It took a little longer than that, but we’re there now. Now the challenge is to sustain it.”
Everett finished as the runner-up in two categories. Coach Dennis Williams lost out to Swift Current’s Manny Viveiros for the Dunc McCallum Trophy as Coach of the Year, and the Tips lost out to the Edmonton Oil Kings for the Business Award.
Bantam draft Thursday
The WHL bantam draft takes place Thursday beginning at 7:30 a.m. PDT. This year’s draft disperses players born in 2003 from western Canada and the western United States among the league’s 22 teams.
Everett’s first pick is in the second round at No. 42 overall. The Tips traded away their first-rounder last year to the Edmonton Oil Kings in the deal that brought defenseman Aaron Irving to Everett. The Tips have picks in the second, third and fourth rounds, no picks in the fifth or sixth rounds, and three picks in the seventh round.
Edmonton holds the first-overall pick in the draft. Defenseman Carson Lambos from Winnipeg, Manitoba, is considered the draft’s top prospect.
Pilon honored
Pilon was named the WHL Player of the Month for April. Pilon, a winger who’s in his 19-year-old season, had seven goals and 10 assists in 11 playoff games as the Tips went 8-3 in winning their second-round series against Portland and the Western Conference championship against Tri-City. Pilon had a point in 10 of the 11 games, including six multi-point outings. He is the second Everett player to earn Player of the Month honors this season, as center Matt Fonteyne won the award for January.
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