Preeceville — The Preeceville Minor Hockey Association acknowledged players, parents, coaches, fans and all volunteers for a successful season of hockey with s supper and awards banquet. The banquet was held on April 1 at the Preeceville Community Hall and served a combined 250 steak and hamburger suppers.
“We are happy to have everyone together to celebrate our season,” said Cory Paul, president of Preeceville Minor Hockey. He acknowledged all the volunteers who helped prepare and serve the supper.
The walls of the hall were decorated with old hockey jerseys.
Each team presented Esso Medal of achievements to their own players. Esso provides medals for Most Dedicated, Most Improved and Most Sportsmanship for each of the divisions.
Paul called up each team and coaches to present awards for most improved, most dedicated and sportsmanship.
The youngest team (U7) were all acknowledged with special awards from coach Nathan Seghers., “I am so proud of our small but mighty team. Through the year each player grew and I am so proud of each player and the progress they made. I also want to recognize the U18 team for their hard work and dedication, hard work in winning the A-banner and their great provincial title run. You are all amazing and have inspired the U7 team to dream big, put in the hard work and you too can reach your goals.” Dawson Serdachny and Jacob Seghers received most dedicated and Ayden Borus received most improved, while Billy Kennedy received the sportsmanship award.
Awards for U9 were presented to: Easton Will (Most Improved), Van Gazdewich (Most Dedicated) and Koy Babiuk (Sportsmanship).
The Preeceville Pats U11 assistant coach Nathan Draper spoke briefly on their season before handing out awards. Awards were presented to: Declan Unick (Sportsmanship), Easton Will (Most Improved) and Logan Menton (Most Dedicated).
The U13 team was acknowledged by coach Nicole Korpusik. “We as coaches are very proud of each player and the success they showed as we concluded the season with a win,” she said. Awards were presented to: Makayla Johsnon (Most Improved), Landon Erickson (Most Dedicated) and Allie Babiuk (Sportsmanship).
The senior U18 team had a challenging season that ended in upsetting the top ranked Indian Head, to win the Major Hockey League A-banner. Head coach Jesse Nelson gave a brief season recap before handing out awards. “I have had the privilege and honour to coach the U18 team this year, We have had a stellar year and ended our regular season second in the league. We played 40 games in total during the regular season and won 35 of those games. Our provincial run took us right to the end but we wound up losing the last game. The boys played hard, well- disciplined hockey all season with many players stepping up,” he said. He went on to acknowledged all the volunteers, parents and fans who supported the team through the season.
Esso medals were presented to: Jace Vogel (Most Improved), Bryker Smith (Sportsmanship) and Spencer Leech (Dedicated).
Plaques were also presented to the U 18 players. Kaiden Masley received the Most Valuable Player award sponsored by Lorne and Colleen Zubko. Masley continually contributed to his team’s successes and was counted on to deliver when needed.
Tomas Hauber received the Karen Theil memorial award for Best Defenseman. This award was given to a U18 player who demonstrated the greatest all-around ability at the defensive position.
Mason Babiuk received the Trent Paul memorial award for Top Rookie for a player that in his rookie year and demonstrates great ability, sportsmanship and love for the game.
Kaiden Masley received the Best Forward award sponsored by Jack Prien for a player who demonstrated the greatest all-around ability at the forward position.
Masley also received the award for Top Scorer. The award is given out to a player that accumulated the most points throughout the season, and was sponsored by Rudy and Cythnia Romaniuk,
Spencer Leech received the Mark Tonn memorial Sin Bin award for most penalty minutes throughout the regular and playoff season. Mark Tonn had coached both senior and minor hockey throughout the years. When he was not coaching he was always working the penalty box. He was a huge supporter of the Preeceville Pats hockey club and the rink.
This year Preeceville Minor Hockey had six graduating players: Tomas Hauber, Brody Shankowsky, Hudsyn Nelson, Spencer Leech, Kaiden Masley and Skylar Ryczak, with each being acknowledged.
A dance concluded the evening with music provided by Saddles and Steel. There was also a fun Family Feud game played with trivia questions.
