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By Chris Brown

Desjardins bested for WHL’s top executive, coach awards

May 3, 2023 | 2:35 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Taking the Medicine Hat Tigers from the Western Hockey League basement to the playoffs in one season wasn’t enough to earn Willie Desjardins any year-end hardware from the league.

Desjardins was the Central Division nominee for the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy as WHL executive of the year and the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL coach of the year.

Bil LaForge of the Seattle Thunderbirds was chosen as the executive of the year after the team set a franchise record with 54 wins during the regular season and won the U.S. Division title for the first time in six years.

Brennan Sonne of the Saskatoon Blades led them to 48 wins and 101 points, the first time in 12 years that the Blades passed the 100-point plateau.

After finishing last in the league in 2021-22, the Tigers compiled a 30-29-8-1 record to finish fourth in the Central Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference. Desjardins won the league’s top coach award in 2006 during his first stint with the Tigers.

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The league will continue to announce its year-end award winners in the coming days.