Stamps earn all-star nods

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League is in a giving mood these days.
They recently announced their major award winners: Dauphin’s Shane Luke (MVP, Hockey Ability and Sportsmanship); Dauphin’s Bryn Chyzyk (rookie of the year); OCN’s Matt Krahn; Swan Valley’s Clark Bzczynski (top defenceman); and OCN’s Scott McMillan (coach of the year).
The honours continued this week as the league announced their all-star teams.
The Sher-Wood Division dominated this year, taking five of six spots in both the first all-star team and the all-rookie team.
The forwards for the first all-star team are Luke, Swan Valley’s Shelby Gray and Waywayseecappo’s Paul Vandevelde.
The defence features Bzczynski and Selkirk’s Chris Delalande. Krahn is the team’s goaltender.
The second all-star team features forwards Brett Chartier from the Winnipeg Saints, as well as both Joel Ridgeway and Colan Jackson from the Selkirk Steelers.
On the blueline are Dale Warkentin from the OCN Blizzard, and Paul Bonar from the Winnipeg Blues.
The netminder is Jason Kasdorf from the Portage Terriers.
The all-rookie team features forwards Bryn Chyzyk from the Dauphin Kings, Brent Wold from the Portage Terriers, and Brett Pinkerton from the Waywayseecappo Wolverines.
On the blueline are Yvan Pattyn from the Portage Terriers and Landon Peel from the Swan Valley Stampeders.
The top rookie netminder is Reed Peters from the Winkler Flyers.
• Speaking of Peters, the Morden native was also recognized as the MJHL Player of the Week.
The rookie puck stopper kicked out 103 of 110 shots he faced, leading his team to three victories, including a key first-place showdown win against the Selkirk Steelers. That victory gives the Flyers the advantage as they try to secure top spot in the division for the first time in recent memory.
Also considered for this award was 17-year-old forward Brent Wold of the Portage Terriers and 19-year-old forward Jesse Hall of the Winnipeg Saints.
• There will be more awards handed out in the coming days and weeks. One of those races is to see who will be the league’s top scorer.
Unless Dauphin opts to rest Luke before the playoffs, he should win the scoring title. The league MVP had 86 points heading into the final week of the regular season, eight more than Selkirk’s Jackson.
Jackson is going to win the goal-scoring title, though. He has 44 entering action this week.
He leads Michael Wilgosh from the Winkler Flyers (36) and Gray from the Stampeders (35) in this category.
Who will be the penalty minutes leader this year?
Winnipeg Saints’ forward Tim Hayduk is a surprising leader with 118 PIMs heading into action this week. He’s two ahead of OCN’s Denis Restoule and four ahead of Neepawa’s Nate Thompson.
It’s interesting to note how small the PIM leader totals are this year. With players limited to five fighting majors this year, the days of 200 or even 300 penalty minutes could be gone for good.
Jordan Davies from the Winnipeg Saints leads all defenceman in scoring, heading into action this week with 11 goals and 33 assists for 44 points.
Right behind him is Kyle Rous from the Steinbach Pistons (13 goals, 30 assists), and Dylan Heide from the Winkler Flyers (eight goals, 32 assists).
In goal, Krahn’s GAA of 2.20 will likely hold up as the best in the MJHL, barring a terrible week for the league’s top netminder. He leads Ryan Benitez (who only has 18 starts since coming to the MJHL), who sports a 2.42 GAA.
Some consider the save percentage a more important statistic, and here too Krahn leads the way with a sizzling .927 save percentage. He leads Joey Rewucki from the Selkirk Steelers, who sports a .919 save percentage.
It wasn’t a great year for shutouts, as five puck stoppers are tied for top spot with two. They include Krahn, Kasdorf and his Portage teammate Kirk Coswell, Jayson Argue from the Swan Valley Stampeders, and Rewucki.

award nominees

With the regular season almost over, the brain trust in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League has been working hard to come up with nominees and winners for the yearly individual trophies handed out annually at this time of the year.
The battle for the title of league MVP (the Steve “Boomer” Hawrysh Award) comes down to a prolific scorer and two puck stoppers. The nominees are Shane Luke of the Dauphin Kings (80 points heading into the second last week of the season), Jason Kasdorf of the Portage Terriers (leads the league with 20 wins) and Matt Krahn of the OCN Blizzard (league-best goals against average and save percentage).
Prediction: While I think this award should go to a forward, Krahn’s numbers are off the charts this year, so give the nod to the OCN puck stopper.
The league’s top defenceman (winner of the Brian Kozak Trophy) will be either Paul Bonar from the Winnipeg Blues, Chris Delalande from the Selkirk Steelers, or Clark Bzczynski from the Swan Valley Stampeders.
Prediction: Swan Valley and Winnipeg really lean on their candidates – I think Bzczynski edges Bonar.
The MJHL’s top rookie wins the Vince Leah Trophy, and this year I have to think Portage’s Brent Wold will take home the award. When you lead your team in scoring as rookie, I think that sort of makes you the front runner. Also up for this award is Dauphin’s Bryn Chyzyk and Waywayseecappo’s Brett Pinkerton.
Prediction: Wowk is all but a lock.
The “Windy” Lyndon Trophy goes to the player who shows the best hockey ability and sportsmanship (aka goons need not apply). The nominees are Joel Ridgeway of the Selkirk Steelers, Ryan Marshall of the Swan Valley Stampeders and Shane Luke of the Dauphin Kings.
Prediction: If Luke doesn’t win the MVP award, he might get this as a consolation prize.
Krahn and Kasdorf will also battle for the Top Goaltender Trophy. Joining them for this award will be Joey Rewucki of the Selkirk Steelers.
Prediction: Two awards for Krahn? I think so.
And who’s up for the Coach of the Year (the Muzz McPherson Award)? Scott McMillan from the OCN Blizzard, John Marks from the Winkler Flyers and Blake Spiller from the Portage Terriers.
Prediction: Portage winning the ultra-competitive Sher-Wood Division might be enough to give Spiller the award.
These awards will be handed out in the coming days in front of the player’s hometown fans.
• The MJHL player of the week is Winkler Flyers defenceman Brad Habet.
The Aldergrove, B.C., native had eight points (one goal, seven assists) in three games last week for the Flyers, who are vying for the Addison Division title.
Also considered for this award was 17-year-old goaltender Jayson Argue of the Swan Valley Stampeders and 20-year- old goaltender Brett Willows of the Dauphin Kings.
• Dauphin Kings defenceman Eddie Friesen was handed a two game suspension for receiving his third checking from behind minor penalty in the season.

