2017-18 MJHL AWARD WINNERS
The Steinbach Pistons’ outstanding season in the
Manitoba Junior Hockey League has been rewarded.
In fact, three members of the outstanding first-
place Pistons have won major MJHL awards.
Head coach Paul Dyck won his second consecutive
Muzz McPherson Award as Coach of the Year while Drew
Worrad won the Frank McKinnon Memorial Trophy
and Darby Gula won the Top Defenseman award.
The 2017-18 award finalists with winners in bold are:
MVP AWARD – STEVE “BOOMER” HAWRYSH MEMORIAL TROPHY
Dexter Kuczek
Winnipeg Blues
Virden Oil Capitals
Tyler Kirkup
Troy Martyniuk
Winkler Flyers
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD – VINCE LEAH TROPHY
Justin Lee
Virden Oil Capitals
Matthew Thiessen
Steinbach Pistons
Matthew Osadick
Swan Valley Stampeders
HOCKEY ABILITY AND SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD –
FRANK MCKINNON MEMORIAL TROPHY
Drew Worrad
Steinbach Pistons
Jeremey Leipsic
Portage Terriers
Keaton Jameson
Swan Valley Stampeders
TOP GOALTENDER AWARD
Troy Martyniuk
Emilien Boily
Matthew Thiessen
Winkler Flyers
OCN Blizzard
Steinbach Pistons
MACEK, PLANTE ALSO STAR IN
OLYMPICS
While Morden’s Chay Genoway and Oakbank’s
Quinton Howden were winning bronze for Canada
at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, there were
two other Manitobans at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Forward Brooks Macek, a former star with the
Assiniboine Park Rangers had an outstanding
Olympic Games for Germany, helping his team
win a silver medal, while defenseman Alex Plante
from Brandon, was one of the leaders on a
surprisingly competitive Host Team from Korea.
Macek left Winnipeg to play for the Notre
Dame Hounds in 2005, but still works out at
The Rink here at home. This was his eighth
international event for the German National
Team. He has been playing in Germany since
2013 and now has an Olympic silver medal.
Plante, 28, played Midget Triple A with the
Brandon Wheat Kings before heading off to play
for the Calgary Hitmen. He was selected in the first
round of 2007 NHL Entry Draft (15th overall) by
the Edmonton Oilers. He played 10 NHL games
for the Oilers before heading to Europe. Then, in
2015, his agent, Darryl Wolski, offered him an
opportunity to play in the Asia League for Korea’s
Anyang Halla. A year later, he was a Korean citizen
and is now one of the best players on the continent.
Both players were outstanding during the Olympics.
TOP DEFENCEMAN AWARD – BRIAN KOZAK MEMORIAL TROPHY
Darby Gula
Steinbach Pistons
Mackenzie Dwyer
Portage Terriers
Mitch Dyck
Winkler Flyers
TOP SCORER AWARD – MIKE RIDLEY TROPHY
Top two scorers at press time were Bradley
Schoonbaert, Steinbach Pistons (89 points) and
Dexter Kuczek, Winnipeg Blues (85 points).
COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD – PORTAGE TERRIERS
“MUZZ MCPHERSON” AWARD
Paul Dyck
Steinbach Pistons
Blake Spiller
Portage Terriers
Troy Leslie
Virden Oil Capitals
Brooks Macek, Germany
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