Athabasca’s young hockey players had plenty of hardware to take home last week.
Though hockey season is over, it’s not forgotten as the 2010-11 season was celebrated last Thursday with the Athabasca Minor Hockey Awards Night.
Held at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex, the event was attended by all of Athabasca’s hockey teams and a great number of hockey parents, all of whom gathered to remember a season that was a whole lot of fun for all involved.
The evening began with a montage of pictures set to music that recalled a number of the season’s finest moments. When everyone had finished reminiscing, the lights came up and ADMHA president Darcy Tangedal stepped up to the microphone and began the process of handing out all of the hard-earned trophies and medals.
First up were the three pre-novice teams, who were honored with team certificates in recognition of a year in which they all had fun.
A number of memorial awards were given out to players on all of the teams, representing their special efforts throughout the season while honoring the memories of former local hockey players.
In the novice ranks, the Janet Garton Memorial Award was given to Carsen Runcer while the Dale Murphy Memorial Award was given to Lyndon Joyes. Atom players Jerrid Hanzel and Austin Strathdee shared the honor of receiving the Harry Shaw Memorial Award.
The Danny Gerlach Memorial Award went to peewee players Mitch Summers and Jackson Roth while the Rhett DeLeeuw Memorial Award was presented to Iver Steffes and Adam Smith.
There were two special awards for the bantam teams. The Ron Kerbes Memorial Award went to Ryan Runcer while the Athabasca Hockey Parents Association Award went to Michael Lindballe.
Midget awards included the Larry Gorrell Memorial Award, which went to Cody Bishop, and the Richard Wiselka Memorial Award that went to Dustin Van Boxtel.
Other special awards included the Bernadette Lyle Memorial Award (also known as the Mothers Choice Award) that went to Ty Tangedal, the coach of the year award (Darcy Tangedal), the volunteer of the year award (Wendy Hutchison) and the fan of the year award (Mike Klaczek). Four first-year referees were recognized, including Laurissa Tangedal, Harmony Strathdee, Cameron Hutchison and Josh Payuk. Warren Griffin, who has officiated for 10 years, was also honored.
Those who didn’t get trophies didn’t need to worry, as there were also a number of medals to be handed out. Each team gave medals to the players chosen as most dedicated, most improved and most sportsmanlike.
Winning the most improved trophy for their team were Chantelle Borys (novice Thunder Hawks), Kaleb Zaliauskas (novice Golden Hawks), Jager Bruce (atom Golden Hawks), Trenten Durell (atom Sniper Hawks), Mark Thompson (peewee A), Brett Flynn (peewee B), Kody Kyllo (bantam AA), Taylor Tangedal (bantam B) and Cullen Hutchison (midget AA).
Receiving the most dedicated awards were Jacob Hayward (novice Thunder Hawks), Lyndon Joyes (novice Golden Hawks), Jamie Johnson (atom Golden Hawks), Brady Bilsky (atom Sniper Hawks), Derek Greene (peewee A), Brooke Tipton and Shaun Funk (peewee B), Robbie Mason (bantam AA), Evan Reid (bantam B) and Dylan Lynde (midget AA).
The most sportsmanlike players were Will Fox (novice Thunder Hawks), Nayte Ramey (novice Golden Hawks), Nathan Borys (atom Golden Hawks), Ian Klaczek (atom Sniper Hawks), Tor Tangedal (peewee A), Danyka Saxton (peewee B), Josh Payuk (bantam A), Harmony Strathdee (bantam B) and Coulton Sheets.
The bantam B team offered some extra medals. Harley-Ann DeLeeuw was named most physical player while Cameron Hutchison was named defensive player of the year. Jacob Opmeer was the offensive player of the year.
It was a great year for Athabasca hockey, and now the players have the trophies and medals to prove it.
For more pictures from the event, please see the slideshow online at www.www.athabascaadvocate.com.
