The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Melville Millionaires goalie Alex Wakaluk is the SJHL's nominee for the RBC Canadian Junior Hockey League Player of the Year award. The award for the nation's top Junior A player was to be handed out last Friday, after The Reminder went to press. Wakaluk made a name for himself in 2012-13 as he took home SJHL MVP honours after finishing in the top three in almost every major statistical category. That included goals-against average (third, 2.32), save percentage (second, .930), wins (first, 28), shutouts (second, five) and saves (second, 1,385), all while playing the second-most minutes of any SJHL puckstopper. The Millionaires are revered in Melville, and Wakaluk has embraced being a role model in the community. He has made frequent visits to schools in the community and worked with goaltenders in the local minor hockey association, sharing his knowledge to help develop the next generation of netminders. Wakaluk, whose father Darcy played in the NHL, will continue his career, both academic and athletic, next season south of the border. Attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he will patrol the crease for the Minutemen while pursuing a degree in engineering. This season, more than 3,000 players suited up for Junior A games across Canada, from Nanaimo, B.C., to Woodstock, N.B., but only 10 were named as finalists for the Player of the Year award. This year's winner will join a distinguished list of past honourees that includes current and former NHLers Joe Colborne, Kyle Turris, Jeff Tambellini, Dany Heatley, Mike Comrie, Paul Kariya and Greg Johnson. Also nominated for this year's award were: Mike Dietrich of the Superior International Junior Hockey League; Charlie Finn of the Ontario Junior Hockey League; Mitch Gillam of the British Columbia Hockey League; Benjamin Laliberte of the Ligue do Hockey Junior AAA du Quebec; Cam Maclise of the Alberta Junior Hockey League; Mitchell Maynard of the Maritime Hockey League; ÊGuillaume Naud of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League; Michael Pontarelli of the Central Canada Hockey League; and Tait Seguin of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. Meanwhile, Humboldt Broncos coach and GM Dean Brockman was a finalist for the 2013 CJHL Coach of the Year award. Ryan Papaioannou of the Alberta Junior Hockey League's Brooks Bandits won the award last week. Papaioannou and the Bandits were AJHL regular season champs for the second consecutive season, earning 109 points. The CJHL created a new suite of national awards for the 2012-2013 season. The awards recognize individual success in the 10 Junior A leagues across Canada. They include Most Valuable Player, Top Forward, Top Defenceman, Top Goaltender, Rookie of the Year, Top NHL Draft Prospect and Coach of the Year. Each of the 10 leagues in the CJHL submitted a candidate for all of the league awards. A representative from each league then ranked their top selections from among the 10 national nominees and the five nominees with the highest point total moved on as finalists to the final round of voting. The winners were then selected by a second and final point-based vote cast from all 10 league representatives. _ Compiled from Canadian Junior Hockey League news releases
