Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Hall and Broda players of the week

Press Release

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that forward Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires is the Boston Pizza OHL Player of the Week for the week ending May 10. Hall scored three goals and one assist for four points in three games with a plus-minus rating of plus-3 and was named the recipient of the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the Most Valuable Player of the OHL Playoffs.

Hall and the Spitfires capped the 2008-09 season Friday night winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup with a 2-1 overtime win in game five of the Rogers OHL Championship Series over the Brampton Battalion. In the final game, Hall assisted on the first Spitfires goal by Dale Mitchell at 13:06 on the power play during the second period. After the Battalion tied the game with a late third period goal, it was Hall that scored the series-clinching goal on the power play at 2:09 of the extra frame as second star of the game. Earlier in the week Hall was named second star for scoring two goals in game three of the series Monday night despite the 4-2 loss to the Battalion. The Spitfires will compete at the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec. They will play their first game on Saturday May 16 at 4:30 pm against the QMJHL Champions. The tournament begins Friday May 15 at 7:00 pm featuring the host Rimouski Oceanic and the WHL Champion Kelowna Rockets.

Hall, a 17-year-old from Kingston, ON, is in his second OHL season with the Spitfires. He led the OHL in playoff scoring with 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points in 20 games. Eligible for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Hall wins the award for the third time this season. He was previously recognized for the week ending March 22 and October 26.

Also considered was Andrei Loktionov of the Spitfires who also recorded four points in three games with two goals and two assists. He was named first star of the 4-1 game four win over the Battalion Wednesday night scoring two goals. He finished second behind Hall in playoff scoring with 33 points including 11 goals and 22 assists. Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion scored two goals and one assist in three games to finish the playoffs with 31 points including 11 goals and 20 assists in 21 games. In goal, Andrew Engelage of the Spitfires posted a 1.99 goals-against-average and a .944 save percentage in three games, highlighted by a first star performance in the series deciding game Friday night with 37 saves.


Press Release

The BOSTON PIZZA WHL Player of the Week is forward Joel Broda of the Calgary Hitmen.

Broda picked up six points, scoring three goals and three assists to go with a +3 rating in four games over the last week during the 2009 WHL Championship Series versus the Kelowna Rockets.

On Monday, May 4th, in game three of the WHL Championship Series in Kelowna, Broda was held off the score sheet in the Hitmen’s 2-0 loss, but led a strong third period charge that would roll into game four. With the Rockets leading the Championship Series 3-0 heading into game four on Wednesday, May 6th, the Hitmen needed a strong effort to stave off elimination. Broda picked up two assists as the Hitmen defeated the Rockets 6-2 to stretch the series to another game.

Game five was set at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary on Thursday, May 7th, with the Rockets leading the series 3-1. Broda came up big netting two goals and adding one assist to fend off the Rockets for the second straight game with a 6-1 victory. He was also named the games 1st Star. The series shifted back to Kelowna for game six on Saturday, May 9th, providing yet another opportunity for the Rockets to hoist the Ed Chynoweth Cup on home ice leading the series 3-2. With seven minutes left in the third period Broda tied the game 2-2 with a goal mouth goal to send the contest to over-time. Unfortunately for Broda and Hitmen, time had run out on their come-back attempt as the Rockets scored eight minutes into the extra frame to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup as the 2009 WHL Champions.

Broda, a 19-year-old from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, just completed his fourth season in the Western Hockey League, a career that began with the Tri-City Americans prior to joining the Warriors at the start of last season. Through his time in the WHL Broda collected 188 points (102 goals, 86 assists) in 264 games played. He was selected in the 5th round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals.

The WHL has also nominated Martin Jones of the Calgary Hitmen for the ADT CHL Goaltender of the Week Award. Jones posted a 2-1-0-1 record this past week, allowing seven goals on 129 shots for a 1.700 goals-against average and .946 save percentage.

Jones, a 19-year-old from North Vancouver, British Columbia, just concluded his third season with the Calgary Hitmen. After going unselected at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Jones was offered a free agent try-out with the Los Angeles Kings later in the summer. Following a great rookie camp and tremendous main camp the Kings decided to sign Jones to a three year entry level NHL contract. Jones was first among all WHL goaltenders at the conclusion of the 2008-09 WHL regular season with 45 wins and third in the WHL with a 2.08 GAA.

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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