Merritt Centennials garner prestigious divisional awards from KIJHL

Three members of the Merritt Centennials are the recipients of the Bill Ohlhausen Division Awards for Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and the newly created General Manager of the year in the KIJHL.

Sam Giangualano, was chosen the divisional “Rookie Of The Year Award” while Wes McLeod was named the division’s Coach of the Year.

Cents General Manager Brad Anstey was named General Manage of the Year in the division.

Giangualano has been the Centennials top point producer since the Cents joined the league this season. He scored the franchise first goal in their inaugural season and tallied 25 goals and 28  for 53 points in 41 games. Sammy G. as fans have come to know him as has also scored four game winning goals this season as well as contributing 15 powerplay points. He finished the season 11th in league scoring in his rookie campaign.

Head coach Wes McLeod led the expansion Centennials to the seventh best record (26-13-3-2 for 57 points in 44 games) in the KIJHL. Under the rookie bench boss, the Centennials allowed the fifth fewest goals with 122. The Cents scored the first goal 26 times and their record was 19-5-1-1 when they did. They are 13-8-1-2 in their own division. On special teams, the Centennials had the fifth best penalty-kill at 85.3 per cent (31-for-211).

Finally, Brad Anstey constructed an expansion team with input from head coach and assistant general manager Wes McLeod that finished seventh overall with a 26-13-3-2 and qualified for the KIJHL Teck Cup playoffs in its first season. They went 15-5-1-2 in the final half.

The KIJHL League Awards will be handed out later this month.

The complete list of Bill Ohlhausen Division winners are as follows:

• Most Valuable Player – Tyson Horiachka, Princeton Posse
• Top Scorer – Matthew Langdon, Princeton Posse
• Top Defenceman – Grady Sterling-Ponech, Princeton Posse
• Top Goaltender – Kael Svenson, Sicamous Eagles
• Most Sportsmanlike Player – Scott Dyck, Osoyoos Coyotes
• Rookie of the Year – Sam Giangualano, Merritt Centennials
• Coach of the Year – Wes McLeod, Merritt Centennials
• General Manager of the Year – Brad Anstey, Merritt Centennials