With the Ron Boileau trophy as the BC Hockey’s regular season champions already on the shelf, the Coquitlam Express added more hardware on Wednesday.
Coach Jason Fortier has been awarded the Joe Tennant memorial trophy as the BC Hockey League’s coach of the year and Clay Stevenson is being recognized as its top goalie.
Fortier is in his third season behind the Express bench. He guided the team to new franchise records in wins (47) and points (96) as well as first place overall in the regular season standings.
Stevenson, 20, won 30 of the 35 games he played in Coquitlam’s net. His save percentage of .936 was the second-best in league history, as was his 1.77 goals against average.
Stevenson and back-up Jack Watson also won the Wally Forslund trophy as the league’s top goaltending duo.
But Stevenson won’t be available to the team in its playoff run as he turns 21 on March 3 and an obscure NCAA rule means playing a Junior A game after that date would cost him a year of eligibility at Dartmouth College, where he’ll be playing next season.
Port Moody’s Kent Johnson, who plays for the Trail Smoke Eaters, was named the league’s most valuable player, as well as the winner of the Bob Fenton trophy as its most sportsmanlike player.
Johnson scored 41 goals and added 60 assists to finish atop all scorers in the league while he collected only 14 minutes in penalties. He’s committed to play at the University of Michigan next season.
Other league award winners include the Smoke Eaters’ Logan Terness as rookie of the year and Akito Hirose of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks as its top defenceman.
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Read more about the award winners here:
Goalie’s 21st birthday no gift for Coquitlam Express
Despite personal loss, Clay keeps winning
Port Moody’s Johnson having a highlight-reel season in Trail
