WHL Alumni Bedard, Ingram, Nill recipients of 2024 NHL Awards
Tags: NHL AwardsWHL ALUMNI
Las Vegas, Nev. – Chicago Blackhawks star and Regina Pats alumnus Connor Bedard, along with fellow WHL alumni Connor Ingram and Jim Nill have all been named recipients of NHL Awards following the 2023-24 season.
Bedard, who was the Blackhawks’ first-overall selection at the 2023 NHL Draft, has been awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the 2024 NHL Rookie of the Year. The former Regina Pats captain wasted no time in making a name for himself at the NHL level, recording his first career point in his debut with the Blackhawks on October 10, 2023. His first goal with the Blackhawks came one day later, on October 11, 2023, against the Boston Bruins. Despite missing 14 games due to a fractured jaw in January, Bedard’s first-year reign was intact for much of the regular season. Bedard completed his first NHL campaign on April 18, finishing with 61 points (22 goals–39 assists) in 68 games. His 22 goals and 68 points lead all NHL rookies and his Chicago Blackhawks teammates. During his time with the Pats, Bedard also captured the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy and the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Rookie of the Year (2021) and Player of the Year (2023), respectively. The Calder Trophy is the second NHL award in Bedard’s name, as the product of North Vancouver, B.C. was the recipient E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence, last season. Bedard is the first WHL alumnus to win the NHL’s Rookie of the Year award since Seattle Thunderbirds alumnus Mathew Barzal in 2018.
Kamloops Blazers alumnus Connor Ingram has been named the recipient of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. Awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to the sport of hockey, no person was more deserving than Ingram. In January 2021, Ingram, who was coping with undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder and lingering depression, entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in the hopes of understanding what was going on with him. With the help of therapy, the netminder was able to reignite his love of the game and his career as a professional netminder. In this season alone, the 27-year-old boasts career highs in all facets of his crease – owning 23 wins (17 more than the season prior), a goals-against average of 2.91, and a save percentage of .907. Ingram becomes the second WHL alumni in the last three years to stake a claim in the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy – following behind former 2022 recipient and Tri-City Americans netminder, Carey Price.
For the second straight year, Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill has received the Jim Gregor General Manager of the Year Award. Presented to the top general manager in the NHL, Nill, for two consecutive seasons, has continued to keep the Stars in the running as Stanley Cup contenders. Under his management, the Texas-based club boasted a regular season record of 52-21-9 and 113 points, as well as a Western Conference Championship finish at the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Hanna, Alta local spent the season finding creative ways to add talent to what was an already impressive roster. This came in the form of signing 33-year-old Matt Duchene to a one-year contract and the acquisition of lockdown defenceman, Chris Tanev, from the Calgary Flames. While a familiar face in the NHL for countless seasons, Nill, 66, also has deeply-seeded roots in the WHL. From 1975-1978, the Western League alumnus spent three seasons as a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers. In 205 career appearances, Nill collected 75 goals and 81 assists for 156 points.
The 2024 NHL Awards kicks off a weekend of NHL Draft-related festivities in Las Vegas. Round One of the 2024 NHL Draft is slated to begin at 5 p.m. MT on Friday, June 28.
