Tournaments & Showcases
The CHL Awards
Every spring, the CHL hands out league-wide trophies to the best player, goalie, scorer, defenceman, rookie, and coach. The David Branch Award goes to the player of the year.
Each CHL league hands out its own season-end awards in May, and the winners of those awards then compete for the league-wide CHL trophies a few weeks later. The CHL Awards weekend brings together the three league winners in each major category for a single national vote.
The major CHL awards
- CHL Player of the Year (David Branch Player of the Year Award): the top overall player across all three leagues.
- CHL Goaltender of the Year: best goaltender across the three leagues.
- CHL Top Scorer: highest regular-season point total across the three leagues.
- CHL Defenceman of the Year: best defenceman.
- CHL Rookie of the Year: best first-year player.
- Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award: best head coach, named for the longtime Ottawa 67's head coach.
- CHL Top Draft Prospect Award (presented by Kubota Canada): best NHL Draft-eligible prospect.
- CHL Sportsman Player of the Year: blends performance with sportsmanship and community.
- CHL Scholastic Player of the Year: combines on-ice play with academic excellence.
- CHL Humanitarian of the Year: honours community impact.
How the voting works
Each league names its winners first, voted by the league's general managers, coaches, scouting staff, and broadcasters. The three league winners in each CHL-wide category are then voted on by a national panel that includes media members, scouts, and league officials. Results are announced at the CHL Awards Ceremony each May.
All-Star and All-Rookie teams
Each league names its own First and Second All-Star Teams (six skaters and a goalie each) and an All-Rookie Team. The CHL does not name a combined cross-league all-star team in the same way; the awards are the headline national honours.
League-specific awards worth knowing
- OHL: Red Tilson Trophy (Most Outstanding Player, named for an OHA player killed in WWII), Bobby Smith Trophy (Scholastic Player of the Year), F.W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy (lowest GAA among first-year goaltenders).
- WHL: Four Broncos Memorial Trophy (Player of the Year, named for the four Swift Current Broncos killed in the 1986 bus crash), Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy (Defenceman of the Year), Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year).
- QMJHL: Michel Brière Memorial Trophy (MVP), Jean Béliveau Trophy (Top Scorer), Guy-Lafleur Trophy (Playoff MVP).