The Estevan Bruins have come out of the Christmas break winners in three straight games. Now with the team success, three players were singled out and recognized for their contributions to the wins with weekly honours from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).
Keenan Rancier (’00) has been named as the SJHL Goalie-of-the-Week, Tylor Ludwar (’99) as the SJHL Defenceman-of-the-Week, and Griffin Asham-Moroz (’01) as the SJHL Rookie-of-the-Week. Also worth mentioned, Jayden Davis (’99) was recognized as the runner-up for the SJHL Player-of-the-Week award from December 29th – January 5th.
KEENAN RANCIER (3W – 1.33 G.A.A. – .944 SV%)
It is the first weekly award for Rancier this season, however the Bruins’ MVP-caliber netminder did take home SJHL Goalie-of-the-Month honours in September-October. In three straight starts and wins over Weyburn (7-1, 5-2) and Melville (6-1), Rancier allowed just four goals. Rancier has appeared in a league-leading 32 games already this season, posting a 2.68 G.A.A. and a .919 SV%. Rancier is on pace to appear in the most games for the Bruins since Matt Gibney (43GP) in the 2013/14 season, and will undoubtedly be in the conversation at the end of the season for the top netminder in the SJHL.
TYLOR LUDWAR (3GP – 2G, 3A, 5PTS)
It is the first weekly award for Ludwar as well, as the Bruins’ veteran defenceman battled injuries during the first half of the season. Ludwar’s offensive edge broke through in the last three games with his first two goals of the season and he chipped in three assists from the blueline. While Ludwar has been arguably the most physical, hard-hitting defenceman in the league all season, his offensive capabilities are now shining through and could be a catalyst for the Bruins’ success in the final 22 regular season games.
GRIFFIN ASHAM-MOROZ (3GP – 3G, 0A, 3PTS)
It is the first weekly honour for Asham-Moroz this year, however the rookie forward has been a consistent offensive contributor all year long. Asham-Moroz scored the eventual game-winning goal in a 7-1 win over Weyburn on December 30th, impressively batting his own rebound out of midair into the net. On January 1st before a 5-2 victory over Weyburn, Asham-Moroz got into his first career SJHL fight against Weyburn’s Connor Stephenson at the end of the 1st period. Then on January 4th, Asham-Moroz again scored the eventual game-winning goal against Melville with an eye-popping end-to-end rush to make it 2-1, just 21 seconds after the Bruins scored to tie the game. Asham-Moroz then scored his second goal of the game at the end of the 2nd period to cap off a four-goal period for the Bruins. For the season, Asham-Moroz leads all Bruins’ rookies with 27 points (13G, 14A) in 33 games played.
Honourable mentions for Jayden Davis (3GP – 4G, 3A, 7PTS) as the SJHL Player-of-the-Week, as the Bruins’ captain finished as the runner-up to Yorkton’s Chantz Petruic (4GP – 6G, 9A, 15PTS). As well to Bruins’ forward Isaiah Thomas (’00) (3GP – 0G, 5A, 5PTS), rookie forward Tyler Savage (’00) (3GP – 0G, 4A, 4PTS), defencemen Kade McMillen (’00) (3GP – 1G, 3A, 4PTS) and Devan Harrison (’00) (3GP – 1G, 3A, 4PTS).
The Bruins (16-17-2-1) will play another three games this week against their division, taking on the Yorkton Terriers twice (Jan. 7th in Yorkton, Jan. 11th in Estevan) and the Melville Millionaires (Jan. 10th in Estevan).