Blazers' Stankoven wins Player of the Year as CHL announces award winners

Before the Canadian Hockey League awards the Memorial Cup on Wednesday night, the CHL held its annual awards ceremony on Tuesday night with Logan Stankoven, Nathan Staios, Dylan Garand, and Brayden Yager among the night’s big winners.

Stankoven, 19, won the David Branch Player of the Year Award over other finalists Saint John Sea Dogs winger William Dufour and centre Wyatt Johnston of the Windsor Spitfires.

A native of Kamloops, B.C., Stankoven led his hometown Blazers in scoring with 45 goals and 59 assists, finishing third in the Western Hockey League in scoring. A second-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2021, Stankoven’s 1.76 points per game was a league best. In claiming the award, Stankoven joins an illustrious list of winners that includes Hockey Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux, Dale Hawerchuk and Joe Sakic, as well as current NHL stars Sidney Crosby, Mitch Marner and John Tavares.

Staios, 21, was named the CHL Defenceman of the Year. The Hamilton Bulldogs blueliner beat out Olen Zellweger of the Everett Silvertips and Lukas Cormier of the Charlottetown Islanders for the award.

A native of Oakville, Ont., Staios led all Ontario Hockey League defencemen in scoring with 15 goals and 51 assists in 59 games played. Finishing fourth in team scoring, Staios had five games with three or more points this past season. Staios is the son of long-time NHL defenceman Steve Staios, who appeared in 1,001 career games over 16 seasons with the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Atlanta Thrashers, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and New York Islanders. Among those who have previously won CHL Defenceman of the Year include Chris Pronger, Dougie Hamilton, and Thomas Chabot.

Jim Hulton of the Islanders was named the Brian Kilrea Coach of