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With the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League hitting the halfway point, Inside The Dressing Room takes a look at some of the contenders for year-end hardware. Keep in mind this is not an official list, but rather speculation based on mere opinion. Top Scorer Ð Leo Parker Award At the moment, Notre DameÕs Rylan Schwartz has the lead, but it is not a comfortable one. KindersleyÕs Brett Leedahl is only one point behind and there are as many as 14 players within 10 points of one another at the moment. With the Sherwood Conference boasting six strong teams and with scoring likely to go down in the second half, one would have to think a player from the Itech Conference could come up the middle. The top scoring player in the Itech is HumboldtÕs Brady Wacker, but defensemen hardly ever win scoring championships. Next in line is Bronco forward Scott Schroeder, who has 35 points in 24 games. HeÕs seven behind the oldest Schwartz brother. Top Goaltender Ð Harold L Jones Trophy The top goaltender goes to the netminder with the lowest goals against average and not, necessarily, the most valuable goalie. Humboldt rookie Jeff Holloway leads, for now, at 2.07. The Broncos are very strong and Holloway isnÕt expected to see a lionÕs share of the work down the stretch, so his season ending numbers may not end up being far off from what they are now. MelvilleÕs Travis Bosch sits at 2.14, but he starts nine out of every 10 games (or more) and that figure will be extremely hard to maintain with that kind of work load. MelfortÕs David Tetrault (2.29) and BroncoÕs number one Andrew Bodnarchuk (2.33) are also in the mix, but goalie averages can swing wildly with even one or two bad games combined with a four or five game hot streak from somebody else. Tim Hortons Top Defenseman Award If this award were to go to the highest scorer, it would be a heck of a race with Bronco tandem Brady Wacker and Tanner Vandesype at the front of the line. Wacker may be regarded as being more complete, but VandesypeÕs overall game has greatly improved in his final junior season. There may be nobody more valuable to his team than YorktonÕs Greg Coburn, who logs upwards of 30 plus minutes a night and is their current team leader in scoring. Like Vandesype, his play away from the puck and one-on-one has gotten measurably better this season. Flin FlonÕs Michael Young deserves to be mentioned, but injuries have limited him. La RongeÕs Dustin Stevenson plays a lot like Chris Pronger most nights. The SJHL talent pool at this position is extremely deep. Most Valuable Player Ð EE Henning Memorial Trophy And SJHL Player of the Year This award has been won by goaltenders (Ilia Ejov, Anthony Heuer) in each of the last two seasons and that string is likely to stop in 2008-09. Notre DameÕs record without Rylan and Jaden Schwartz (when they were at the WJAC) was woeful, which gives a great deal of credibility to giving this honor to the one brother that ends up with the most points, although Rylan is a much more complete player at this stage. Both will get consideration, no doubt. Kindersley would have a hard time replicating their success without Leedahl, who has been the leagueÕs most electric player for the last two years running. Wacker has anchored the Humboldt blueline in dominating fashion. Red Wing forward Preston Shupe could be a darkhorse when you consider all the on-ice qualities that are obvious and the off-ice ones that are seldom seen by people outside the Weyburn organization. See 'Rookie' on pg. Continued from pg. HeÕs a real class act (he also won the Kresse Kruger Mantyka Award last year for scholar-athlete combination). Generally, one of the players who wins the MVP does not win the SJHL Player Of The Year. But, the contenders for the two awards are the same. Rookie of the Year It will be a major miscarriage of justice if Jaden Schwartz doesnÕt win it. The 1992 born forward leads all first year players in points, has played in the World Junior ÔAÕ Challenge, and is also going to the CJHL Top Prospects Game. It is one of those years where one player is head and shoulders above the rest. However, this is the best crop of SJHL rookies in quite some time. The race for runner-up would be extremely close. Consider the following: Flin FlonÕs Alex Lamontagne ranks third in the league in goals, MelfortÕs Deven Stillar is fifth in the league in goals, and there are plenty of others who figure to flirt with a point per game season (Logan Herauf, Melville; Torey Stott, Yorkton; John Esposito, Notre Dame; Spencer Braaten, Humboldt; Mathieu Lecours, Flin Flon; Devin Mitzner, Flin Flon; Dane Muench, Battlefords). A rookie playing major minutes on defense may be an even harder chore, but Rhys Thomas (Weyburn) and Cris Neurauter (Nipawin) have done a fine job. I n goal, Devin Peters (Yorkton) has emerged and Holloway (Humboldt) could end up leading the league in GAA. Sherwood Coach of the Year This is a tough award to hand out as all SJHL bench bosses deserve kudos for wearing multiple hats throughout the season and facing many off-ice challenges the majority of us will never hear about. Inevitably, the award is likely to go to a team exceeding preseason expectations. To that end, Jamie Fiesel in Melville has been a contender a number of times and he may well be again as the Millionaires have been the class of the Sherwood Conference to this point. ItÕs tough to overlook Dean Brockman, who has won it the last two years in a row. HeÕs got the Broncos in position to win a third straight league crown, which is unheard of in this day and age. MelfortÕs Darrell Mann has an extremely young team in the hunt for second in the Itech. And, Battlefords Ken Pearson could garner some consideration if he can take a Stars team from five wins to as high as fourth place in one year. Media Award This is not usually something Inside The Dressing Room draws attention to, however it is worth pointing out the job Access Communications has done this season. Access has partnered up with the SJHL to provide video content on the web at http://www.sjhl.ca and a lot of credit has to go to Martin Smith in North Battleford. But, to say Martin gets all of the points here is unfair. All of the Access Communications centres have dedicated staff as well as volunteers who have helped make SJHL This Week a remarkable product that is well worth watching beyond just the five-six minutes that show up on the SJHL website. The show airs weekly on Access 7 SJHL 1st All-Star Team (The real SJHL All-Star Team is determined by actual left defense, right defense, left wingers, centres, and right wingers as submitted by each teamÕs individual coaches. At this point, weÕll go with ÔdefenseÕ and ÔforwardsÕ as opposed to the individualized positions) G Ð Travis Bosch, Melville D Ð Brady Wacker, Humboldt D Ð Greg Coburn, Yorkton F Ð Rylan Schwartz, Notre Dame F Ð Brett Leedahl, Kindersley F Ð Kirk Pearce, Kindersley SJHL 2nd All-Star Team G Ð David Tetrault, Melfort D Ð Tanner Vandesype, Humboldt D Ð Dustin Stevenson, La Ronge F Ð Kale Dolinski, Melville F Ð Jaden Schwartz, Notre Dame F Ð Jordan Braid, Kindersley SJHL All Rookie Team G Ð Devin Peters, Yorkton D Ð Rhys Thomas, Weyburn D Ð Cris Neurauter, Nipawin F Ð Jaden Schwartz, Notre Dame F Ð Alex Lamontagne, Flin Flon F Ð Deven Stillar, Melfort
