Canadian Sports School Hockey League (CSSHL) alumni Connor Bedard and Kyle Crnkovic have captured Western Hockey League (WHL) East Division Rookie of the Year and Most Sportsmanlike Player awards.
Bedard continues to make headlines after being named to the East Division All-Star. After recording 181 points in 71 CSSHL games, Bedard was selected first overall in the 2020 WHL Draft and became the first player in WHL history to receive Exceptional Status. This season the Regina Pats rookie had a league leading 28 point in 15 games before leaving the WHL Eastern Conference bubble to join Team Canada in Texas as they captured gold at the U18 World Championships. Bedard led all rookies in goals, assists, points and his 1.87 points per game was second among all WHL players.
With 32 points in 24 games Crnkovic led all Saskatoon Blades skaters while finishing tenth among all WHL players. The forward won the WHL East Division Most Sportsmanlike Player award after adding just eight penalty minutes this season. Crnkovic spent two seasons in the CSSHL winning a U15 Prep CSSHL League Championships in 2016/17 with Pursuit of Excellence (POE), and a U18 Prep CSSHL League Championships in 2017/18 with the Northern Alberta Xtreme (NAX). In 73 CSSHL games Crnkovic tallied 174 points.