MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Warriors went into the Western Hockey League playoffs as one of the definitive championship contenders, and the WHL gave onlookers an idea of just why that is on Thursday afternoon.
Three members of the team received major East Division awards in a series of announcements by the WHL, with forward Jagger Firkus named the East Division nominee for the Four Broncos Trophy as player of the year, team captain Denton Mateychuk nominated for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the top defenceman and Jackson Unger nominated for the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as the top goaltender.
The honours come as little surprise, given that all three players were named East Division first-team All Stars late last month.
For Firkus, there’s little more that needs to be said.
A spectacular finish to the season saw the 19-year-old Seattle Kraken prospect win the Bob Clarke Trophy as the WHL scoring champion after putting up 61 goals and 126 points in 63 games. That included a 26-game scoring streak that lasted nearly three months and saw Firkus put up 19 goals and 51 points in 26 games.
Firkus is the reigning WHL Player of the Month and has five points in three playoff games.
Also nominated for the Four Broncos Trophy are Zac Funk (Prince George), Conor Geekie (Swift Current) and Berkly Catton (Spokane)
Mateychuk was a virtual lock as the East Division nominee for Top Defenceman after putting up 17 goals and 75 points in 52 games while recording a plus-35 plus-minus. Like Firkus, he also had a 23-game point streak, a run that lasted from the moment he returned from Columbus Blue Jackets training camp in October until early December and saw him put up six goals and 35 points in that span.
Had Mateychuk played all 68 games, he likely would have led all defencemen in scoring and would have approached 100 points.
Also nominated for the Bill Hunter Trophy are Hudson Thornton (Prince George), Carter Yakemchuk (Calgary) and Graham Sward (Wenatchee).
Unger was one of the busiest -- and most successful -- goaltenders in the WHL this season, spending much of the campaign as the WHL leader in minutes played and saves. He capped his 18-year-old season with 35 wins, most in the league, and was second with 3,133 minutes played and third in saves with 1,593.
All told, Unger finished with a 35-15-0-2 record, 3.08 goals against average and .908 save percentage to go along with three shutouts while playing a career-best 54 games.
Also nominated for the Del Wilson Trophy are former Warrior Brett Mirwald (Vancouver), Harrison Meneghin (Lethbridge) and Jan Spunar (Portland).