All-Star thoughts

Swan Valley fans should be applauded for turning out Wednesday for the MJHL all-star game. More than 500 people braved bone-chilling temperatures to support a celebration of junior A hockey in this province, which is slightly higher than what I was predicting – and certainly better than the Stampeders have been drawing this season (which is a whole other column itself).
The fans in the stands might also have witnessed the last all-star game for the forseeable future, as I can’t see many people wanting to continue on with what we witnessed last week.
To call this year’s game lackluster would be too kind. The young novice and squirt hockey players who have been playing scrimmages in between periods at recent Stampeder games put forth more effort than the all-stars did last Wednesday.
Ryan Marshall’s tip-in goal 40 some odd seconds into the game set the tone for what sort of game we were going to see. Players were moving at half speed, there was no hitting, and there was little in the way of defence.
There was one exception – Steinbach’s Addison Herosian stopped 26 of 29 shots he faced. This netminder deserves special recognition for putting forth the best performance of the evening, in my opinion anyway.
It got so bad that players were fishing the puck out of the net after they scored and quickly skating back to centre ice just to get the game over with.
Now I don’t put any blame on the players or coaches. They had no incentive, nothing to play for. Worst case scenario would be someone getting hurt, and they made sure that wasn’t going to happen.
That’s not to say there isn’t some way to spice up this game. Perhaps by putting something on the line, such as home ice advantage in the MJHL final, fans might get a better game. I even heard someone suggest a top prospect’s game would be a better idea. Or just have a skills competition, where players see who has the hardest shot, and who skates the fastest.
I walked around the rink quite a bit Wednesday night and not one person told me they thought they were watching an entertaining game.
The MJHL needs to take a hard look at this event. Yes, being named an all-star in this league is an honour, but if it means going through the motions in a nothing game, then put this event out of its misery.
• The Swan Valley Stampeders are preparing for a playoff run in early March, though they have yet to clinch a spot or find out who their first-round opponent is.
Regardless, the team’s board of directors was so pleased with the performance of the team that they announced a two-year extension has been offered and accepted by head coach Dwayne Kirkup. The team also holds an option for a third year.
This sets Kirkup up to potentially join Del Pedrick as men who have coached this team for four years.
Kirkup said he really wasn’t focused on getting a new deal, even though his current contract was set to end at the conclusion of this season.
“It’s good that it’s a done deal, but it wasn’t a real priority for me,” said Kirkup. “I didn’t want to be taking away from the team, as I was focused on that.
“But the board of directors felt it was time to do something, and I am pleased to be with the Stampeders for a couple of more years,” he added. “I just want to make sure this franchise moves forward and we can win some hockey games.”
After Saturday’s victory over the Portage Terriers, Kirkup sports a 59-40-2-8 record as head coach of the Stampeders. He also has one playoff series victory, and was named the MJHL’s coach of the year in his rookie season.
• The Winnipeg Blues’ Patrick Henderson is this week’s MJHL Player of the Week.
The 20-year-old forward recorded three points (one goal, two assists) in two games played for the Blues who sit fourth in the Addison Division but are not likely going to make the playoffs.
Henderson, who stans six-feet tall and weighs 180-pounds, leads the Blues’ in scoring with 11 goals and 34 points heading into the final week of January.
Also considered for this award was a pair of 20-year-old players – Michael Wilgosh of the Winkler Flyers and Guillaume Vallee of the OCN Blizzard.
• The Portage Terriers are now the only MJHL team in the top 20 of the CJHL weekly rankings.
The Terriers are now ranked No. 11 in the country, two spots down from the previous week.
The Selkirk Steelers fell completely off the charts as they are going through a rough patch, posting a 4-4-2 record in their last 10 games heading into the final week of January.
The Dauphin Kings, the hottest team in the MJHL, were given an honourable mention and are threatening to make it onto the list.
• One of the major goals for junior A teams is to get their players a scholarship And one of the best puck stoppers in the league has earned himself a place to play after his junior career is done.
Jason Kasdorf of Portage Terriers has committed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, beginning the fall of 2012. RPI competes in the ECAC conference.
Kasdorf, who hails from Winnipeg, sits second overall in the MJHL goaltending race with a 15-8 record, 2.42 GAA after 23 games. His save percentage is .914. He also took place in the MJHL all-star game.
Kasdorf follows in the steps of alumni Ryan Shields, who played with RPI from 2000-2004.