THUNDER BAY, Ont. – The Superior International Junior Hockey League announced Friday its finalists for the respective individual awards that are, at present, available for the 2013-14 season.
The determination process saw each SIJHL member organization submit names of those eligible, from their own team, as nominees for the various awards. From those submissions, the clubs then cast votes in each category to decide the finalists.
Out of these finalists, the winner of each individual honour will be announced over the course of the coming weeks leading up to the conclusion of the 2014 SIJHL playoffs.
Listed below are the nominees for the 2013-14 SIJHL awards.
The candidates are listed alphabetically in order of their team: Dryden Ice Dogs; English River Miners; Fort Frances Lakers; Minnesota Iron Rangers; Thunder Bay North Stars and Wisconsin Wilderness.
Pizza Hut Player of the Year/Most Valuable Player
John Morales, (F) English River Miners
Lucas Debenedet, (F) Fort Frances Lakers
Daniel Del Paggio, (F) Thunder Bay North Stars
CCM Rookie of the Year
Lucas Debenedet, (F) Fort Frances Lakers
Jason Reynolds, (F) Minnesota Iron Rangers
Daniel Del Paggio, (F) Thunder Bay North Stars
Gongshow Gear Best Defenceman
Cody Wickstrom, Fort Frances Lakers
Austin Frank, Minnesota Iron Rangers
Tim Cavar, Thunder Bay North Stars
Top Goaltender
Jordan Cartney, Fort Frances Lakers
Alex Reichle, Minnesota Iron Rangers
Eric Mann, Thunder Bay North Stars
Best Defensive Forward
Lyndon Lipinski, Fort Frances Lakers
Jonathon Losurdo, Minnesota Iron Rangers
Trevor Hynnes, Thunder Bay North Stars
Most Sportsmanlike Player
Jonathon Losurdo, (F) Minnesota Iron Rangers
Matthias Gardiman, (F) Thunder Bay North Stars
Sawyer Jacobson, (D) Wisconsin Wilderness
Most Improved Player
Chris Sitco, (F) Dryden Ice Dogs
Mason Meyer, (F) Fort Frances Lakers
Zach Grzelewski, (F) Thunder Bay North Stars
Coach of the Year
Wayne Strachan, Fort Frances Lakers
Kevin Kahoot, English River Miners
Jeremy Adduono, Thunder Bay North Stars
Regular Season Winner
Fort Frances Lakers* (*-Clinched first place overall and No. 1 seed in upcoming playoffs)
The following SIJHL awards will be awarded and announced at a future date:
CCM first and second all-star teams; top regular season scorer (Most points); RBC Jr. ‘A’ Scholarship; the Gary Cook Memorial Executive/Organization of the Year; the Gongshow Gear Most Valuable Playoff Performer; SIJHL Bill Salonen Cup Playoff Champion.