Lakehead's Joel Scherban, Erik Lodge, Jeff Richards, and Matt Jacques all garnered OUA honours it was announced today. Scherban, Richards, and Lodge were all named OUA West First Team All Stars while Jacques was named to the OUA West All Rookie Team. Scherban was also the named the Sportsman of the Year in the OUA West (his third such award)as well as being named the OUA West's nominee for the CIS Randy Gregg Award; symbolic of the player that best combines hockey excellence, athletic achievment, and community service. Scherban has been a First Team All Star in all five seasons with the Thunderwolves.
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OUA Release: HAMILTON Great goaltending is a key to any hockey teams success. That sentiment is reflected in this years choice for the Bill LHeureux Trophy as the Most Outstanding Player in Ontario University Athletics mens hockey, presented by Sher-Wood Hockey. McGill Redmen standout Mathieu Poitras (Gatineau, QC) had a record-breaking season between the pipes for the nationally-ranked McGill Redmen, following up on an impressive rookie campaign in which he recorded a school-record five shutouts. Poitras was simply unbeatable on many nights as he established a new Canadian Interuniversity Sport shutout record with seven, eclipsing the previous mark of six set by Luc Belanger from UQTR in 1997/98 and Chuck Goddard from Saint Marys in 1972/73. The second-year Mechanical Engineering student also led the country in most major goaltending categories including wins (tied for first with 14), goals against average (1.40) and save percentage (.947). With Poitras getting the bulk of the work in net and rookie Jean-Michel Filiatrault (Laval, QC) going unbeaten in seven appearances, the 20-1-3-0 Redmen also set a new CIS record for team goals against average, finishing the regular season with a miniscule 1.21 gaa.
Poitras was also recognized as the Most Valuable Player in the East Division for the second consecutive year. A fellow member of the goaltending fraternity took the West MVP honours, proving that the OUA is home to some of the best netminders in the nation. Waterloo Warriors workhorse Curtis Darling (Calgary, AB) posted a strong 13-6-3 record in 23 games as he logged 1250 minutes and 22 seconds in goal (third in the OUA). The second-year Speech Communication major and 2005 West Rookie of the Year was also one of the busiest goalies in the league as he faced 724 shots, the fifth highest total among all OUA goalies.
Matt Willoughby (Winnipeg, MB) burst onto the OUA scene and made a major impact for the Guelph Gryphons en route to being named the Wests Rookie of the Year. Playing on a line with first-team all-star and league scoring leader Jesse Pyatt (Thunder Bay, ON), Willoughby finished fourth in OUA scoring with 34 points, tallying nine goals and a league-high 25 assists. Lakehead Thunderwolves captain Joel Scherban (Thunder Bay, ON) capped off his magnificent five-year career by earning both the Wests Sportsman of the Year Award (his third) and the OUA West nomination for the Randy Gregg Award, which goes to the CIS athlete who best exhibits achievement in the areas of academics, community and hockey. The Wolves all-time points, goals and assists leader endured a difficult season on a personal level. Already suffering from sports-related asthma, he became ill and dropped 30 pounds before being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Scherban, the 2005 CIS Player of the Year, worked hard to get his strength back and has been a big contributor in the playoffs, helping Lakehead eliminate the No. 4 ranked Western Mustangs. Despite his ailments, the former Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick and captain of the OHLs London Knights still recorded 13 goals and 14 assists in 24 games.
Western head coach Clarke Singer has been named the West Coach of the Year after guiding his Mustangs to a 21-2-1-0 record, which was 10 points better than the second-place team in the Far West D