The first-place Prince George Spruce Kings are attracting the attention of the rest of the B.C. Hockey League.
The league released its list of the three division finalists for each respective individual award on Wednesday and three Spruce Kings players - goalie Evan DeBrouwer, right winger Ethan de Jong and centre Ben Poisson are Mainland Division nominees, as is head coach Adam Maglio.
De Jong is in the mix for the Vern Dye Memorial Trophy as most valuable player. He leads the Spruce Kings in scoring with 62 points in 49 games, including 17 goals. He's also considered one of the league's top defensive forwards.
The 18-year-old from North Vancouver is in his second season in the BCHL and in the midterm ranking by NHL Central Scouting he was listed as the 154th top North American skater available for the 2018 draft.
"Ethan is one of the premier two-way players in the game, he's getting all kinds of NHL interest and deservedly so," said Spruce Kings general manager Mike Hawes.
"One NHL team called me last week and in the discussion Patrice Bergeron's name came up. That's the way Ethan plays the game, the same way Bergeron does in Boston - incredibly dependable defensively and dynamic offensively. He's such a smart player and a great teammate."
De Jong has signed a scholarship commitment with Quinnipiac University for the 2019-20 season but Hawes says there's a chance he could start his college career a season early, considering how he's been playing.
The other MVP candidates are Interior Division nominee and Wenatchee Wild forward Jasper Weatherby, who leads the scoring race (37-35-72) and Alex Newhook of the Victoria Grizzlies. The rookie Grizzlies forward was among the league leaders with 22 goals and 66 points in 45 games until he suffered a broken wrist two weeks ago.
The 21-year-old DeBrouwer has had a stellar season as the Spruce Kings starting goalie and won the team award as MVP at the team awards banquet on Sunday. He has thrived in his final junior season since arriving in an off-season trade from the Nanaimo Clippers. In 44 games, the native of Blenheim, Ont., sports a 25-14-0-4 record with a 2.26 goals-against average and .919 save percentage with three shutouts.
"Evan came in after not quite having the year he wanted in Nanaimo but we knew what we were getting with him when we made the trade (in exchange for 20-year-old forward Parker Colley) in the summer," said Hawes.
"A lot of credit has to go to (Kings assistant coach) Alex Evin, the two of them have a great relationship and that's brought Evan's game back to what he's capable of doing. Without question he's the MVP of our team this year and in my eyes the best goalie in the league."
Taz Burman of the Nanaimo Clippers (Island) and Ty Taylor of the Vernon Vipers (Interior) are the other nominees for the BCHL's top goaltender award. This marks the first season the award is based on the votes of the coaches, rather than the lowest goals-against average.
Poisson is the Mainland Division choice for the Bob Fenton Trophy as most sportsmanlike player. Until he suffered a ruptured spleen in a game against Coquitlam two weekends ago Poisson had a starring role as the Spruce Kings' top-line centre. At the time of his season-ending injury the hard-shooting native of Vancouver was second in team scoring with 22 goals and 51 points and had just two penalty minutes in 52 games.
"It's a nice little bonus for Ben, a kid whose season ended abruptly," said Hawes. "He's been tremendous for us, a point-a-game player and he's only 18 years old. He shoots the puck like an NHLer and was having a great season. He plays the game the right way - it's very surprising he has only two minutes in penalties because he plays the game so hard, he leads our team in hits and isn't a dirty player at all. The plan is for Ben to be back with us next season."
Forward Nicholas Wick of the Merritt Centennials and forward Gavin Rauser of the Powell River Kings are the respective Interior and Island candidates for the Fenton award.
Maglio is the Mainland candidate for the Joe Tennant Memorial Trophy as coach of the year. After two seasons as an assistant with the Spruce Kings, the 31-year-old from Nelson was hired in June to replace Chad van Diemen, who left the team for family reasons.
As a rookie junior hockey head coach, Maglio has taken one of the youngest teams in the BCHL to its first-ever regular-season title dating back 22 seasons to when the Spruce Kings joined the league. They wrapped up the Mainland Division crown last weekend and now have a 30-17-4-4 record, a 10-point improvement over last year's season total, with three games still to play.
"I knew once we brought Adam in two years ago as the associate coach that we had someone special in the way he handled himself and how he conducted himself with the players," said Hawes. "Despite being young he's one of the most progressive coaches in junior hockey and he's shown us that this year with the relationship he has with the players and the structure in our game and how hard our players work. I think he gets the most out of our players."
Bliss Littler of the Wenatchee Wild (Interior) and Matt Hughes of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (Island) are also nominated for the coaching award.
The three nominees for the Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy (rookie of the year) are Newhook (Island), forward Corey Andonovski of the Chilliwack Chiefs (Mainland) and forward Josh Prokop of the Vernon Vipers (Interior). The top defenceman award candidates are Max Crozier of Nanaimo (Island), Colin Bernard of the Langley Rivermen (Mainland) and Cooper Zach of the Wenatchee Wild (Interior).
To determine the three division award winners, coaches in each division vote in three separate polls and chose players/coaches within their own division. The coaches will vote again next week before the start of the playoffs to select the final award winners.
The Spruce Kings finish out the regular season with three games on the road this weekend - in Chilliwack Friday and Saturday and in Langley Sunday afternoon.
