Two Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League teams had their seasons end this week, while 10 remain in the hunt for the Canalta Cup.
As the league moves to playoff action, the regular season award nominees have been announced both for players and coaches.
The coach of the year candidates were released Tuesday and it is no surprise North Stars coach Kevin Hasselberg in among the four nominees.
Hasselberg is in his first season with the North Stars and, after joining the team late in the off-season, he has helped them reach the 40-win mark and turn in one of the best seasons in franchise history. This is the second highest win total in franchise history, the fewest losses in a season for the Battlefords and the third most point total in franchise history. Hasselberg has led the North Stars to a second place finish in the Bauer Conference, and he has players among the league leaders in goaltender, forward and defenceman stats as well.
The one team the North Stars have been chasing in the SJHL are the Humboldt Broncos and veteran coach Dean Brockman is again a nominee for the coach of the year award. The Broncos were a bit slow out of the gate this season, but Brockman made moves throughout the year to improve his roster, as the Broncos focus on another national championship. Brockman has been able to bring a bunch of pieces together and put a team on the ice that has been ranked in the top five in the country for nearly the entire 2012 portion of the season.
Another Bauer Conference team, the Nipawin Hawks, have had a strong second half of the season and clinched third place in the conference under coach of the year nominee Doug Johnson. Johnson has been behind the bench for two seasons with the Hawks and has helped the team through some rough patches, making them a legitimate threat in the SJHL.
The lone Sherwood Conference nominee is Keith Cassidy of the Estevan Bruins. Cassidy is a first-year SJHL head coach. With a young team, Cassidy and the Bruins have put up some strong numbers and have an elite power play and great penalty kill unit. Perhaps the most impressive thing is that the Bruins could be better next season than they are this year and they have been solid for Cassidy in 2011-12.
Each team has also submitted their nominees for the player awards. Tanner Quinn is the North Stars nominee for rookie of the year. Quinn has been a physical presence this season and a good penalty killer while recording five goals and seven assists in 53 games.
Other rookie of the year nominees include: Estevan's Tyler Kauk, Flin Flon's Devin Buffalo, Humboldt's Cody Pettapiece, Kindersley's Austin McDonald, La Ronge's Jared Iron, Melfort's Anthony Pickering, Melville's Alex Wakaluk, Nipawin's Jesse Bernard, Notre Dame's Brandon Millin, Weyburn's Miguel Pereira and Yorkton's Jeremy Johnson.
The North Stars nominated 20-year-old defenceman Woody Klassen for defenceman of the year honours. Klassen was seventh on the team in points despite playing just 35 games. He recorded 14 goals and 20 assists and is the only defenceman in the league with a point-a-game average.
The other nominees for defenceman of the year are: Estevan's Connor Milligan, Flin Flon's Brandt Weldon, Humboldt's Matt Backhouse, Kindersley's David Haaf, La Ronge's Matt Weisensel, Melfort's Carter Berg, Melville's Bob Pond, Nipawin's Jeff Datoff, Notre Dame's Carson Grolla, Weyburn's Jens Johnson and Yorkton's Devon McMullen.
Graham Hildebrand was the North Stars nominee for top goaltender, as he is in his fourth and final season with the North Stars and is in the top five in the SJHL in wins, shutouts, goal-against average and save percentage this season.
Steven Glass of Estevan, Buffalo of Flin Flon, Matt Hrynkiw of Humboldt, Justin McDonald of Kindersley, Alex Rajotte of La Ronge, Jesse Wilkins of Melfort, Blake Voth of Melville, Davis Jones of Nipawin, Matthew Smidt of Notre Dame, Mitch Kilgore of Weyburn and Warren Shymko of Yorkton round out the goaltender nominees.
The North Stars Blake Tatchell was nominated for both the SJHL Player of the Year and MVP awards. Tatchell was second in the league with 86 points (42 goals and 44 assists) in 56 games this season and leads the North Stars in points, goals, assists and power play goals this season. The local 20-year-old also committed to a four-year scholarship beginning next season at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
The other SJHL Player of the Year nominees are: Dylan Smith of Estevan, Dillan McCombie of Flin Flon, Robbie Ciolfi of Humboldt, D Jay McGrath of Kindersley, Rajotte of La Ronge, Brandon Sloan of Melfort, Ian McNulty of Melville, Justin Waskewitch of Nipawin, Grolla of Notre Dame, Jesse Ross of Weyburn and Shymko of Yorkton.
The MVP nominees joining Tatchell are: Josh Jelinski of Estevan, Dylan Balaski of Flin Flon, Andrew Johnston of Humboldt, McGrath of Kindersley, Rajotte of La Ronge, Wilkins of Melfort, Jesse Mireau of Melville, Jones of Nipawin, Grolla of Notre Dame, Coltyn Sanderson of Weyburn and Brent Struble of Yorkton.
The final Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings of the regular season had the North Stars moving up to 19th from 20th. The Broncos remain near the top, as they fell from second to third and Weyburn was once again an honourable mention.
Now that all that is taken care of - bring on the playoffs. The Bauer Conference survivor series between Flin Flon and La Ronge gets started Friday and Saturday in La Ronge. Game three and four, if necessary, will be Monday and Tuesday and if the series goes the distance the deciding game will be March 1 in La Ronge.
The Sherwood Conference survivor series goes Friday, Saturday and Monday and, if needed, games four and five will be Tuesday and Wednesday alternating between Estevan and Notre Dame.
