Brendan Shinnimin named 2011-12 WHL Player of the Year
Calgary, AB – The Western Hockey League announced today at the annual WHL Awards Luncheon that Tri-City Americans forward Brendan Shinnimin has been named the 2011-12 WHL Player of the Year and recipient of the Four Broncos Memorial trophy.
Shinnimin, a Winnipeg, MB, native, enjoyed an excellent season for the Americans, leading them to their fourth U.S. Division title over the last five seasons and first place in the WHL Western Conference. In his 20-year-old campaign, Shinnimin recorded 58 goals and 76 assists for 134 points along with a +45 rating in 69 games for the Americans, capturing the Bob Clarke trophy as the WHL’s top regular-season scorer.
Shinnimin’s 134 points marks the highest point total for a WHL player since the 1998-99 season, when Calgary’s Pavel Brendl also had 134 points. The 5’10”, 175-lb pivot finished second among all WHL players with 58 goals and third among WHL players with 76 assists. Additionally, Shinnimin finished second in the WHL with 21 power play markers and second with seven shorthanded tallies. His nine game-winning goals tied him for third among all WHL players, while his +45 rating tied him for the WHL lead in that category. Shinnimin maintained consistent production throughout the season, recording at least one point in 60 of 69 games he played, and enjoyed point streaks of at least 13 games on two different occasions, including ending the regular season on a 23-game point streak. Shinnimin was named the Husky WHL Player of the Month for February after piling up an astounding 23 goals and 43 points in just 14 games.
Shinnimin has played four seasons in the WHL, all with the Americans, recording 131 goals and 206 assists for 337 points in 267 regular-season games. He is just the second member of the Americans to win the WHL scoring title. Passed over in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft, Shinnimin was listed by the Americans and made the team as a 17-year-old in 2008-09. Shinnimin signed an entry-level NHL contract with the Phoenix Coyotes in early March.
Brendan Shinnimin is the WHL’s nominee for the CHL Player of the Year at the Canadian Hockey League Awards, which will be handed out during the 2012 MasterCard Memorial in Shawinigan, Quebec.
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