Although they were unable to hold a physical banquet this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prince Albert Raiders are still able to salute the accomplishments of the players.
On Tuesday, the team announced the first two winners of their 2019-20 awards and will be unveiling more recipients during the course of the next week.
The Dave Balon Leading Scorer Award went to assistant captain Aliaksei Protas, who led the team in scoring with 80 points in 58 games.
The Washington Capitals prospect, who was named to the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference First All-Star Team last week, is the first import player to lead the Raiders in scoring since Simon Stransky accomplished that feat during the 2016-17 campaign.
Ozzy Wiesblatt had 70 points during his sophomore season to finish second in team scoring.
Second year forward Ozzy Wiesblatt was the recipient of the Three Stars Award, which is determined by the three star selections that are announced after all Raiders games.
“I’m very honoured and humbled to receive this award,” Wiesblatt said in a video that was posted on the Raiders’ social media channels.
“I’d like to thank my teammates for pushing me every day and making me a better hockey player and a better person, along with the coaches who are always giving me a challenge.”
During the course of the 2019-20 campaign, Wiesblatt was named the game’s first star on six occasions, received five second star honours and earned four third star accolades.
Protas and Kaiden Guhle were close behind Wiesblatt in the final three star totals.
