Viper wins WHL Eastern Conference Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on Bluesky
-
Share on X
- Copy Link
He may be a big, strong, 6-6 power forward from Belarus with a menacing nickname like ‘the Viper of Vitebsk,’ but that doesn’t mean that Aliaksei Protas doesn’t have finesse as well.
On Wednesday, Protas was named the WHL Eastern Conference Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year and a nominee for the league award. Should Protas go on and win the Brad Hornung Trophy / WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year, he would become the first Raider to win the award since 2000.
Protas registered just eight penalty minutes throughout the 58 games in the season, despite gaining a lot of attention from the opposing team’s top defencemen. He only has 12 penalty minutes so far in first two years in the WHL. Protas scored 80 points to lead the Raiders this year in that category, doubling his total from last year. That earned him a spot on the WHL’s Eastern Conference First All-Star Team, which was announced last week.
WHL Eastern and Western Conference Most Sportsmanlike Players of the Year are voted upon annually by WHL general managers and head coaches. The winner of the Brad Hornung Trophy for WHL Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year will be announced on Thursday, May 14.
