North American Hockey League

NAHL Announces 2006-07 Award Winners

The North American Hockey League announced its individual awards winners for the 2006-07 season, as well the All-NAHL First Team, Second Team and All-Rookie Team, as voted on by the league’s coaches.

St. Louis Bandits forward Pat Maroon was named the NAHL/Sherwood Most Valuable Player. The 19-year-old from St. Louis led the NAHL in scoring this season with 40 goals for 95 points. Maroon, a Ferris State University recruit, is also on the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau’s final rankings for 2007 draft-eligibles. Maroon was also named to the All-NAHL First Team.

Bandits goaltender Pat Nagle was voted the NAHL Rookie of the Year. In 24 appearances, the 19-year-old Ferris State recruit from Bloomfield, Mich., fashioned a 24-8-4 record to compliment a 2.28 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Nagle was also named to the All-NAHL Second Team.

Mahoning Valley head coach Bob Mainhardt was named NAHL Coach of the Year. He guided the Phantoms to a league-best 47-14-1 record and a berth to the Robertson Cup Championship. The Phantoms also boast nine Division I college commitments, tied for the most in the NAHL with St. Louis.

General Manager of the Year honors went to Alpena IceDiggers head coach and general manager Kenny Miller. After winning all of 13 games last year, Miller was the architect behind a 24-win turnaround this season, leading the IceDiggers to a second-place finish in the North Division. In addition, four of his players have made commitments to Division I programs.

Alexandria Blizzard forward Eric Borre, 20, was honored with the league’s Community Service Award. Borre, from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., initiated the team’s “Neighborhood Table” project, a nonprofit community meal program.

The Academic Achievement Award was presented to Traverse City North Stars forward Kory Kaunisto. Holding a perfect 4.0 GPA, Kaunisto is in the top 1 percent of his class at Traverse City Central High School. With a full scholarship to Northern Michigan University in hand, Kaunisto is also a longstanding member of the National Honor Society.

“The entire North American Hockey League family congratulates all of the deserving award winners,” said NAHL commissioner Mark Frankenfeld. “These individuals make our league the best in North America.”

All-NAHL First Team

G – Ryan Zapolski, Mahoning Valley Phantoms
D – Jeff Dimmen, St. Louis Bandits
D - Jeff Carlson, Southern Minnesota Express
F – Pat Maroon, St. Louis Bandits
F – Kyle Schmidt, Fairbanks Ice Dogs
F – Dustin Cloutier, Mahoning Valley Phantoms

All-NAHL Second Team

G – Pat Nagle, St. Louis Bandits
D – Nick Von Bokern, Traverse City North Stars
D – Scooter Vaughan, St. Louis Bandits
F – Jesse Echternach, Fargo-Moorhead Jets
F – Todd Rudasill, Alpena IceDiggers
F – Tibor Kutalek, Santa Fe RoadRunners

All-Rookie Team

G – Pat Nagle, St. Louis Bandits
D – Scooter Vaughan, St. Louis Bandits
D – Tom Kleidon, Santa Fe RoadRunners
F – Ryan Kretzer, Springfield Jr. Blues
F – Andy Inderieden, Southern Minnesota Express
F – Derek Graham, Mahoning Valley Phantoms
F – Andy McCabe, Fairbanks Ice Dogs

Sherwood MVP:

Pat Maroon, St. Louis Bandits

Rookie of the Year:

Pat Nagle, St. Louis Bandits

Coach of the Year:

Bob Mainhardt, Mahoning Valley Phantoms

General Manager of the Year:

Kenny Miller, Alpena IceDiggers

Community Service Award:

Eric Borre, Alexandria Blizzard

Academic Achievement Award:

Kory Kaunisto, Traverse City North Stars

NAHL Announces 2005-06 Award Winners

The North American Hockey League has announced it’s year end awards for the 2005-06 season. The announcement was made by NAHL commissioner and president Michael Santos at the Banquet of Champions in Boardman, Ohio on Tuesday, May 9, on the eve of the Robertson Cup Championship Tournament.

