Red Deer Rebels longtime equipment manager Dave "Radar" Horning added another major accomplishment to his storied career.
On Wednesday the organization announced Horning was named the 2024 recipient of the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers (PHATS) and Society of Professional Hockey Equipment Managers (SPHEM) Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award, presented annually since 2014, has never been awarded to someone in the Western Hockey League until now.
Rebels owner and general manager Brent Sutter said it is a well-deserved honour.
"He's had opportunities over time to move on up and always chose to stay. He's always been very loyal and loves working for the Rebels and the Western Hockey League," he said.
"He's been around a long time... Anytime you can win something like that it tells you what his peers think of him."
The award is handed out to someone every year working outside of the National Hockey League to recognize their years of dedication to the game of hockey.
In previous years it's been presented to an OHL, AHL, QMJHL and NCAA member who has shown dedication and professionalism in their league.
The Innisfail product began his career in Sherwood Park where he worked for the local AAA hockey team while earning his Bachelor of Physical Education Degree from the University of Alberta.
After that his long WHL career began after he joined the Prince Albert Raiders for four seasons before moving to Red Deer in 1995 to take the same role with the Rebels.
Since then he's worked 2,328 regular season and playoff games in the WHL. He's also been hired for multiple international events with Hockey Canada.
Throughout his career, he's won several gold medals and won the Memorial Cup championship title with the Rebels in 2000-01.
"Being an equipment manager is an important job," Sutter added. "For the players equipment is huge for them... Everything has to be just right for the players. That's on the equipment manager to handle and deal with it. Radar has done a great job."
In other major junior hockey news, the Canadian Hockey League in partnership with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program announced a new event called the CHL USA Prospects Challenge.
The Prospects Challenge will feature the top draft-eligible prospects for that year from the WHL, OHL, and the QMJHL take on the U.S. National Team Development Program in a two-game series.
The players will perform in front of NHL scouts and fans ahead of the NHL Entry Draft in hopes of leaving a lasting impression. The series will also reignite a longstanding rivalry between Canada and the U.S.
The players will be selected by the NHL's 32 clubs and hosting duties will be rotated annually between the WHL, OHL, and the QMJHL. The first event is set to take place in November 2024 with the location and date to come at another time.
"Well, it's a change, right?" Sutter added. "It used to be the Subway series with the Russians and then they had the prospects camp where they played against each other. It kind of got to be an all-star game. Now with it changing, it's going to be U.S. and Canada."