Vancouver Giants player Bowen Byram has been named the WHL McSweeney’s Player of the Month for January.
Through 13 January games, Byram notched 19 points (10 goals and nine assists) and a plus-17 rating as the Giants earned a WHL-best 9-3-0-1 record.
The 2001-born Byram, a native of Cranbrook, B.C., recorded points in all but two of the Giants games in January.
On Saturday, Jan. 12 against the Kamloops Blazers, Byram scored twice and added three assists for five points, becoming the first Giants defenceman to ever record five points in a single game.
Byram’s January also included three game-winning goals, two overtime winning goals, and three multi-point games. He currently sits tied for third in scoring among WHL defencemen and leads all CHL defencemen with 19 goals.
Byram was also named the WHL On the Run Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 13, and the Canadian Hockey League Player of the Week.
He was first star twice during the month, once second star, and twice third star.
With 10 goals in the month of January, Byram is the first WHL defenceman to record double-digit goals in a single calendar month since Kale Clague scored 10 with the Brandon Wheat Kings in October 2017.
Originally selected third overall by the G-Men in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, the 6-foot-1, 192-pound, 17-year-old is considered a top prospect for the 2019 NHL Draft.
On Jan. 23, Byram competed with Team Cherry at the 2019 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Internationally Byram has represented Canada on numerous occasions, including the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup (Gold Medal), the 2018 World Under-18’s and the 2017 World Under-17’s (Team Red, Silver Medal).