The following are the winners:

Most Valuable Player

Matt Dalton, Bozeman Icedogs. Dalton set new league records for goaltenders, with a 1.63 goals against average, a .940 save percentage and nine shutouts. He allowed only 63 goals in 39 games. In winning 33 of the Icedogs league-leading 48 victories, he backstopped Bozeman to the NAHL’s regular season championship.

Rookie of the Year

Eric Kattelus, Bismarck Bobcats. Kattelus lead all NAHL rookies in goals (35) and scoring (75 points) and was second in assists (40). His six game- winning goals represented the second best total by a rookie. Overall, Kattelus ranked third in NAHL scoring and third in goals. He also lead Bismarck in scoring this season.

Coach of the Year

John LaFontaine, Bozeman Icedogs. LaFontaine piloted Bozeman to a 48-9-1 record, which equaled the league record for wins in a season. Thir accomplishments included the NAHL Showcase championship, the division championship and the NAHL regular season championship. The had winning streaks of 20 games (24 games in which they earned at least one point), 12 games and seven games during the season.

Academic Achievement Award

Brett Blatchford, Texas Tornado. Blatchford graduated high school with a 3.5 GPA, was a regular on the honor roll and a member of the National Honor Society. He scored a 1,280 on his SATs. He announced he will be attending Notre Dame University in the Fall of 2005 and took three college courses during the season in preparation for Notre Dame, achieving a 4.0 average. He did this while being captain of the Tornado and leading all NAHL defensemen in scoring.

Community Service Award

Chris McKelvie, Bozeman Icedogs. McKelvie has been extremely active with special needs children, especially Special Olympics Montana, visiting them at their schools and hosting them at the Valley Ice Garden arena. He also regularly visited public schools, assisting with reading programs. He organized a Bible study group and has also done some volunteer ranching in the Bozeman area, all while engaging in the many other community service efforts engaged in by the entire Icedogs team, which he served as co-captain this season.

All-Star and All-Rookie Teams

NAHL All-Star First Team

GOAL: Matt Dalton, Bozeman
DEFENSE: Brett Blatchford, Texas
DEFENSE: Graham McManamin, Bozeman
FORWARD: Carter Camper, Cleveland
FORWARD: Phil Fox, Fargo-Moorhead
FORWARD: Josh Heidinger, Bozeman

NAHL All-Star Second Team

GOAL: Riley Gill, Texarkana
DEFENSE: Brandon Johnson, Santa Fe
DEFENSE: Justin Johnson, Texarkana
FORWARD: Casey Haines, Texarkana
FORWARD: Marc Menzione, Mahoning Valley
FORWARD: Karl Sellan, Texas

NAHL All-Rookie Team

GOAL: Matt Dalton, Bozeman
DEFENSE: Davide Nicoletti, Springfield
DEFENSE: Dennis Urban, Mahoning Valley
FORWARD: Pat Maroon, Texarkana
FORWARD: Eric Kattelus, Bismarck
FORWARD: Tibor Kutalek, Helena

2004-2005 NAHL Award Winners

The North American Hockey League announced its post season awards on Thursday, April 28, 2005 at the Banquet of Champions in Bismarck, North Dakota. The announcment was made by NAHL commissioner Michael Santos, who said, “We congratulate each of our winners, who represent what is best about our league and have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the goals of Junior A hockey.

Jason Kearney, Soo Indians, MVP

Jason Kearney, goaltender for the Soo Indians, has been selected as the North American Hockey League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2004-05 season. Kearney’s play sparked a turnaround in the fortunes of the Soo Indians after he was acquired from the Texarkana Bandits in November. The Indians had stumbled out of the gate with a 2-7-1 mark, which they brought to 7-9-2 thanks to a good performance at the NAHL Showcase against the EJHL. Still, something was lacking and that something was Jason Kearney. From the time he joined the Indians in late November, the club went on a tear that took them to the top of the North Division, although they were eventually overtaken for first place by the U.S. National team. But the Indians’ meteoric rise in the North would have been unthinkable without Kearney. In goal for the Soo, he posted a 24-8-3 record with a league-leading six shutouts. His 1.82 goals against average led the NAHL and his .922 save percentage trailed only the .923 mark of Bozeman’s Matt Cleveland’s (who played 13 fewer games). Kearney’s outstanding play was also recognized by the NAHL coaches who selected him as the First Team All-Star goaltender for this season. He was also named as the MVP of the NAHL’s mid-season All-Star Game. No player in the NAHL was more valuable to his club this season than Jason Kearney was to the Soo Indians.

