It’s my Parting Shot for my two cents worth when it comes to the best of the W-H-L’s East Division over the regular season…..
Let me make three points first…1) this commentary was written and recorded before the announcement came out, if it does today. 2) I have no skin in the game – in other words, I don’t have a vote. 3) the East Division was, arguably, the weakest of the four divisions in the league!
The East finalist for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as Player-of-the-Year is a close call, but I’m going with Swift Current’s Luke Mistelbacher to nip Prince Albert’s Tomas Mrsic. Mistelbacher topped all division players in goals and points!
Next up is the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy for Most Sportsmanlike Player. This should be a no-brainer as Jordan Gavin of Brandon hasn’t taken a minor in almost three full seasons! He had 57 points on top of that – thee definition of Most Sportsmanlike, don’t you think!
The Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy for Top Defenceman in the East Division is another tough call. Lukas Dragicevic of the Raiders had 70 points in 66 games, including 18 goals, while Luke Shipley of the Wheat Kings had 57 points in 60 games, including 20 goals. However, Shipley was a Plus-37 and Dragicevic was only a Plus-4! Even though the award has defence in its name, offence rules and Dragicevic gets the nomination!
The East nominee for the Jim Piggott Memorial Award might have people screaming “homer” at me – not that they don’t already! If only those people knew how many times I’ve been told by Blades’ personnel that I’m too negative against the Saskatoon side!! But, I digress, I feel that Cooper Williams of the Bridge City Bunch gets the Rookie-of-the-Year nod in the East for posting the second-most points among freshmen in the entire loop!
I’ll make it up by saying that Prince Albert’s Max Hildebrand is not only the top goaltender in the East Division, but Hilty Junior should be the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy winner of the W-H-L’s Top Goaltender award! League-wide, he played the most games and most minutes played, made the most saves, had the second-most wins and the second-best save percentage! Enough said!!
That leaves Coach-of-the-Year and Executive-of-the-Year in the East Division. My argument for Dan Da Silva and Colin Priestner, respectively, is that – based on roster composition – the Raiders and Wheaties were supposed to be the top two teams in the division while Swift Current underachieved. Saskatoon was in the mix for first place right up to the 68th and final game of the season! All that after a mid-season roster upheaval to intentionally go younger and acquire draft picks to ensure a future without a long dip in fortunes!
Once again, enough said! Start your “homer” chants, but I’ll stand by my professionalism and integrity!
That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!
