Kings hand out yearly awards
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Doug Taylor Photo
For the second straight season, the Kings lost out in the first round of the Heritage Junior Hockey League playoffs, but that was all forgotten as players and team officials, along with family members, friends and sponsors, gathered to celebrate another season of Junior B hockey.
The voice of the Kings, Dennis Stewart, hosted the dinner and awards event. The meal was provided by the Strathmore Elks Club, as a montage of photos from this past season played in the background.
Rookie centre Chayse Hnatowich was the big winner on the evening, as he was the recipient of the Top Rookie and Top Scorer awards.
“Working with Chayse two years ago in the Wheatland Association made it real easy for him to fit in with us. I wish we could get more guys to come from that program, but to grab him was big,” said Kings Head Coach Shadoe Stoodley. “I know the coaches he has worked with the past two years and they coach in a similar way to what we do, so the adjustment for him into our style was pretty easy.”
The 18-year-old Hnatowich suited up in all 36 regular season games and was second on the Kings with 14 goals and 18 points, trailing only George Montour with 37 points.
“I had a little slower start to my season than I would have liked, but I adjusted to the league and it became a lot easier from there,” said Hnatowich. “I’d say I got comfortable in the league after I got my first hat trick against Ponoka. That really kicked off my season.”
Austin Holmes spent the first two years of his HJHL career bobbing in and out of the lineup with the Coaldale Copperheads before coming to the Kings this season. Another regular in the lineup, Holmes played 35 games, registering 11 goals and 12 assists for a career high of 23 points. At the banquet, he was recognized as the Most Valuable Player.
“I was a little surprised to win the award. My team really made it easy to play for this team. It wasn’t that difficult to fit in here. It was a great chance to come play good hockey and have fun while doing it. It was an easy group to fit in with,” said Holmes.
“Austin was one of our key players that we could stick out on the power play, penalty kill, the last shift of the game or the first shift of the game. Any time we sent him over the boards, we felt safe about the game at that time,” said Stoodley.
This year, the Top Defenceman award was split between a pair of alternate captains. Both having a bigger impact offensively, Hayden Vander Ploeg and Brenden Moore split the title.
“These two players are very different. One likes to join in the rush and has a great first pass. The other likes to pick his spots, is physical on the ice and a dominating presence in the dressing room,” said Assistant Coach Braden Desmet. “Both have tremendous shots and were key players for us this year. In the second half of the season we stuck them on the ice together as a tandem and they dominated.”
Vander Ploeg finished with a career high eight goals in his third season with the club, finishing with 18 points overall as the highest-scoring defenceman on the club. He was also named to the Southern All-Star team. Moore, a local product, also set a career high with seven goals and finished with 17 points. He also improved his discipline and took 25 less penalty minutes this season.
Last year, Kody Hammond took home the Top Rookie award. This year, he left the banquet holding the Hardest Worker award.
“Kody is always looking for the next task,” said Desmet. “When you look down the bench or see him in between periods, his hair is always dripping. He is always willing to give it 110 per cent; he is a key player for us and always does whatever it takes to get the job done.”
Taking home the Strathmore Times Player of the Year award for receiving the most player-of-the-game nominations was Calum Humble, a goaltender who first appeared in action Dec. 23, when he turned in a 43-save performance in a loss. Despite his 1-6 regular season record and 0-2 post-season record, Humble cranked out a .917 save percentage and earned four player-of-the-game nominations.
Other noteworthy topics from the banquet were that Stoodley will not return as head coach next season. He leaves the team after two seasons with a 28-39-7 record and two trips to the playoffs. It is unclear if the Desmet brothers, Keenan and Braden, will return behind the bench.
It was also announced that a spring camp will most likely not happen, meaning the next time the Kings get together on the ice will be in August for training camp.