The Whitecourt Wolverines have captured the Dave Duchak Trophy as the Alberta Junior Hockey League Regular Season Champions for the first time in franchise history.
The Wolverines completed the 2023-24 campaign with a record of 34-18-4-1 and 73 points in an abbreviated 57-game schedule. The team also led the AJHL in wins (34), goal against (152), shutouts (7) and penalty kill (83.6%).
It was a record setting season for the Wolverines who saw two team records broken. Joey Melo’s 22 goals as a rookie and a new team shutout record with seven. The Wolverines finish with 30 wins for the seventh time in 11 full seasons.
Four members of the Whitecourt Wolverines have been nominated for league awards, including: Ben Charette (MVP & Top Goaltender), Joey Melo (Rookie of the Year), and Dylan Leslie (Most Dedicated Player). Reigning AJHL Coach of the Year, Shawn Martin, is once again a nominee for the annual award.
The Dave Duchak Trophy honours the first Commissioner of the Alberta Junior Hockey League – Mr. David Duchak. The Wolverines will now hold the top seed throughout the 2024 Inter Pipeline Cup AJHL Playoffs, which begin March 15th.
Goaltenders Ben Charette, Lukas Renaud and Nicholas Avakyan of the Whitecourt Wolverines are the recipients of the CCM Top Team Goaltenders Award, which is presented annually to the goaltenders of the team with the lowest goals against average (GAA) in the regular season.
The Wolverines allowed 152 goals against with a 2.66 GAA and the goaltending trio combined for seven shutouts in the regular season. This is the first CCM Top Team Goaltenders Award for the Whitecourt Wolverines.
At the conclusion of the 2023-24 regular season, the top five teams will automatically advance to the 2024 Inter Pipeline Cup AJHL Playoffs, while the bottom six teams will square off in a best of five play-in series (6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, and 8 vs.9) starting March 7th. The winners of the play-in series will then fill spots six through eight in the opening round of the AJHL Playoffs.
Round One of the Inter Pipeline Cup AJHL Playoffs will begin the weekend of March 15th-17th and will be a best-of-seven series, with the top seed playing the lowest remaining seed. The AJHL Champion will represent Alberta at the 2024 Centennial Cup National Junior A Championship from May 9-19 in Oakville, ON.