Matt Taormina, Texarkana Bandits, Rookie of the Year

Matt Taormina of the Texarkana Bandits has been selected as the NAHL Rookie of the Year for the 2004-05 season. The 5-foot-10, 183 pound defenseman stepped right into the Bandits lineup and became and impact player for the club, which challenged the Texas Tornado for first overall this season. A Native of Washington Township, Michigan, Taormina was second in scoring among all NAHL defensemen this season and fifth in team scoring with 14 goals and 30 assists for 44 points. He played a regular shift, on all special teams situations. With the man advantage, he ranked fifth among all NAHL defensemen in power play goals and he was such a threat as a penalty killer that he led the all NAHL defensemen in shorthanded goals, with five, a number that was second among all NAHL players. He was the only rookie to get an All-Star selection, being named to the second All-Star Team. He was also selected to the NAHL All-Rookie team.

Jon Cooper, Texarkana Bandits, Coach of the Year

Jon Cooper of the Texarkana Bandits has been named NAHL Coach of the Year. In his second season at the helm of the Bandits, Cooper’s team improved their record by 15 points over his first season, finishing second overall in the league and challenging the first overall Texas Tornado for the top spot for a good portion of the season. He did this despite losing a number of key players over the summer. The previous season, Cooper also guided the Bandits into the NAHL playoffs, the only expansion club last year to make the post season. He has a history of coaching achievement, He previously led the Honeybaked Midget AAA team in Oak Park, Michigan. His squad, ranked #1 in the country by US Hockey News, finished the 2002-03 season 60-7-7 and had more wins than any other midget team in the U.S. Before he took the helm in Honeybaked, Cooper was head coach of the Metro Jets in the Central States Hockey League, whom he guided to the Junior B National Championship in 2002. He was also an assistant coach of the Capital Centre Pride in the NAHL, and earned the title “Lansing State Journal Coach of the Year” in 1999 when he led Lansing Catholic Central to their fifth regional hockey title in 25 years.

Tom O’Brien, Youngstown Phantoms, Academic Achievement Award

Tom O’Brien of the Youngstown Phantoms is winner of the ANHL Academic Achievement Award for the 2004-05 season. Atom carried a perfect 4.6 grade point average in all advanced college placement classes. He achieved a 1540 score on his SATs this year and has received an academic scholarship from Notre Dame University.

R.G. Flath, Soo Indians, Community Service Award

R. G. Flath is the winner of the NAHL Community Service Award for the 2004-05 season. A four year member of the Soo Indians, Flath has demonstrated outstanding leadership and citizenship as part of a Soo club that has long been more than just a hockey team, but also a community service organization. On a team that, as a whole, accumulated over 1,200 hours of community service this season -- an average of over 50 hours per player -- R.G. contributed twice as many hours as the average. The list of his activities is extensive: He participated in four United Way/Soo Indians Benefit Spaghetti Dinners, worked at Sault, Michigan, Hockey Association Tournaments, the United Way Chili Cook-offs, the Halloween Community Hunted Houses, Valentine’s Day activities with local long-term care patients, as well as countless others, Typical of the Soo captain’s involvement was his work in the Indians March Reading Month activities. R.G. single-handedly organized the entire club -- all the members of the Indians organization visited eight elementary schools and over 30 classrooms to emphasize to the children in the community the importance of reading. As part of the program, each classroom was entered into a drawing to win a pizza party and a skate with the team and R.G. was responsible for working with local businesses to acquire the donations of the pizza, drinks and ice time. R.G. also volunteered each Tuesday and Thursday mornings for the pre-school “Learn to Skate” program at Pullar Stadium in Sault Ste. Marie. R.G. is clearly a leader for his teammates as well as local youth, and has proven to be an excellent role model. He is also a deserving winner of this season’s NAHL Community Service Award.

