OUA ANNOUNCES MEN'S HOCKEY WEST DIVISION MAJOR AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-STARS

HAMILTON, Ont. – Ontario University Athletics (OUA) is pleased to announce the men’s hockey west division major award winners and all-stars.

Keaton Turkiewicz (Brantford, Ont.) is this year’s OUA men’s hockey west division MVP. The fourth-year forward had a dominant season, leading the league in scoring from nearly start to close. He posted 20 goals and 27 assists in 28 games played, for a total of 47 points. A disciplined goal scorer, Turkiewicz only had 22 penalty minutes. He is the first Mustang to win MVP in a decade. He is also a First-Team All-Star.

Fellow Mustang Scott Aarssen is Defenceman of the Year for the west division. The London, Ont. native led the Mustangs’ defensive line – a unit that only allowed 69 goals against all-season, the fifth lowest goals against average in the nation. Aarsen spent only 22 minutes in the penalty box all season while patrolling Western’s blueline. The 2010-2011 Second-Team All-Star tallied 8 points in 28 games played; scoring once while posting seven assists. He ranked third among Mustang blueliners in points.

Zach Harnden (Thunder Bay, Ont.) added a freshman scoring touch to the purple and white, and was named the West division Top Rookie for his performances. Harnden led all rookies in points with 31 points from 17 goals and 14 assists. He finished third in scoring for the CIS No. 4 Mustangs. He has also been named to the All-Rookie team.

The Western Mustangs continue their major award dominance with Josh Unice receiving OUA west Goalie of the Year honours. The go-to goaltender for the Mustangs turned away 538 shots, allowing only 40 goals against in 20 games played. The Holland, Ohio native’s 0.938 save percentage is the second highest in the CIS. He also recorded four shutouts, three of which were against fellow OUA west powerhouse Lakehead. Unice is also a First-Team All-Star.

Kirt Hill (Winnipeg, Man.) of the Waterloo Warriors is the OUA west nominee for the Randy Gregg award, given to the player who best exhibits outstanding achievement in hockey, academics and community involvement. The third-year forward split his offensive efforts evenly between goals and assists with 16 of each in 26 games. In addition to being Waterloo’s top point producer, Hill is active in the community. He is engaged in a variety of fundraisers, raising money and awareness for organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society. Hill supports both youth and elderly in the Waterloo community, teaching skating to young beginners and implementing programs for seniors at a local recreation centre. Hill has also been named a Second-Team All-Star.

The west Coach of the Year is Western’s Clarke Singer. The bench boss led his Mustangs to first in OUA West with a 21-4-3 record, two wins more than second seeded Lakehead. Singer earned his first coach of the year honour in the 1999-2000 season and since then has gone on to receive the distinguished award seven times. 

The other First-Team All-Stars are Western forward Kevin Baker (Georgetown, Ont.), Waterloo left-winger Chris Ray (Kelowna, B.C.) and Lakehead blueliner Mike Quesnele (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.). Baker joins his Western teammates on the First-Team after finishing seventh in league scoring with 37 points, 30 of which were helpers. A four-time OUA First-Team All-Star, Ray finished second in team scoring with 31 points, helping the Warriors to a third-place regular season finish. Ray is also named the west division’s Most Sportsmanlike player for the second year in a row. Quesnele was the top scoring defenceman for the Thunderwolves, recording 22 points in 28 games played. A member of the 2010-2011 All-Rookie team, Quesnele was seventh in league scoring among all west division blueliners.

The Second-Team is a balanced group, with five schools represented on the squad. Laurier’s Ryan Daniels (Pickering, Ont.), the 2010-2011 MVP, Goaltender of the year and First-Team All-Star, serves as the last line of defence on the Second-Team. Despite the Golden Hawks losing record (9-17-2), the third-year business major posted a 0.916 save percentage. Lakehead’s Mitch Fillman and Windsor’s Steve Ferry skate on the Second-Team defensive line. Oakville, Ont. native Fillman posted 19 points from the blueline while collecting only ten penalty minutes. Fillman is also named to the All-Rookie team. Ferry (Richmond Hill, Ont.) was the fifth-highest scoring OUA defenceman. The third-year gets his first all-star nod with five goals and 20 assists in 27 games played. Like Fillman, Ferry also played with discipline in 2011-2012, spending only ten minutes in the sin bin. York’s Jesse Messier (Keswick, Ont.) and Lakehead’s Matt Caria (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) skate alongside Waterloo’s Hill on the Second-Team forward line. Right-wing Messier led the Lions to their best result since 2009, scoring 11 goals and earning 23 helpers for 34 points. For the second year in a row, Caria was the top point producer for the Thunderwolves. In 21 games played, the third-year winger posted 32 points while amassing 90 penalty minutes.

Joining Harnden on the All-Rookie team is Lakehead forward Mike Hammond (Victoria, B.C.), who finished second in scoring for the Thunderwolves with 27 points, and Windsor forward Evan Stibbard (Windsor, Ont.) who played in all 28 games for the Lancers, scoring 14 goals while tallying 15 assists. The forward trio finished one-two-three on the rookie leader board. Waterloo’s Joe Underwood (Canton, Michigan) was the top defenceman for the Warriors. The rookie blueliner played in all 28 games and totaled 18 assists. Rookie netminder Andrew Perugini (King City, Ont.) of the York Lions had the highest save percentage among west division rookie goalies (0.917) and gets the start in net as the All-Rookie goalie.

2011-12 OUA MEN’S HOCKEY WEST DIVISION MAJOR AWARD WINNERS 

MVP: Keaton Turkiewicz (Western)
Top Rookie: Zach Harnden (Western)
Most Sportsmanlike: Chris Ray (Waterloo)
Randy Gregg award nominee: Kirt Hill (Waterloo)
Top Defenceman: Scott Aarssen (Western)
Top Goaltender: Josh Unice (Western)
Coach of the Year: Clarke Singer (Western)

2011-12 OUA MEN’S HOCKEY WEST DIVISION ALL-STARS 

FIRST TEAM
F – Keaton Turkiewicz (Western)
F – Chris Ray (Waterloo)
F – Kevin Baker (Western)
D – Mike Quesnele (Lakehead)
D - Scott Aarssen (Western)
G – Josh Unice (Western)

SECOND TEAM
F – Jesse Messier (York)
F – Matt Caria (Lakehead)
F – Kirt Hill (Waterloo)
D – Mitch Fillman (Lakehead)
D – Steve Ferry (Windsor)
G – Ryan Daniels (Laurier)

ALL ROOKIE TEAM
F – Zach Harnden (Western)
F – Mike Hammond (Lakehead)
F – Evan Stibbard (Windsor)
D – Mitch Fillman (Lakehead)
D – Joe Underwood (Waterloo)
G – Andrew Perugini (York)