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Chwok named to NPHL East All-Star Team
Chris Clegg
for South Peace News
Bouchard wins first MVP award
Jason Bouchard of the Falher Pirates was chosen as the MVP after being named by all five members of the voting panel. Bouchard only received one first place vote but five second place votes and a third.
Bouchard, the undisputed leader of the Pirates, led the team in scoring with 26-44-70 points and was 27 points ahead of his nearest teammate. Overall, he was second in league scoring behind Lakeland’s Tyler Shantz.
Bouchard becomes the first Pirate to win NPHL MVP honours in 26 years since Glen White in 1984-85. According to available league records, Bouchard is only the fourth Pirate to win the award. Roger Gervais and Mike Martel also won MVP awards.
Mustang wins Rookie-of-the-Year
Darren Walker of the Hythe Mustangs was named NPHL Rookie-of-the-Year winner after receiving one more point (11-10) than Adam Horst of the Fort St. John Flyers.
Walker was Hythe’s first string goalie. He posted a 3-7 record in the tough West Division with a respectable GAA of 6.14. Facing NPHL powers Fort St. John, Dawson Creek and Grande Prairie most nights, he was able to keep the Mustangs in many games.
Walker becomes the first Mustang to win Rookie-of-the-Year honours and the first goaltender to win the award in 11 years since Valleyview’s Ryan Eggen won in 1998-99.
Coach-of-the-Year honour shared
Wade Wallan of the Hythe Mustangs has won his second straight NPHL Coach-of-the-Year award but he has some company at the top.
Grande Prairie Athletics’ coach Ryan Widdifield tied for the award as both coaches received 11 points.
Wallan was recognized for keeping Hythe in the battle for top playoff position all season despite having less talent on his roster. Widdifield managed to guide the Athletics to second place in the West Division, one point ahead of Dawson Creek.
Wallan is the only Mustang to win Coach-of-the-Year honours.
Meanwhile, Widdifield becomes the second Athletics coach to win the award. Fraser Berg won the award in 2007-08 when he tied with Falher’s Bob Maisonneuve for the award.
Bombier Most Gentlemanly Player
Jordan Bombier of the Grande Prairie Athletics has won his second NPHL Most Gentlemanly Player award.
Bombier, who also won the award in 2005-06, continues to play the game at a high level and sportsmanship manner. He had only four PIMs this season in 20 games while scoring 8-13-21 points. In his career, Bombier has played 193 games and only amassed 58 PIMs. Perhaps even more amazing is he received no stick foul penalties this season and only has five in his entire NPHL career for 10 minutes.
Larson named Best Goaltender
David Larson of the Grande Prairie Athletics has won his first Best Goaltender award, stopping the three-year streak by Fort St. John’s Troy Hunt, who finished in a four-way tie for second.
Larson was a unanimous selection by the panel, the only player to accomplish the feat this season.
Larson posted a 7-6 record this season and 4.29 GAA which placed him second behind Hunt.
Larson becomes the first Athletics player to win the award and marks the ninth straight season a player from the West Division has won the award.
Loncan wins Best Defenceman award
Adam Loncan became the second Dawson Creek Canucks’ player to win Best Defenceman honours after outdistancing Donny Lloyd of the Fort St. John Flyers by only four points in voting.
Loncan’s 5-30-35 points was fourth on DC’s club as he helped lead the Canucks to a third place finish in the West Division.
Kip Noble, who placed third in voting, won three straight Best Defencemen awards with Dawson Creek from 2001-02 to 2003-04. Noble also won the award in 2004-05 and 2006-07 with Horse Lake and 2007-08 and 2008-09 with Fort St. John.
Pirates dominate East All-Star Team
Three Falher Pirates were named to the East Division All-Star Team.
Jason Bouchard, the league’s MVP, was named to the team. It’s Bouchard’s first first team All-Star award; he was selected to the second team at centre in 2007-08. He had 26-44-70 points this season and was second in league scoring.
Joining him on the team are two first-time winners. Scott Hicks (11-17-28 points) was selected on defence while Daniel Aubin (18-21-39) was selected at left wing.
Peace River’s Graham Campbell (1-10-11 points) is also a first time All-Star after his selection on defence. Campbell and Hicks were selected mainly for strong defensive play rather than huge point totals.
The NPHL’s leading scorer, Tyler Shantz (40-46-86 points) of the Lakeland Eagles, was selected on right wing. It is Shantz’s six All-Star selection.
High Prairie’s Ian Chwok was named to the team in goal. He joined the Regals in December and almost led the Regals to the playoffs as their undisputed MVP.
West All-Star Team has five new faces
The West Division All-Star team has five first-time All-Stars this season.
NPHL Best Goaltender award winner David Larson heads the list of West Division All-Stars.
Joining Larson are defenceman Adam Loncan of the Dawson Creek Canucks, also the winner of the NPHL Best Defenceman award, right winger Mark Wallman of the Grande Prairie Athletics, left winger Chris Stevens of the Dawson Creek Canucks, and David Alexander of the Fort St. John Flyers.
The only returning All-Star is Fort St. John’s Donny Lloyd, who joins Loncan on defence. Lloyd has been in the NPHL three years and has been selected to the All-Star
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High Prairie goaltender Ian Chwok was named to the All-Star Team.
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