WAA ends great year with player awards

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

Fifty-seven players got to enjoy one more night together at the annual Wheatland Athletic Association (WAA) awards banquet at the Strathmore Civic Centre on April 1.
The night’s events included University of Calgary Dino’s head coach Mark Howell as the guest speaker, who spoke to the players about his experiences as a coach and player in the junior and college ranks.
After his speech, the association handed out player awards.
Wheatland Chiefs goalie Nelson Schiller received the Rookie of the Year award for his efforts in between the pipes and said he was pretty humbled getting recognized.
“It was a great team that was playing in front of me, so they helped me out with this award,” said Schiller. “It was a challenge. Our defense wasn’t the strongest part of the team. I was happy I got it.”
The local midget double-A team also handed out hardware to Wacy Sandum for Most Improved; Most Sportsmanlike went to Alec Biletsky, while Captain Brad Hendricks took home Top Defenseman and Most Exemplary player. Ryan Skytt won Top Scorer.
First-year Wheatland Warrior Anson McMaster walked away with the MVP award, saying it was a surreal feeling as a rookie on the team to get the honour.
“I was pretty surprised just because coming in as a first-year and not having much hockey knowledge,” said McMaster. “It was a great year, good group of guys and just a (heck) of a team. That was my first ever championship in all my hockey years. It was a great feeling.”
Moe Hakim won the bantam Rookie of the Year, Stran Backfat Redcrow got Most Improved, Kyle Bray took home Most Sportsmanlike, Chase Clayton and Ben Slemp shared the Top Defenseman award and the Top Scorer went to Brandon Kasdorf.
The Craig Kletzel award went to Ben Kruse and the league award for Best Goaltender went to Jaxon Kolesar-Lafaut.
Wheatland Braves peewee defenseman Matthew Quebec capped off a memorable season, which included an Alberta Winter Games bronze, with two awards including Defenseman of the Year and the Craig Kletzel award.
“I’m pretty honoured that I got two awards,” said the Langdon native. “I’m sure there was lots of other guys that could’ve got those awards too and had just the same skill as me or better.”
He added that the Craig Kletzel award, which recognizes a player for his leadership, positive attitude, team spirit, work ethic, and respect for teammates, was a nice recognition.
Forward Tristan Zandee, who wasn’t present for the banquet, cleaned house with the peewee awards, which included taking the MVP, the league’s Most Valuable Forward and Top Scorer. Daniel Hauser took home the Rookie of the Year, while Trey Gillies won Most Improved, and Phillip Raycroft got Most Sportsmanlike.