WESTLOCK — The Westlock Warriors handed out the hardware and honoured their top players and community volunteers during their annual awards banquet April 13 at the Royal Canadian Legion.
The event included a supper and an annual general meeting where the team established a plan for next season that includes fundraising, recruitment, recognizing sponsors and strategizing for the year ahead.
Warriors head coach Rod Kaliel said it was “nice to recognize some of the top players,” but also noted the important role community volunteers have in their success.
“Our goal as a team is to recognize all components of a team and that’s really what the community awards do,” said Kaliel. “That’s what our focus is tonight. To get together, recognize the efforts and hard work everybody’s put in on the team, throughout the year.”
The 2023-24 Top Scorer was awarded to Kyle Dronyk, who received the award for the second time in his three years with the Warriors. He credited his linemates for his and the team’s success on the ice this season.
“I owe it all to my linemate Scotty (Ivey). He feeds me all the time and without him I can’t score all the goals that I score,” said Dronyk. “I feel like we had a closer-knit group this year. We had a couple of new rookies that brought the team together, brought some good laughs in the room so I think that helped the team a lot,” he added. “A lot of the older guys brought in a little veteran presence in the room so that helped a lot too.”
This year’s Top Defenceman award was given to Tyler Kampjes, who’s been with the team for four years. Kampjes has played hockey for more than 26 years, including minor and midget hockey in Fort Saskatchewan and junior hockey in Morinville for the Jets. He said his offensive skills have contributed to his role on the blue-line, along with some toughness that he brings.
He also noted the closeness of the team, strong chemistry between players and family connections that translated into success on the ice this year.
“For the most part, we’re all local and lots of us have agriculture backgrounds. We’re farmers, we’ve got a couple of fertilizer dealership guys on the team and at one point last year we had five sets of brothers playing on the same team,” said Kampjes, noting a strong blue-line this season. “We kind of pride ourselves on our defence, on our d-core. We’ve got a great group of guys back there. We’ve got eight guys and any given night we can put six in there and be one of the best defensive teams in the league.”
The rest of the award-winners are as follows:
Volunteer of the Year: Curtis Smith
No. 1 Fan: Dwayne Hawryluk
Junior Warrior Award: Jace MacPherson
Warriors Scholarship: Erik Wylie
Top Scorer: Kyle Dronyk
Most Valuable Player: Bryce Van Brabant
Hardest Working Warrior: Scott Ivey
Community Involvement: Nathan Brown
Unsung Hero: Allen Borle
Defensive Player of the Year: Mike Ivey
Top Defenceman: Tyler Kampjes
Rookie of the Year: Blair Boulerice