Last week, the North American Hockey League announced its post-season First and Second All-Star Team and the All-Rookie Team for the 2004-05 season. The teams were selected by the coaches of the NAHL teams.

First All-Star Team

Goal

Jason Kearney, Soo Indians

Defense

Nick Biondo, Cleveland Barons
Bryan Plaszcz, Santa Fe Roadrunners

Forward

Brad Cooper, Texas Tornado
Pat Lee, Springfield Jr. Blues
Brandon Marino, Helena Bighorns

Kearney, from Gibsonia Pennsylvania, posted a 1.82 goals against average, which led the NAHL, and his .922 save percentage ranked second.

Biondo, from Cleveland, Ohio, was the leading scorer among defenseman in the league with 21 goals and 35 assists and he also led his team in scoring.

Plaszcz, from Apple Valley Minnesota, with 11 goals and 18 assists was eighth in scoring among NAHL defenseman and tied Biondo for the lead in power play goals with six.

Cooper, from Dallas, Texas, was the NAHL’s leading scorer, with 28 goals and a league-best 60 assists.

Lee, from Schaumburg, Illinois, tied for second in goals with 33 and was fourth in scoring with 76 points

Marino, from Riversdale, California, tied for ninth in scoring with 63 points and lead the NAHL with nine game winning goals.

Second All-Star Team

Goal

Riley Gill, Texarkana Bandits

Defense

Sean Erickson, Springfield Spirit
Mathew Taormina, Texarkana Bandits

Forward

Pat Galivan, Texarkana Bandits
Rob Rassey, Youngstown Phantoms
Karl Sellan, Texas Tornado

Gill, from Northfield, Minnesota, was fourth in goals against with a 2.58 average, third in victories with 26 and tied for second in shutouts with five.

Erickson, from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, led his team in scoring and was eighth among NAHL defenseman with eight goals and 22 assists.

Taormina, from Washington Township, Michigan, tied for second in scoring among all defensemen with 44 points and led the league in shorthanded goals with five.

Galivan, from Oak Park, Illinois, was 11th in league scoring and led his team and with 30 goals and 32 assists.

Rassey, from Shelby Township, Michigan, tied for second in the league with 43 assists, was fifth in league scoring and led his team with 72 points.

Sellan, from Montreal, Quebec, led the league in goals with 43 and was second in league scoring with 83 points.

All-Rookie Team

Goal

Ben Bishop, Texas

Defense

Mathew Taormina, Texarkana Bandits
Chris Berenguer, Santa Fe Roadrunners

Forward

Mike Davies, Springfield Jr. Blues
Shane Wheeler, Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Ray Kaunisto, Soo Indians

Bishop, from St. Louis, Missouri, led the league in wins with 35 and was second in goals against with a 1.93 average.

Taormina, from Washington Township, Michigan, was second among all NAHL defensemen in goals with 14 and game winning goals with three.

Berenguer, from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, played a solid two-way game, notching six goals and 17 assists to go along with fine defensive play.

Davies, from Chesterfield, Missouri, led all rookies in scoring with 30 goals and 27 assists, which was 16th among all players in the NAHL.

Wheeler, from Eagle River, Alaska, led his team in scoring and was 18th in the league with 28 goals and 28 assists, despite being one of the smallest players in the NAHL.

Kaunisto, from Sault. Ste Marie, Michigan, was second on his team in scoring with 20 goals and 20 assists.

Individual NAHL award winners (Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Community Service Award and Academic Achievement Award) will be announced on Thursday, April 28, at the Banquet of Champions during the NAHL Robertson Cup / USA Hockey Gold Cup Championships in Bismarck, North Dakota.

In addition, three NAHL players are among the nominees for USA Hockey’s Junior Player of the Year. They are Ben Bishop of the Texas Tornado, Sean Erickson of the Springfield Spirit, Riley Gill of the Texarkana and Jason Kearney of the Soo Indians.