RBC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
SGEU MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
SASKTEL TOP GOALTENDER
Rayce Ramsay, Humboldt Broncos
The Directwest commitment to the University of Toronto of USports continues to add to his accolades after his remarkable season yielded an SJHL single-campaign record 41 wins, a feat the Saskatoon native was able to accomplish in 50 starts. Ramsay’s goals-against average of 1.98 and save percentage of .930 were tops in the league among true starters, and his minutes played were a full 388 more than his closest competitor.
A 2001-born goaltender, Ramsay broke into the league as a 17-year-old with the Broncos in the 18-19 SJHL season and would parlay that earned spot into a full season in the Western Hockey League in 19-20 with the Kamloops Blazers. The now-21-year-old elected to return to Humboldt for his final junior season and has not skipped a beat, helping to lead Humboldt to the No. 2 seed in the league and a Top 20 ranking in Canada throughout the campaign.
RBC TOP FORWARD
DIRECTWEST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
SJHL TOP SCORER
Connor McGrath, Humboldt Broncos
A Directwest commit to Ferris State University (NCAA Div 1) and listed as the 128th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting ahead of the 2022 National Hockey League draft, McGrath has been dominant this year from the start. The SJHL’s leading scorer with 84 points in 56 games, the 2003-born sniper had the two-longest point-scoring streaks during the regular campaign, with a 14-game heater from late November to mid-January, and a 12-gamer from late October to mid-November.
From LeRoy, SK, a town 20 minutes from Humboldt, McGrath was dealt from the Weyburn Red Wings to his near-hometown club in the last off-season. An alumnus of the Humboldt Broncos minor hockey system, he also spent time with the CSSHL’s Prairie Hockey Academy of Caronport, SK, and the Moose Jaw Warriors U18AAA in the Saskatchewan U18 provincial league.
McGrath’s 22 power-play assists and 33 power-play points were both tops in the league, while his points, assists, and game-winning goals totals were the most among SJHL rookies.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS TOP DEFENSEMAN
Xavier Lapointe, Flin Flon Bombers
The Directwest Commit to NCAA Division I Rochester Institute of Technology dominated the SJHL from the start this year, ending up with 19 goals and 50 points – both the best in the league among defencemen – while playing in all 58 games on the Bombers’ back end. A 2002-born native of Quebec City, QC, Lapointe joined the Bombers from Janesville Jets of the North American Hockey League ahead of the season and was a key reason why Flin Flon held the best goal differential in the Sherwood in 21-22 at plus-48.
Before his time with the Bombers and Jets, Lapointe played prep school hockey in Nova Scotia with Newbridge Academy in Dartmouth. The fleet-footed two-way defender plans to attend R.I.T. next year.
SGEU MOST SPORTSMANLIKE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ryland McNinch, Battlefords North Stars
The Captain of the Battlefords North Stars helped lead his team back into the playoffs for the final season of his SJHL career. McNinch had career highs in every category with 17 goals and 25 assists, amounting to 42 points in just 52 games this season. The 6’0 180lbs forward also brought a physical element to his game, and yet remained extremely discipline, with just 20 PIMS throughout the whole year.
The Turtleford, Saskatchewan product has committed to Red Deer Polytechnic (ACAC) for the 2022/23 season.
SCSA (Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association) COACH OF THE YEAR
Brayden Klimosko, Battlefords North Stars
The SJHL-championship coach the last time there was a winner in the 2018-19 campaign, Klimosko’s Stars were the best team in the league before the pandemic shut it down in 2019-2020. Working with an almost entirely rebuilt club this season, the young and plucky Stars still managed 35 wins, and a fourth-seed heading into the post-season under the tutelage of Klimosko, and without the same star-power as the teams around them in the standings.
The list of players who have vastly improved under Klimosko is large, and his reputation as a competitive yet supremely classy individual is solidified and clear throughout the SJHL.
A Humboldt native, and a beloved alumnus of his hometown team, his team is routinely one of, if not the hardest playing and competing groups in the SJHL, all the while the respect and friendliness Brayden and his assistant Gary Childerhose show wherever they go is a credit to the Battlefords organization, and the league as a whole.
