The Alberta Junior Hockey League, in partnership with RBC, are proud to announce the winners of the AJHL Scoring Champion and Top Team Goaltenders Award. Brooks Bandits forward Austin Plevy is the winner of the Ernie Love Trophy as the 2014-2015 AJHL Scoring Champion with 92 points. Spruce Grove Saints Goaltenders Brett Zarowny and Matthew Murray are the recipients of the 2014-2015 Reebok / CCM Top Team Goaltenders Award.
AJHL Scoring Champion – Ernie Love Trophy
Austin Plevy (Langley, BC) scored 29 goals, a league leading 63 assists, and 92 points in 56 games played. Plevy averaged 1.6 points per game, including 34 powerplay assists and 8 game winning goals. He also enjoyed two 10-game point streaks along the way to capturing the Scoring Champion Title. Three Bandits players finished the regular season amongst the Top 10 AJHL Scorers.
Plevy played in the BCHL prior to joining the Bandits as an Assistant Captain at the 2014 Trade Deadline. The 20 year-old was the Alberta Dodge Dealers AJHL Player of the Month for November 2014 and the Canalta Hotels AJHL Player of the Week twice in 2014-2015. Plevy was also selected as the Viterra AJHL Player of the Game 14 times in the AJHL regular season.
Austin Plevy was a finalist for the 2014-2015 AJHL Most Valuable Player Award. He has committed to play for the University of Massachusetts (NCAA Division I) in 2015-2016.
The co-recipients of the 2013-2014 Ernie Love Trophy were Spencer Dorowicz (Olds Grizzlys) and Colten Mayor (Whitecourt Wolerines) with 75 points.
Top Team Goaltenders – Reebok / CCM Top Team Goaltenders Award
The winner of the 2014-2015 Reebok / CCM Top Team Goaltenders Award are teammates Brett Zarowny and Matthew Murray of the Spruce Grove Saints with a 2.02 GAA. The Top Team Goaltenders award is presented annually to the goaltenders of the team with the lowest goals against average (GAA) in the regular season. The Saints recorded 7 shutouts and allowed only 121 goals against, the lowest goals allowed in the AJHL.
Rookie Matthew Murray (St Albert, AB) led all AJHL goaltenders with a 1.73 GAA, followed by Brett Zarowny (Elk Point, AB) with a 1.95 GAA in 2nd place overall. 17 year-old Murray and 19 year-old Zarowny were also among the Top 5 AJHL Goaltenders with a .920 and .918 save percentage respectively. Zarowny was selected as the Canalta Hotels AJHL Player of the Week in January 2015 and was awarded the Viterra AJHL Player of the Game Award four times in the regular season.
Tanner Jaillet and Jesse Gordichuk of the Fort McMurray Oil Barons were the recipients of the 2013-2014 Reebok / CCM Top Team Goaltenders Award with a 2.06 GAA.
Regular Season Champion – Dave Duchak Trophy
The Spruce Grove Saints are winners of the Dave Duchak Trophy as the AJHL Regular Season Champions for a second consecutive season with a record of 48-7-5 and 101 points. AJHL Vice-President, Fran Gow, presented the Saints with the award at a special pre-game ceremony prior to tonight’s game in Spruce Grove. The annual award was named after David Duchak, who was the first Commissioner of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
The Saints have captured the regular season title in five of the last seven years. The Saints held a dominant lead in the Viterra AJHL North Division Standings throughout the regular season and were ranked amongst the leaders of the CJHL Top 20 Weekly Rankings consistently. The Saints led the league with 254 Goals For and 121 Goals Against as well as Fewest Losses (7).
For a second consecutive year, Jason McKee was selected as the AJHL Coach of the Year. McKee has been a finalist of the award for four straight years (2012-2015) and becomes the fourth coach in AJHL history to win the award in back to back seasons. The Saints finished the season with the best overall record in the AJHL for the third time in McKee’s reign as Head Coach. Four members of the 2014-2015 Spruce Grove Saints were finalists for AJHL League Awards.
By securing 1st place in the Viterra AJHL North Division, the Saints have guaranteed themselves a first round bye in the 2015 AJHL Gas Drive Playoffs.
Dave Duchak Trophy (10 year history)
- 2005-2006 — Fort McMurray Oil Barons (40 wins, 14 losses, 2 ties, 4 overtime losses)
- 2006-2007 — Fort Saskatchewan Traders (45 wins, 11 losses, 0 ties, 4 overtime losses)
- 2007-2008 — Camrose Kodiaks (49 wins, 8 losses, 0 ties, 5 overtime losses)
- 2008-2009 — Spruce Grove Saints (46 wins, 7 losses, 4 ties, 5 overtime losses)
- 2009-2010 – Spruce Grove Saints (52 wins, 4 losses, 1 tie, 3 overtime losses)
- 2010-2011 – Spruce Grove Saints (48 wins, 8 losses, 4 overtime losses)
- 2011-2012 – Brooks Bandits (47wins, 7 losses, 6 overtime losses)
- 2012-2013 – Brooks Bandits (53 wins, 4 losses, 3 overtime losses)
- 2013-2014 – Spruce Grove Saints (47 wins, 10 losses, 3 overtime losses)
- 2014-2015 – Spruce Grove Saints (48 wins, 7 losses, 5 overtime losses)
A complete 2015 AJHL Gas Drive Cup Playoff Schedule will soon be available on the AJHL website www.AJHL.ca. The Round One Divisional Best-of-Five Series will begin on March 4th & 5th. The top seven teams in each division qualify for the AJHL Playoffs with the highest ranked seed awarded home ice advantage. Round Two will commence on Friday, March 13th.