The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has handed out its divisional awards for the 2021-2022 season.
Each division – the Sherwood, the Global Ag Risk Solutions, and the Viterra – recognized its respective Most Valuable Player, Top Forward, Top Defenceman, Top Goaltender, and Top Rookie over the past few weeks as voted on by the coaches.
Now, the Sherwood Division.
SGEU Most Valuable Player / SaskTel Top Goaltender – Cal Schell, Flin Flon Bombers
The Burlington, Ont. native went 25-12-1-1 on the year with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage, to go with a Flin Flon Bombers’ record and league-high seven shutouts. A 2001-birth year, he was responsible for all but nine of the Bombers’ regular-season victories and has played every minute in the post-season thus far.
His 2,380 regular-season minutes were also the most of any goaltender in the Sherwood.
Schell joined the Bombers during the 2020-2021 season after spending time with the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League, and the Hamilton Kilty B’s in the Greater Ontario Junior B Hockey League.
RBC Top Forward – Brandon Della Paolera, La Ronge Ice Wolves
A 20-year-old from Osoyoos, BC, Della Paolera scored 18 goals and added 38 assists while playing in all 58 regular-season contests for the Wolves this year. A 6-foot-2, 185-power forward, he joined La Ronge in 2020-2021 after two campaigns with his hometown Junior B Coyotes of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
Della Paolera’s 38 assists were the most, and his 22 power-play points were the second-most in the division over the regular season.
He also appeared in two games for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the BCHL in 19-20.
Mayfair Diagnostics Top Defenceman – 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.
Directwest Top Rookie – Jeremi Tremblay, Flin Flon Bombers
Although his regular season was cut short by illness, the Directwest commitment to NCAA Division I Sacred Heart University still managed to post an impressive 16 goals and 35 points in 37 contests in his first-ever junior campaign.
A 6-foot, 187-pound power forward from Quebec City, QC, Tremblay led the Bombers in game-winning goals with four and scored the most goals of any rookie in the division despite missing 21 games.
Before joining the Bombers, Tremblay played prep hockey in Ontario for the TRC Hockey Academy and New Hampshire for the Holderness School.
