AMHL awards
A trio of St. Albert Nektar Raiders were recognized by the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League after one of the most successful seasons in team history.
Head coach Jack Redlick was selected the Glen Sather Coach of the Year, netminder Evan Fradette was named the playoff MVP and forward Carson Henry was the team’s $2,500 AMHL scholarship winner.
The Coach of the Year Award was introduced in 1988-89 and Redlick is the first Raider to be honoured.
The third-year bench boss guided the Raiders to the first Mac’s Cup championship in team history during a 19-11-4 (116 GF/92 GA) regular season as the top north division team. The previous north pennant for the Raiders was 2010 as the co-recipients with Lloydminster Bobcats at 23-6-6.
The Raiders also qualified for their first provincial final since 2012.
In the playoffs, the Raiders rallied from two overtime losses to the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers to win the best-of-five north final.
The Raiders finished the playoffs at 6-5 (37 GF/28 GA) after the Calgary Buffaloes swept the best-of-five provincial final.
Five playoffs games for the Raiders were decided in overtime, including a pair against the Buffaloes to start off the final while going 1-4 overall in sudden death.
Fradette, the MVP and top netminder at the Mac’s Cup, is also the first Raider picked as the most valuable playoff performer in the award’s 18-year history.
Fradette started all 11 playoff games for the Raiders and led all netminders in the playoffs in minutes played (692), ranked second in saves (329) and was third in goals-against average (2.17) while going 6-5 with one shutout and .929 save percentage.
Henry, an assistant captain and one of four returning players on the roster, produced seven goals and 19 points in 34 games and in the playoffs posted two goals and eight points in 11 games.
As for the midget AAA Raiders Club awards, the recipients are as follows:
Fradette: Defensive Player of the Year.
Eric Perneel: Offensive Player of the Year.
Brady Nicholas: R.A.I.D.E.R.S Award.
Matt Offenberger: Raiders Male Scholarship.
Jaxon Dube: Logan Hunter Memorial Scholarship.
Also, the Raiders 5 Year Award winners included Fradette, Henry, Nicholas (all-time games played at 81), Offenberger and Logan McKinley.
Boston Marathon
A pair of St. Albert runners were among the 26,632 finishers at the 123rd Boston Marathon.
Maureen Dwyer was the 7,205th female and Gerhard Jacobs was the 9,145th male to complete Monday’s race on Patriots’ Day.
Dwyer’s time was four hours, six minutes and 54 seconds for 18,008th overall.
Dwyer, 52, also placed 573rd in the 50 to 54 age division.
Jacobs was clocked at 3:47:42 for 13,896th overall.
Jacobs, 46, was ranked 1,678th in the 45 to 49 age division.
The total number of finishers was 14,662 males and 11,970 females.
Cheer provincials
The Paul Kane Blues pulled off a spirited performance at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association cheerleading championships last weekend in Airdrie.
Paul Kane was awarded silver in the game day competition and finished fifth in the co-ed division.
In game day, Paul Kane’s point total was 69.85, compared to 71.00 for the gold-medal winning Morinville Wolves.
The cheer teams in game day have to learn four different routines – time-out cheer, band dance, defence cheer and offence cheer – but can only compete three at a time. The teams find out which three routines and in what order they will be performing upon arrival for warm-up, so the athletes need to know their routines and must be flexible enough to move between any combination of them. This differs from the traditional routine where it’s pre-choreographed.
In game day, there is an announcer who calls plays as if the team cheer team was cheering at a football game and the athletes must listen and respond to these audio clues.
Paul Kane was also marked at 86.81 in co-ed and the winner was the Oscar Romero Ravens at 94.01.
Paul Kane qualified for provincials at last month’s metro Edmonton zones as one of two wild cards in co-ed after placing fourth and in game day was the runner-up by seven points to the Lillian Osborne Legends.
The Legends placed third in game day at provincials at 64.50.
Morinville was also the silver medallist in the senior high advanced division with 90.45 points, compared to the 91.20 points for the Victoria School of the Arts winners.
Wrestling results
A pair of St. Albert wrestlers pounded the mats at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association championships last month in Stony Plain.
Deanna Eastman of the Paul Kane Blues was the bronze medallist in the female 75-kilogram division and Donovan Bovair of the Bellerose Bulldogs finished fifth in the male 62-kg division.
At the metro Edmonton zones, Eastman and Taylor Borschneck of Bellerose placed first and second, respectively, in the 75-kg division and Bovair was the 62-kg runner-up.
Also competing in the male division at zones were Declan Cayanga of Paul Kane, fourth in 74 kg, Ethan Doherty of Bellerose, fourth in 59 kg, and Kane Larson, sixth in 90 kg.
Kids of Steel
Online registrations close June 3 for the 28th annual St. Albert Kids of Steel Triathlon.
The June 9 competition at Fountain Park Recreation Centre is hosted by the St. Albert Triathlon Association.
Athletes between four and 19 years old can participate as an individual or as a team on a swim-bike-run course varying in distance according to age group.
The youth/junior/U21 triathlon is also a draft legal race for athletes 14 to 24 years old.
Visit www.zone4.ca to register.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Wietske at [email protected] or visit www.stalbertkidsofsteel.com.
