The North Stars are primed to take home some serious hardware this season, with five players nominated as finalists for seven of the SJHL's year-end awards. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Stars take center stage

North Stars nominated for seven SJHL awards

Mar 3, 2023 | 1:04 PM

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has announced the finalists for their year-end awards, headlined by seven nominations between five members of the Battlefords North Stars.

Stars’ forwards Holden Doell and Kian Bell are both nominated for SGEU MVP of the Year and RBC Player of the Year. Josh Kotai is up for Goaltender of the Year, Tynan Ewart for Defenceman of the Year; and head coach Brayden Klimosko for SCSA Coach of the Year.

Three finalists for each award were announced.

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Joining Doell and Bell in the running for MVP is Weyburn’s Ryley Morgan. Flin Flon’s Cole Duperreault opposes the two in the bid for Player of the Year.

Bell leads all SJHL players in scoring this season, both in goals (51) and points (91) in just 46 games. A four-time SJHL MVP of the Week and two-time MVP of the Month, Bell took home both honours again just in the last week.

Doell is second overall in scoring, with 90 points in just 44 games, including a league-high 62 assists and 2.05 points per game, as a one-time MVP of the Week and one-time MVP of the Month.

Weyburn’s Ryley Morgan is the lone non-North Star or Bomber in the top seven of league scoring with 23 goals and 61 points in 49 games. Flin Flon’s Cole Duperreault sits fourth overall, just back of Bell, Doell, and Jake Southgate of the Stars, with 64 points in 44 games to lead the Bombers, as a one-time MVP of the Week.

Top Goaltender

Top Goaltender is between Kotai, Estevan’s Cam Hrdlicka and La Ronge’s Dawson Smith.

Kotai leads all goaltenders in wins (30), goals against average (2.39) and save percentage (.935) this season, as a three-time Goalie of the Week.

Hrdlicka has played the most games (42) while sitting third in wins (21) as a three-time Goalie of the Week and one-time Goalie of the Month. Smith is top-five in both goals against (fourth with a 2.54 GAA) and save percentage (second with a .935 save percentage), as a two-time Goalie of the Week.

Top Defenceman

Ewart is up for Defenceman of the Year against Nipawin’s Zander Stewart and Humboldt’s Daylan Weigel.

Ewart leads all defenceman in points (51 in 50 games), assists (44), and points per game (1.02). Ewart is also a three-time SJHL Defenceman of the Week and two-time Defenceman of the Month.

Stewart is fourth in defenceman points (41 in 49 games) and sixth in goals (eight), as a one-time Defenceman of the Week and one-time Defenceman of the Month. Weigel is sixth in points (38 in 49 games), third in goals (nine), and sixth in penalty minutes (142).

Coach of the Year

Klimosko is the two-time defending Coach of the Year, and is a finalist with a chance to make it three-straight, against Nipawin’s Tad Kozun and Flin Flon’s Mike Reagan.

Klimosko has led the Stars to a 17-point lead atop the standings and the #1 seed overall with a 44-4-2-1 record. Currently sitting just a single point back of the second-most in franchise history, the team has a chance to tie the all-time franchise record of 97 points with just three wins over their final five games.

Tad Kozun has led the Hawks to a 25-22-4-1 record this season, including a 7-1-0-0 stretch out of the holiday break to get back in playoff contention. Reagan has led the Bombers to the league’s second-best record overall at 35-13-2-2, along with the top power play percentage, clicking just under 26 percent.

Other awards not including North Stars finalists include Directwest Rookie of the Year between Melfort’s Riley Ashe, Humboldt’s Carsten Kayter, and Yorkton’s Dylan Ruptash; and Most Sportsmanlike Player with Kindersley’s Tylin Hilbig, Melville’s Jaxon Martens, and Nipawin’s Zander Stewart rounding out the finalists.

Winners of the 2022-23 SJHL Players of the Year Awards will be announced on the March 9th edition of SJHL Insiders.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1