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Crossroads This Week compiles opinions on who and what teams think are best Crossroads This Week commis sioned a poll of all 10 North Central Hockey League teams to get their opinions in 17 different categories. Of the 10 teams, only the Virden Oil Kings failed to respond. We thank the coaches and man agers of the nine teams for taking the time to take the poll, which asked them to vote for three players in each category. They could not vote for their own team. The results were then tabulated using three points for first, two points for sec ond, and one point for third. We hope you enjoy the first of what we hope to be a yearly exercise. Best Player 1. Luke Stokotelny, Grandview 2. Danny Johnston, Foxwarren 3. Ryan Halliday, Oak Lake We asked this question because the result may have differed from the player the teams chose when voting for the North Central Hockey League Most Valuable Player this season. As it turns out, the best player may not necessarily be the most valuable player. MVP to his team 1. Danny Johnston, Foxwarren 2. Curtis Gardham, Miniota Elkhorn 3. Kaine Morran, Grandview There was no surprise here as Johnston, who was earlier selected as the NCHL’s MVP, took seven of the top eight first place votes. Best Goaltender 1. Mike Nichol, Oak Lake-Brandon 2. Ian Chipelski, Foxwarren 3. Danny McDonald, Grandview The NCHL does not recognize the best goaltender, just the team that has the best goals against average during the regular season. While the Grandview tandem of McDonald and Andy Puchailo has the best goals against, the teams believed Nichol, who played with the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, was by far and away the top puck stopper. Best Offensive Defenceman 1. Kaine Morran, Grandview 2. Riley Day, Oak Lake-Brandon 3. Jason Roblin, Reston Morran finished the season with 10 less points than Day, but was an overwhelming choice for the honor. Best Defensive Defenceman 1. Shayne Draper, Kenton 2. Ken Mott, Oak Lake-Brandon 3. Keith Spencer, Shoal Lake 3. Jason Roblin, Reston Shayne Draper has always been a rock on the blueline for the Ken ton Cougars, and the NCHL teams recognized his steady play game in, game out. Mott, who played 121 games in the MJHL, was second, fol lowed by a tie between Spencer, who played 43 games in the WHL, and Roblin, Best Pure Goal Scorer 1. Luke Stokotelny, Grandview 2. Danny Johnston, Foxwarren 2. Curtis Gardham, Miniota-Elkhorn No surprise here as the former Dauphin Kings sniper, who led the NCHL with 32 goals, was picked as the best pure goal scorer. Johnston with 24 goals and Gardham with 28 goals tied for second in the poll. Best Defensive Forward 1. Brett Ewanyshyn, Grandview 2. Kent Schiltroth, Reston 3. Devron Jakeman, Roblin often overlooked on a team is the role of a forward that takes care of business in his own end of the rink. All three players were also among the top 12 league scorers. Toughest Player 1. Riley Day, Oak Lake-Brandon 2. Mike Pitman, Grandview 2. Steegan Stoski, Grandview A total of 15 players received votes in this category, but in the end Riley Day, the former Brandon Wheat King defenceman, received the nod for toughest in the league. The votes for Pitman and Stoski, who tied for second, prove why Grandview is such a tough team to play against. As a matter of interest, Day had just one fighting major, while Stoski had two. Pitman didn’t fight this season. Most Intimidating Player 1. Riley Day, Oak Lake-Brandon 2. Mike Pitman, Grandview 3. Shayne Draper, Kenton 3. Kaine Morran, Grandview It goes without saying that if you are tough, you can also be intimi dating as Day edged out Pitman again in this category. Draper, a tower on skates, and Morran, who is both physical and speedy tied for third in voting. Best Hitter 1. Kaine Morran, Grandview 2. Keith Spencer, Shoal Lake 3. Aaron Chipelski, Foxwarren Morran got a couple of votes for toughest player, but earned votes on seven ballots as the league’s best hitter. Spencer, known for his thun derous open ice hits, and Chipelski, who has long been under-rated in Foxwarren, rounded out the top three. All three play defence for their respective clubs. Most Irritating Player 1. Robby Memryk, Shoal Lake 2. Riley Day, Oak Lake-Brandon 3. Kurtis Callander, Rest on No contest. Memryk, who seems to delight in engaging in a lively de bate with referees, and players, coaches and trainers from just about every team in the league, re ceived either first or second place votes from all nine respondents. Way down the pack of the 18 irritat ing players who received votes were Day and Callander. Best Referee 1. Randy Kalynuk 2. Bob Blad 2. Ron Thiesen Teams thought that veteran refe ree Randy Kalynuk, who also serves as the NCHL referee-in-chief, was the best zebra. Tied for second were two lesser-known officials, but obvi ously talented according to the teams. Perhaps surprising (or not) is the veteran officials not chosen by the teams. Toughest Rink to play in 1. Grandview 2. Miniota 3. Kenton An intimidating team led by Morran, Pitman and Stoski, com bined with a vocal crowd make the GACC in Grandview a tough place to play in according to the results of the poll. For anyone who has never been to the arena, it is a must visit. You have to assume that Miniota and Kenton are tough to play in be cause they have less than regulation size ice surfaces. Best Ice 1. Roblin 2. Foxwarren 3. Virden The ice in Roblin was judged to be the best in the NCHL. Despite playing in an old arena, teams thought Foxwarren had the second best ice, followed by Virden. The arenas receiving the least amount of votes were Oak Lake and Shoal Lake. The ice in Shoal Lake, which has always been good, has been ter ribly soft since the beginning of the year. Best Uniforms 1. Roblin Northstars 2. Virden Oil Kings 3. Grandview Comets The other teams admire the duds worn by the Northstars’ players as they came out on top of the list. It was tight for second place, with the Oil Kings’ version of the NHL’s Co lumbus Blue Jackets uniforms just edging out the Comets’ hybrid ver sion of the Boston Bruins and Cal gary Flames. Honourable mentions went to Oak Lake and Boston. Surprising Team of the Year 1. Foxwarren Falcons 1. Shoal Lake Eagles 3. Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks 3. Roblin Northstars The Foxwarren Falcons, who re turned to the NCHL this year after a one-year leave of absence, tied with the Shoal Lake Eagles as the most surprising team. The Falcons, who only had Trent Tibbatts for 14 of their 22 games, finished in fifth place with a 12-8-1-1 record, while the Eagles finished with an identi cal record to last season, 11-7-3-1, but came back from a 2-0 playoff se ries deficit to eliminate Miniota-Elk horn in the first round of the play offs. Miniota-Elkhorn and Roblin tied for the third most number of votes. Minnedosa received a vote from one team for being “surpris ingly bad”. Team with the best outlook for the future 1. Grandview Comets 1. Shoal Lake Eagles 3. Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks Grandview and Shoal Lake tied in this category, but the Comets re ceived more first place votes. No doubt the teams felt that Grand view’s solid lineup bodes well for the future, while Shoal Lake’s rela tively young squad showed a lot of potential this season. Miniota Elk horn, who also boast a young team featuring many former Yellowhead Midget Chiefs’ graduates, was sol idly in third in the voting. Luke Stokotelny Kaine Morran Riley Day Robby Memryk
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Shoal Lake Crossroads
Shoal Lake, Manitoba, CA
Fri, Mar 19, 2010
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