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.
Right winger Nick Johnson of the St. Albert Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey League has been selected the RBC Financial Group/Canadian junior 'A' player of the year. Johnson, 18, is the second St. Albert player and fifth from the AJHL to receive the award in seven years. He was honoured Friday night at the Royal Bank Cup banquet in Grande Prairie, Alberta. The 6'2, 180 lb. Johnson was voted a co-winner of the league's most dedicated player award and was a unanimous choice on the Rogers Wireless North Division first team in all-league balloting. Johnson tied for seventh in the AJHL with 71 points, incuding 35 goals, in 51 regular-season games. He was listed 65th, among North American forwards and defencemen, in the mid-season National Hockey League central scouting service rankings, for the NHL entry draft in June. Aaron Starr of the OCN Blizzard of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and Chad Haacke of the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League were the runners-up. Starr was the MJHL and CJAHL scoring champion. The list of recent award winners is most impressive. Dany Heatley was the 1998-99 RBC Financial Group/Canadian junior 'A' player of the year. Heatley was voted the most valuable player and leading forward at the world hockey championship in Prague and led tournament scorers as Team Canada won the gold medal last weekend. Heatley played for the Calgary Canucks of the AJHL. The 1999-2000 Canadian junior 'A' player of the year, Junior Lessard, was recently selected the Hobey Baker Award recipient as the outstanding player in National Collegiate Athletic Association division I and led NCAA division I scorers. Lessard played for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and recently signed, as a free agent, with the Dallas Stars of the NHL. He played for the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. Mike Comrie of the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL was the previous St. Albert award winner, in 1997-98. Mark Bomersback of the Canmore Eagles of the AJHL was the 2002-03 RBC Financial Group/Canadian junior 'A' player of the year. He was an NCAA freshman this season, with the Ferris State University Bulldogs of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Johnson played midget 'AA' in Calgary as a 16-year-old before moving north to play in St. Albert. He was chosen on the AJHL North all-rookie team after totalling 21 goals and 51 points in 60 regular-season games in 2002-03. Johnson will play for the Dartmouth College Big Green of the Eastern College Athletic Conference in 2004-05. His St. Albert jersey will be displayed at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
