CJHL Selects Finalists for Top Goaltender Award

The Canadian Junior Hockey League announced today the five finalists for the 2012-2013 Top Goaltender Award. The award will recognize the most outstanding goaltender in the CJHL based on individual performance in the regular season and will mark the first time a CJHL goaltender has been crowned as the national winner.

The five finalists for the Top Goaltender honour represent the BCHL, LHJAAAQ, OJHL, SIJHL and SJHL as listed below:

Paul Jr. Bourbeau, Collège Français de Longueuil, LHJAAAQ (39 GP, 30 W, 6L, 4 SO, .910 SV%, 2.42 GAA)
Paul Jr. Bourbeau was awarded LHJAAAQ Player of the Year. During the 2012-2013 regular season, Bourbeau led the league in all goaltending departments and received trophies for best goals against average, most wins, most shutouts and best save percentage. He was also selected to the LHJAAAQ All-Star Team.

Gordy Defiel, Minnesota Wilderness, SIJHL (28 GP, 25 W, 1 L, 2 SOL, 8 SO, 1.39 GAA, .945 SV%)
Gordy Defiel posted a 25-1-2 record while leading all SIJHL netminders in wins, goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts. Defiel's goals against average and save percentage also set SIJHL single season records and led the entire Canadian Junior Hockey League while finishing tied for first nationally in shutouts.

Charlie Finn, Kingston Voyageurs, OJHL (39 GP, 25 W, 10 L, 4 SOL, 8 SO, 2.15 GAA, .941 SV%)
Charlie Finn dominated the OJHL statistically, topping many of the goaltending categories including goals against average, save percentage and shutouts. He was awarded his second OJHL Top Goaltender Award and was named a 1st Team All-Star in 2012-2013. Charlie was the starting goalie for Team Canada East at the 2012 World Junior 'A' Challenge and would also be selected to play for the OJHL East Division All-Stars at the 2012 Central Canada Cup. Finn is committed to join the Colgate University Raiders next season.

Matt Hrynkiw, Humboldt Broncos, SJHL (40 GP, 27 W, 11 L, 2 SOL, 6 SO, 1.83 GAA, 0.939 SV%)
Matt Hrynkiw was named the SJHL Goaltender of the Year on the strength of 27 wins, 6 shutouts and a 1.83 goals against average. Hrynkiw led the SJHL in goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts and was second in wins.

Michael Santiguida, Surrey Eagles, BCHL (42 GP, 29 W, 10 L, 3 T, 2 SO, 2.28 GAA, .933 SV%)
In 42 appearances, Michael posted a record of 29-10-3 with a goals against average of 2.28 and a save percentage of .933 with 2 shutouts. His wins, GAA and save percentage all led the league. Michael earned a spot on the 2012-2013 BCHL All-Rookie team.

Each of the 10 leagues in the CJHL nominated a candidate for the CJHL Top Goaltender Award. The first stage of the selection process saw representatives from all 10 Junior A leagues rank their top five players from among the 10 national nominees. Rankings were then assigned a point value and the five players with the highest point total move on as finalists to the final round of voting.

Congratulations to the following honourable mentions for the CJHL Top Goaltender Award:

  • Shayne Campbell, Truro Bearcats, MHL
  • Greg Dodds, North Bay Trappers, NOJHL
  • Carmine Guerriero, Hawkesbury Hawks, CCHL
  • Adam Iwan, Portage Terriers, MJHL
  • Nick Kulmanovsky, Grande Prairie Storm, AJHL

 

In February 2013, the Canadian Junior Hockey League announced that it will recognize the best Junior A talent from across all 10 Junior A leagues with a new suite of national awards. The new CJHL awards include Most Valuable Player, Top Forward, Top Defenceman, Top Goaltender and Rookie of the Year. Every Junior A league in the CJHL has submitted a nominee for each award and the winner will be chosen from among those 10 national nominees.

The Top 5 finalists for the CJHL player awards will be announced over the week of April 22nd-26th, followed by the announcements of the award winners during the week of May 6th-10th.