Brandon Wheat Kings’ Captain Mark Stone capped off a brilliant season last Wednesday by being named the 2011-12 winner of the Western Hockey League’s Brad Hornung Trophy as the league’s Most Sportsmanlike Player of the year.

Stone was on hand to accept the award in Calgary as the WHL hosted its annual Awards Luncheon. When asked what the key to success was playing in Brandon, Stone replied “I’ve become real comfortable in Brandon, I spent a great four years there and I owe Kelly McCrimmon and the staff there a lot.  Being able to get comfortable with the same billets for four years was awesome for me.” 

A four year WHL veteran, Stone enjoyed a career year in what will be his final year of Major Junior Hockey. In addition to leading the Wheat Kings in scoring and finishing second in the WHL with 41 goals and 123 points in 66 games, the 19-year-old led Team Canada to a bronze medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Alberta, he came to terms on a National Hockey League Entry Level Contract with the Ottawa Senators and last week he made his Stanley Cup playoff debut, setting up the game winning goal in game 5 of the Sens’ opening round series with the New York Rangers.

“It was real special, to play my first (NHL) game this young was a lot of fun, especially in Madison Square Garden.”
With his first NHL game under his belt already, Stone is looking forward to next season, “My goal for the summer is to go in and make Ottawa, getting a little taste (of the NHL) makes me want it that much more.”

During his four years in Brandon, Stone played in 232 games, scoring 106 goals and 296 points while accumulating a total of only 102 minutes in penalties.
An Eastern Conference First All Star, Stone becomes only the fifth Wheat King and first since 1998 to capture this prestigious award. Other Brandon winners have included Cory Cyrenne (‘97-98), Kelly Smart (‘96-97), Darren Ritchie (‘94-95) and Ron Chipperfield, who was named winner in both 1972 and ‘73.

The Award is named after Brad Hornung, who was paralyzed after an unfortunate accident during a 1987 game between his Pats and Moose Jaw Warriors in Regina. During his two years with the Pats, Brad combined talent, desire and an unmistakable sportsmanlike attitude.

A full recap of the WHL Award winners for the 2011-2012 season:

Player of the Year (Four Broncos Memorial Trophy) Brendan Shinnimin - Tri-City Americans;

Scholastic Player of the Year (Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy) Reid Gow - Spokane Chiefs;

Top Scorer (Bob Clarke Trophy) Brendan Shinnimin - Tri-City Americans;

Most Sportsmanlike Player (Brad Hornung Trophy) Mark Stone - Brandon Wheat Kings;

Defenceman of the Year (Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy) Alex Petrovic - Red Deer Rebels;

Rookie of the Year (Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy) Sam Reinhart - Kootenay Ice;

Goaltender of the Year (Del Wilson Trophy) Tyler Bunz - Medicine Hat Tigers;

Coach of the Year (Dunc McCallum Trophy) Jim Hiller - Tri-City Americans;

Executive of the Year (Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy) Bob Green - Edmonton Oil Kings;

Regular Season Champions (Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy) Edmonton Oil Kings;

Humanitarian of the Year (Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy);

Taylor Vause - Swift Current Broncos;

Scholastic Team of the Year - Edmonton Oil Kings;

Top Official (Allan Paradice Memorial Trophy) - Pat Smith;

Marketing / Public Relations Award - Moose Jaw Warriors.