The Battlefords AAA Sharks have one game remaining in the regular season, an exhibition game and then playoffs, but that didn't stop them from celebrating as team Sunday at their annual year end awards banquet.
The Sharks may not have had the results they would've liked in the standings sitting at 0-25-2-0, but some players did have strong individual years and the effort and dedication by those who stuck it out to the end has to be commended.
The team's top scorers shared the spotlight Sunday, as Amanda Grainger (second on the team in points) and Delaney Ross (first on the team in points) both won two awards.
Grainger, the team captain, had four goals and four assists this season and has been with the Sharks for four years playing 108 games. Grainger, the 17-year-old forward, was the recipient of the leadership award along with the team's MVP honour. Grainger is just one of five players to play all 27 games to that point for the Sharks this season.
As Grainger's Sharks' career nears a close, one player's career has just begun. Ross, the 13-year-old forward from Meadow Lake, led the team in goals with six and points with 12. Ross, one of nine rookies on the team, was named the team's Rookie of the Year and the top forward.
The top defenceman award went to Rachel Trach. Trach played all 27 games, like Grainger and Ross, and led all Sharks' defencemen in points with three goals and two assists. This was Trach's second full-season with the Sharks and the 15-year-old defender should be a cornerstone on the team's blue-line for the next two seasons.
The final award handed out was presented to Raeanna Kelly. The 15-year-old forward had three assists this season. Kelly was awarded the most improved player award.
The action on the ice this weekend had the Sharks play Weyburn at home and suffer two losses.
Saturday, the Sharks lost 6-2. The Gold Wings went up 2-0, but Tori Bonnett scored her first goal of the season, pulling the Sharks to within a goal. Weyburn added two more goals in the first and led 4-1 heading into the second.
Kendra Gerbig was the lone goal scorer in the middle frame, as she scored her first of the year on the powerplay.
Weyburn added a goal in the third period and went 2/5 on the powerplay while firing 36 shots at Hannah Brock.
The Sharks were 1/5 on the powerplay and had 11 shots.
Sunday, the Gold Wings fired 62 shots at the duo of Brock and Jacy Akre and earned a 7-0 win.
For Grainger, Janaya Bourelle and Courtney Laycock, the final regular season game as a Battleford AAA Shark was played Tuesday against Prince Albert.
The eighth place Sharks will play an exhibition game with Swift Current this week and then the Sharks will face Notre Dame in the first round of playoffs.
Game one is scheduled for March 1, in Notre Dame. Game two goes March 2 at the Battleford Arena and game three goes March 5 back at Notre Dame's home rink. If necessary, games four and five go the following week.
