Chris Mast

2018 DubNetwork Awards: MVP, Rookie of the Year and Goalie and Defensemen of the Year

The 2017-18 WHL regular season was a fun one for us here at DubNetwork. We expanded our staff and brought in beat writers for many of our teams. Thus when awards voting rolled around, we got a lot more diverse voting team this year.

We announced our first, second and third teams for each conference yesterday and put a poll out asking who fans thought was their MVP for each conference this year. Not surprisingly the winners for the polls were also who we picked.

We had our writers vote for three different players for each category and rank them with a one, two or three. Ranking a player first would get them three points, second would get them two and so on. Each of those listed as receiving votes either got at least one vote for first second or third.

photo courtesy Marc Smith.
(photo-Marc Smith)

Eastern Conference MVP: Jayden Halbgewachs – Moose Jaw Warriors

-Halbgewachs tied the Moose Jaw Warriors record for goals in a season with 70. This led the league by a margin of nine goals. Halbgewachs did this despite not even ranking in the top seven in the league in shots on goal. He just always seemed to finish whenever he got a half decent look on net. The San Jose Sharks prospect will be hoping to carry his Warriors on a deep playoff run. Moose Jaw has not made it to the WHL final since 2006. If they get back there this year, Halbgewachs will likely be a big reason why.

Others receiving votes (in the order of those that received the most votes): Glenn Gawdin, Aleksi Heponiemi, Tyler Steenbergen, Brayden Burke, David Quenneville, Sam Steel, Josh Mahura and Ty Lewis).

Western Conference MVP: Carter Hart – Everett Silvertips

-There was a time when people thought Hart’s numbers were as good as they were because of then head coach Kevin Constantine’s defense-first system. Those days ended a long time ago. The fact is Hart has had one of the best statistical WHL careers ever for a netminder. He tied the career shutout record this year and at times his save percentage was above 0.950. This was a number thought unheard of for the WHL – until Hart came along.

Others receiving votes (in the order of those that received the most votes): Matthew Phillips, Ty Ronning, Cody Glass, Kole Lind, Cal Foote, Dillon Dube, Dylan Ferguson, Michael Rasmussen, Jaret Anderson-Dolam, Henri Jokiharju and Zack Andrusiak.

Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year: Dylan Cozens – Lethbridge Hurricanes

-This was the closest vote we had. Cozens beat out Kootenay ICE forward Peyton Krebs by a single point. The Whitehorse, Yukon native notched nearly a point a game for the Hurricanes. When Lethbridge traded away Giorgio Estephan and Tanner Nagel out of their forward group, Cozens saw increased ice time and was an even bigger factor for the Hurricanes, despite his young age.

Cozens talking to Edmonton’s Ty Gerla (Andy Devlin/Edmonton Oil Kings)

Cozens trailed Krebs for the lead in rookie scoring by a single point, but did score five more goals than the former first overall bantam pick. Cozens even had eight power play goals and added seven assists on the man advantage.

Others receiving votes (in the order of those that received the most votes): Peyton Krebs, Kirby Dach, Nolan Maier, Chase Hartje, Max Paddock, Joel Hofer and Braden Schneider.

Western Conference Rookie of the Year: Bowen Byram – Vancouver Giants

-Byram potted six goals and tallied 21 assists for 27 points in 60 games. He also had three of those goals and six of those assists on the man advantage.

(photo by Andy Devlin)

The 16-year-old from Cranbrook, B.C. skated big minutes for the Giants and played a large share of power play and penalty kill minutes that belied his age. The six-foot, 176 pound blue liner was not easily pushed around and often was more than a match for even the most skillful forwards in the league.

Others receiving votes (in the order of those that received the most votes): Isaac Johnson, Milos Roman, Brodi Stuart, Dillon Hamaliuk, Sasha Mutala, Filip Kral, Luke Toporowski and Jake McGrew.

Eastern Conference Goalie of the Year: Stuart Skinner

Others receiving votes (in the order of those that received the most votes): Logan Flodell, Brody Willms, Logan Thompson, Nolan Maier, Nick Schneider and Ian Scott.

Western Conference Goalie of the Year: Carter Hart

Others receiving votes (in the order of those that received the most votes):Griffen Outhouse, Dylan Ferguson, Cole Kehler, David Tendeck and Patrick Dea.

Eastern Conference Defenseman of the Year: David Quenneville

Others receiving votes (in the order of those that received the most votes): Colby Sissons, Kale Clague, Josh Mahura, Cale Fleury, Calen Addison, Libor Hajek, Evan Fiala, Alexander Alexeyev, James Shearer, Ty Prefontaine, Vojtech Budik, Josh Brook, Brandon Schuldhaus, Artyom Minulin and Martin Bodak.

Juuso Valimaki (Dayna Fjord)

Western Conference Defenseman of the Year: Juuso Vålimåki

Others receiving votes (in the order of those that received the most votes): Cal Foote, Henri Jokiharju, Ty Smith, Dennis Cholowski, Jake Bean, Austin Strand, Turner Ottenbreit, Dylan Coghlan, Kevin Davis, Ondrej Vala, Joe Gatenby and Jake Christiansen.