Paris' Midget LL2 Wolfpack hockey team converged on Game Time in Brantford this past Sunday, following our Syl Apps Hockey Tournament for some down time with teammates to enjoy dinner, games and awards with family and friends.
I would like to thank our team's coaching staff for all of their time, support and advice over this season.
Our coaching staff included:
- Doug Green, Coach
- Greg Thibodeau, Trainer
- Rick Mason, Trainer
- Shawn Novak, Manager
- Greg and Angela Adam, Parent Reps
- Greg Collings, On ice coach & myself
- Kevin Noseworthy, Head Coach
The following awards were handed out:
1. Coaches player role model award – this award is given to a player who gains the attention and respect of all of the coaches by their genuine interest in learning the game, broadening their skills, fun attitude and being a team player. This year’s award goes to Abby Pedley.
2. Team player role model award – this award is given to a player who gains the attention and respect of his teammates by his hard drive and willingness to get into the play and in shot’s way. He has the ability to work with all players and brings fun to the forefront of the game. This year’s award goes to Jackson Thibodeau.
3. Break out player of the year – each year a player stands out either from new development, change in their game style or they have adopted a new position that they excel at and become their teams break out player of the year. The move from defence line to forward line was quickly recognized and made a huge difference for our team’s success. This year’s award goes to our player Wyatt Collings
4. Technical player award – stick handling, skating finesse, speed, balance and agility are all examples of what makes up a technical player. The result of this type of player is evident on the game sheet. This year’s award goes to Calvin Cooper.
5. Penalty kill award – penalties can decide the outcome of a game, when it is in our opponent team’s favour it is an opportunity for their team to score and the result can mean closing the score margin, tying up the score or taking the lead in a game. Games are won on good penalty killing, the player on our team who excels in this scenario is. This year’s award goes to Ethan Crozier.
6. Strategic player award – on and off the ice this type of player is constantly envisioning new ways to play the game and incorporate his teammates skills to make new strategies to score or hold off another team from scoring. This player is quick to identify the opponents game style and respond with a game style guaranteed to beat them at their own game. This year’s award goes to Ben Cromien.
7. Defence award – every team has a player that is best described as the most committed defensive player, this player knows their role and does not sway from their position and is their goalies most loyal team mate. This year’s award goes to Campbell Churchward.
8. Forward award – to be a strong forward player you need to be able to skate hard, envision where the play will be next and know where each of your team mates are to make a play up the ice and keep possession of the puck in the opponents zone. This year’s award goes to Benjamin Whiting.
9. Back check award – forward players require a lot of endurance to be able to skate upwards fast with the puck and play into the opponents zone, not only that, but they require added endurance to back check and return to our zone to support our defense. This player excels at back checking and has proven results in cutting off opponents before reaching our net. This year’s award goes to Kolby McLaren.
10. Passing award – assists are what make goals possible, without players who can make those, stick to stick passes, our team would not make it on the scoreboard. This player thinks of the team before himself and shares the puck with his team mates and is responsible for creating great plays. This year’s award goes to Fletcher Adam.
11. Game changer award – every season injuries, illness, absenteeism, etc. force
our team to adjust. This season proved to be our biggest adjustment, to date, with the loss of many key players due to injury; fortunately, one player stepped up and took on the challenge of filling in for other forwards, defence and even our goalie and became the game changer. This year’s award goes to our Jack Kraemer.
12. Power play award –our team has a good record in scoring when we are on a power play, numerous times this player has been credited for making an assist or scoring a power play goal. This year’s award goes to Mason Crozier.
13. Positioning award – positioning in a game is crucial and is a game changer for a team, each team has a few players that position well but usually one player excels at playing their position perfectly. This year’s award goes to Owen Novak.
14. Puck handling award – stick handling, speed, breakaways and patience is key to reading a goalie’s move and making final split second decisions to deek or shoot on a goalie to find the back of the net. These are traits that a forward player needs to win. This year’s award goes to Spencer Noseworthy.
15. Team Development key player award – key players can transform simple practices into development changing experiences for all players and for the team, as a whole. This year’s recipient was sidelined for much of the season due to injury; however, when he was available for practices he was instrumental in allowing our coaching staff to run full ice drills. This year’s award goes to Jaden Larry.
I would like to wish our two third year players Calvin Cooper and Mason Crozier all the best in their future hockey as they leave our Midget Division.
Calvin was our captain of our team and was our leading goal scorer with 31 goals this season and 8 assists. Mason's season was a one time opportunity for him to enjoy playing hockey on the same team as his younger brother Ethan, in his first season in Midget, before Mason completes Midget in his final 3rd season.
Campbell was our only second year player and he too had a major influence on the success of our team and provided much guidance to our young team of 12 first year players.
Finally, our young group of first year players have learned a great deal during the season and have improved over the course of the season and will prove to be great players in their 2nd and 3rd years of Midget and beyond.
In closing, I would like to thank my players, coaches, families and my own family for a memorable season, although, we didn't have a winning season, success is not just measured on wins but on so many other important items including skill development, memories and new and long lasting friendships.
Thank you.
Kevin Noseworthy
