As part of the SJHL's President's Tour, the Eagle Drilling Estevan Bruins announced their nominees for the league's Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Defenceman and Top Rookie at a press conference on Friday at Spectra Credit Union.
Team captain Troy Hunter got the nod as Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Defenceman went to local product Lucas Stubel and Top Rookie honours went to 18-year-old forward Cole Olson.
Hunter, who was acquired by the Bruins in the off-season and immediately named captain at the start of the year, won the most outstanding player award by playing a complete game night in and night out. He is a big power forward who does whatever it takes to win. Despite averaging almost a point per game, Hunter said the award came as a surprise.
"It wasn't something I expected coming in here, that's for sure and even in the last little while it wasn't something I expected, so it's definitely and honour," said Hunter.
For Stubel, the most outstanding defenceman honour is something he came about by resembling NHLer Zdeno Chara on the ice. The six-foot-four, 200-pound blueliner eats up a lot of minutes for the Bruins and prides himself on his defensive game.
"We have six solid defencemen and two others guys that are pretty good candidates, so it feels pretty good to win this award," said Stubel, who is currently out of the lineup with a wrist injury.
Bruins' coach Chad Leslie spoke at the press conference and said the hockey club is missing Stubel on the back-end and cannot wait to get him back on the ice.
"That means a lot to me," Stubel said. "I want to be out there helping the guys out, but unfortunately can't but that meant a lot for him to say that."
On a team stacked with veterans, the Bruins don't have an abundance of first year players, but the ones they do have played beyond their years. Olson, who leads all Bruin rookies with 25 points in 53 games, knows being named the top rookie on this team is a great accomplishment.
"It's definitely nice to get nominated for an individual award, especially since we have a lot of good rookies on our team," said Olson, who is excited at the prospect of playing an even bigger role for the Bruins next season. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to next year. We've got a lot of good guys coming back again, so we should be competitive again."
