The Nipawin Hawks enjoyed a solid season on the ice and were recognized for it off of it.
After picking up division and league titles, the Hawks were recognized for their hard work, taking home three Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League awards.
After winning Coach of the Year, and Goalie of the Year last season, the Hawks took both awards home again and added the Defenseman of the Year Award as well.
Doug Johnson, the head coach, called it “huge” to be able to bring home three league awards, noting he is “incredibly proud” and happy for each of them, and says the awards are important for the organization.
“I think for recruiting it’s a huge accomplishment because we can say hey we develop our guys, we end up with some of the best players in the league, year after year and that’s a really big accomplishment.”
Coach of the Year
For the second straight year and third time overall, Johnson took home the honour of Coach of the Year.
“It’s nice to be recognized. I think every coach will say though that they’d trade any individual award for a league championship, playoff championship. That’s our goal.”
While Johnson is the recipient of the award, he notes it is really an organizational award.
“It’s the board letting us do what we need to accomplish, the scouts finding players, the staff doing a phenomenal job, our trainer keeping guys healthy, our assistant coach developing players and then obviously the players themselves doing a great job.”
Being that it is his third Coach of the Year award, Johnson admits the first one was still the most exciting, noting now that he has gotten more experience he expects more out of himself.
“You do something for eight years you should be a lot better at it so experience is on your side and again, awards are nice but we’re still trying to chase our first league championship in many, many years and that’s our goal.”
Johnson helped lead the Hawks to their first division and league titles since 1999-2000, and Hawks goaltender Declan Hobbs notes that players always know what they are going to get from Johnson when they get to the rink, which is a big part of the Hawks’ success.
“Doug just wants the best from you. He’ll rip on you if you’re not doing the right thing and he’ll praise you if you are, so I think that’s what makes him a really good coach. He just tells the guys what to do and when to do it and everybody sort of respects that and respects how he does his job.”
Goalie of the Year
Much like Coach of the Year, the Hawks took their second straight Goalie of the Year Award, as Declan Hobbs was this year’s recipient.
“It feels real good. I couldn’t have done it without the boys on my team helping me out and making sure I can see every puck and keeping it to the outside. It’s nice to individually get that but I don’t think it would have came my way without their help,” noted Hobbs
Hobbs, who served as the Hawks’ backup last season to Kristian Stead, returned this season channeling his inner Stead.
The 19-year-old Saskatoon native enjoyed an excellent season between the pipes for the Hawks posting a record of 22-4-3 with a 2.20 goals against and a .919 save percentage.
“He’s just a very aggressive, very smart goalie, very athletic. One of the more athletic goalies we’ve ever had. He keeps himself in phenomenal shape and he’s a very competitive guy. He doesn’t like to be scored on in practice so I think that’s what makes him special, just his athleticism and his compete level,” noted Johnson.
Hobbs, who finished second in goals against, behind only teammate Jake Anthony, admitted it felt great to receive the award knowing the coaches nominated him and the media voted for him.
“It’s always nice to sort of feel people start noticing the hard work you’re putting in day in, day out and in the end I think I’m just really proud that I’m being put into that sort of category. It only means I’ve got to work harder now.”
Having Hobbs, as well as Anthony, has provided a “two-headed Dragon” for the Hawks this season, noted Johnson, who says having the more experienced Hobbs to pair with a rookie in Anthony has been nice.
“I’ve said it before, a guy like Declan, having been there and done that, it’s just nice to have that experience, have a guy that’s had an opportunity at the next level, had success at the next level and can just help solidify the game quite easily.”
Defenseman of the Year
The Hawks added a third award to their trophy case this season, as Josh McDougall took home the Defenseman of the Year Award.
“It’s a pretty big honour. I’m glad to be recognized among all the other great players in the league and I’m just happy to accept it.”
McDougall put up a solid rookie season last year scoring eight goals and 30 points in 55 games, before exploding this season.
McDougall finished the year first in points by a defenseman and tied for fourth overall, amassing new career highs for goals (17), assists (57), and points (74).
“I think he just played with a lot more confidence... Last year he sometimes played it a little more safe, he was still getting used to the league and he was phenomenal for us last year but this year we gave him the reigns and he responded by taking some chances maybe he didn’t last year and obviously those chances, those rushes paid off in spades for us,” noted Johnson.
McDougall admitted he did not expect to have such a great season, noting things started well for him and just continued getting better.
“I’m just glad kind of how it turned out and kind of pushed for that to even more success towards the end of the year.”
Hobbs has the best seat in the house to watch McDougall work every night, and says he enjoys having him playing on the blue line in front of him, and says he is fun to watch.
“If you give him the puck he could some crazy things with that. It’s fun to watch him. He’s a real smooth player, skates really well, he’s got good hands, always has his head up and always seems to make the right play,” said Hobbs.
“I’ve known him for a while, we’ve played when we were younger together so it’s definitely cool to be playing now when we’re in our 19 [year old season]. It’s just been real cool to watch him develop as a player and now playing with him at this level is awesome.”
While the individual awards are nice the Hawks are after something much bigger: a league title.
The Hawks will begin their quest towards a league title either March 16 or March 17.
The black and gold do not yet know who or when they will play, but by virtue of winning the league, they do know that this series and any subsequent series they play in will start in Nipawin.
