It has been no secret this season that as Blake Tatchell goes, so to do the North Stars.
Tatchell was second in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in points with 42 goals and 44 assists for 86 points in 57 games. Those offensive numbers paired with the North Stars 41-15-0-2 record helped him earn the SJHL MVP award.
In his final season of junior hockey, Tatchell carried a point streak of more than 20 games during the season and also earned a scholarship to Alaska-Anchorage for the next four years.
Along with the MVP award, Tatchell was selected as the runner-up for the SJHL Player of the Year award. Jesse Ross of Weyburn won the award. Ross led the league with 46 goals and 45 assists in 56 games.
Other North Stars earning runner-up honours include Woody Klassen, who was in the running for Defenceman of the Year. The winner was Notre Dame's Carson Grolla. North Stars first year coach Kevin Hasselberg was also selected as the runner-up for the coach of the year honour. Hasselberg was edged by Nipawin's Doug Johnson, who the North Stars will face in their first playoff series beginning Friday.
Along with the coach, Nipawin's Davis Jones was the SJHL's top goaltender. Alex Rajotte of La Ronge and Mitch Kilgore of Weyburn were the runners-up.
Matt Hrynkiw of the Humboldt Broncos won the award for the lowest goals against average, while Jones was the runner-up.
Flin Flon's goalie, Devin Buffalo, and Notre Dame's Brandon Millin were co-winners of the SJHL Rookie of the Year award.
The weekly players of the week were announced this week after the SJHL survivor series were completed. Zac Ashdown of La Ronge was named the player of the week, as he had three goals in the first game of the Bauer Conference survivor series. He finished the series with three goals and three assists in three games, as he helped the Ice Wolves sweep the Flin Flon Bombers.
The SJHL's defenceman of the week was Brett Hope of La Ronge. Hope had two goals and two assists in two games.
Steven Glass of the Estevan Bruins was named the goaltender of the week. Glass was in net for all three Estevan wins over Notre Dame in the Sherwood Conference survivor series. Glass stopped 100 of 108 shots in the series.
Both survivor series ended in three games, as Estevan advanced to play Weyburn and La Ronge faces Humboldt in the conference semifinals. The Battlefords plays Nipawin and Melville squares off with Yorkton, as all four series begin Friday.
The Canadian Junior Hockey League's weekly rankings have two SJHL teams remaining on the list. Humboldt holds the third spot for the second straight week and the North Stars remained in the 19th spot. Weyburn also earned an honourable mention.
