The Yorkton Minor Hockey Esso Awards banquet took place last Tuesday.
Another year, another whole bunch of awards handed out at the Yorkton Curling Club.
They took the ice out to accommodate everything.
Each team's coaching staff handed out awards. There were six major awards handed out not pertaining to the actual teams.
The Coach of the Year award went to the Midget Mano's Restaurant coach Dwight Guy, en light of his MHL 'A' win over Foam Lake. McDonald's Yorkton was recognized as the Business of the Year, Evan Johnson (DR Auto Extras coach) was named Volunteer of the Year, YMHA's Unsung Hero was Midget liaison Ron Risling, who also announced that evening that he will be stepping down from his post; Warren Burrell won the Official of the Year award.
Risling started in 1993 with minor hockey and has been on the executive since 2002.
"I'm going to miss it quite a bit," he said during a telephone interview with YTW. He said he's not one for receiving awards, but felt it was time to go when his stepson finished his hockey eligibility with the YMHA Midget program.
There "probably should be some vested interest" in the game, notes Risling, who will be moving onto other things next season.
"I always believed in strong programs," he added. "I wanted to see a strong Midget program (here)," noting that the MHL win by the Mano's Restaurant Terriers was a "huge accomplishment" for the Midget program.
"We are very proud of them."
Risling was one of many individuals who were awarded. Most were players who stood out and impressed their coaches with their on-ice play.
Several were for teams that won league and/or SHA championships.
"Yorkton's well-established in minor hockey," offered Kelly Maddin, bench boss of the Pee Wee 'A' Yorkton Terrier Hockey Club.
Maddin just coached his team to a second straight SHA championship.
Maddin also noted that this year, the YMHA hung eight new banners; five for the league winners, as well as three provincial banners. (See picture in this week's Sports Section).
"It was a great night," offered Maddin, who noted that the kids were "well behaved".
Thanks to all of the volunteers for making this thing happen."
This year, two other coaches joined him on the list of provincial winners.
That night, all teams, from the Initiation Program (IP) right up to Midget, were recognized for their achievements. Awards handed out to the teams were for the following categories: Most Dedicated, Most Sportsmanlike and Most Improved.
The Tim Hortons Double Double winners were Conner Gerein (Most Improved), Emma Edel (Most Sportsmanlike) and Manning Stechyshyn (Most Improved).
The Tim Hortons Smoothies winners were Jye Zawatsky (Most Dedicated), Josh Johnson (Most Sportsmanlike), and Matt Herzog (Most Improved).
The Tim Hortons Cappuccinos winners were Vinay Junek (Most Dedicated), James Klemetski (Most Sportsmanlike), and Nathan Matechuk (Most Improved).
The Tim Hortons winners featured a tie for Most Dedicated, split between Matthew Ronn and Grady Hoffman, Sam Cristo won Most Sportsmanlike and Drew Fleger won Most Improved Player.
The Tim Hortons Ice Capps winners were Bennett Upshall (Most Dedicated), Ryden Graves (Most Sportsmanlike) and Rowan Guest (Most Improved). The Tim Hortons Fritters team recognized Brandon Spilchen (Most Dedicated), Jase Smith (Most Sportsmanlike) and Joey Zarowny (Most Improved).
From the Novice Division, Josh Herzog, Jackson Long and Dray Sobkow won respectively, for the Clean Spot Terriers.
Dru Minke, Brady Bjornerud and Gary Strongquill won respectively for the Farrell Agencies Terriers.
Kael DePape, Josh Needham and Chris Cole won respectively for the Frame Tech Terriers.
And rounding out the Novice teams, Jesse Horseman, Kiara Stewart and Kenton Effa were the respective winners from the Thorsness Appliance Terriers.
The Terrier Atom Division had five clubs recognize their players.
From the Deneschuk Homes Terriers, awards went to Calvin Harris (Most Dedicated), Chris Edel (Most Sportsmanlike), and Andy Van Heerden (Most Improved).
From the B&K Trucking Terriers, Jett Stechyshyn (Most Improved), Sidney Shyiak (Most Sportsmanlike), and Johntee Ostapowich (Most Improved).
The Richardson Terriers awarded Colby Ross (Most Dedicated), Dasek Sobkow (Most Sportsmanlike), and Logan Speidel (Most Improved).
From the Scoops Terriers, Mitchell Madsen (Most Dedicated), Matthew Just (Most Sportsmanlike), and Burke Sebastien (Most Improved).
And from the Tier I Xerox Terriers, taking home awards were Zack MacIntyre (Most Dedicated), Ethan Evanovich (Most Sportsmanlike), and Evan Krasowski (Most Improved).
The Pee Wee Division had four teams to make presentations.
Bradley Ingram won Most Dedicated, Michael Coleridge Most Sportsmanlike and Brodie Popowich won Most Improved.
Also for the Pee Wee teams was the presentation of the Protz Spirit Award. The winner was Nicholas Sherman.
From the Premier Cabinets, Nolan Budz (Most Dedicated), Owen Shirtliffe (Most Sportsmanlike), and Clayton Fenwich. The winner of the Protz Spirit Award was Jordan Repsch.
From the Mark's Work Wearhouse Terriers, Nathan Pidperyhora (Most Dedicated), Brett Guenther (Most Sportsmanlike), Caden Durocher (Most Improved). The winner of the Protz Spirit Award was Zackary Biblow.
And from the Century 21 Terriers, Stephen Oleskiw (Most Dedicated), Kyle Merkl (Most Sportsmanlike), and Carter Washenfelder (Most Improved). Zachary Goulden-Maddin took home the Protz Spirit Award.
From the Pee Wee Tier I Yorkton Terrier Sherring Gold AAs, Tyler Stratechuk won the Most Dedicated Award, while there was a tie for the Most Sportsmanlike Player Award. The Taphorns (Keenan and Kaeden) took home the prize. The Most Dedicated Player Award went to captain Jake Kustra.
From the DR Auto Extras Bantams, Hunter Arnold, Kade Johnson and Taylor Seaton all took home the awards respectively.
From the Quizno's Subs Terriers, Brendan Dzuba and Jorie Dull won Most Dedicated and Most Sportsmanlike, respectively, while there was another tie on the ballots.
Goaltender Bo Loster and forward Ryan Merkl split the Most Improved Player Award.
The Bantam UCT Tier I Terriers recognized Jake Holinaty (Most Dedicated), Adam Neibrandt (Most Sportsmanlike), and Grayson Neufeld, who missed the team's playoff run due to injury, was named Yorkton's Most Improved Player.
The UCT Terriers had a fourth award, the Clifford Bast MVP award. The recipient was Rylan Palchewich.
Two award winners were named from the Bantam Provincial Tier II team. Jaden Porte was the Schendroth MVP and Brendan Dzuba was the winner of the Parnetta Spirit Award. From the Midget Tier I Kinsmen Terriers, award winners were Mike Chorney (Most Dedicated), Zac Korchinski (Most Sportsmanlike), Connor Erhardt (Most Improved).
Three other awards accompanied during the Midgets' presentation. Tyler Shumay took home the Davidson MVP Award. Blake Maddaford won the Kriger Spirit Award. Kolt Konan won the Protz Ironman Award.
The Mano's Terriers capped off their season by winning the 'A' side championship of the Major Hockey League in only 30 seconds of overtime when Nathan Guy scored at the Farrell Agencies Arena. Award winners on this night included Devin Stefanyshyn (Most Dedicated), Dylan Johnson (Most Sportsmanlike), and goaltender Tyler Sherwood took home the Most Improved Player Award (see picture). The Mano's Protz Ironman Award went to captain Elias Giannoulis.
