HALIFAX (CIS) – St. Francis Xavier bench boss Brad Peddle captured the Father George Kehoe Memorial Award Wednesday evening as the TIMEX CIS coach of the year.
UNB rearguard Jordan Murray was named the CIS defenceman of the year, while StFX defenceman Nathan Chiarlitti merited the Dr. Randy Gregg Award, recognizing his excellence in hockey, academics and community involvement.
Other CIS award winners announced during the All-Canadian Gala held at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel were Guillaume Asselin, a third-year right-winger from the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, who was named the CIS player of the year.
Asselin, a business administration student from Quebec City, became only the third Patriotes standout to merit the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy since the award was first presented back in 1970. Forward Alexandre Tremblay and goaltender Luc Bélanger had been honoured in 2003 and 1999, respectively.
The University Cup championship, hosted by Saint Mary's University, gets under way Thursday at Scotiabank Centre and culminates Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Atlantic Time (5:30 p.m. Eastern) with the gold-medal final, live on Sportsnet 360 and TVA Sports 2. Saturday's semifinals are also live on Sportsnet 360 and TVA Sports (12 noon & 4 p.m. Atlantic), while the quarter-finals and the bronze-medal match are set to air on Eastlink TV. All eight games from the eight-team tournament will be streamed on www.CIS-SIC.tv.
DEFENCEMAN OF THE YEAR: Jordan Murray, UNB
Murray is the first UNB rearguard to win the CIS award since its inception in 2010. Saint Mary's Andrew Hotham was the only previous recipient from the AUS conference, in 2011.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound native of Riverview, N.B., played in 27 of 28 conference games in his third season with the Varsity Reds and was the highest-scoring defenceman in the AUS with a 5-23-28 dossier. As reliable in his own end, Murray posted a +24 rating and helped the V-Reds finish first in the Atlantic and second in the country with 2.18 goals allowed per game.
Thanks to his all-around strong play, Murray was voted to the first all-Canadian team for the second straight year and became a three-time AUS all-star. Last December, he was on the CIS all-star squad that split a two-game series against Canada's national junior team hopefuls in Toronto. He joined UNB in the fall of 2013 after a three-year career in the QMJHL, including two seasons with Acadie-Bathurst and one with Drummondville.
"Jordan is a dynamic part of our team and has had a tremendous season," said head coach Gardiner MacDougall. "He has shown continued improvement in all parts of his game and has been our most consistent player."
The other nominees were Samuel Labrecque of McGill and Jordan Rowley of Alberta.
FATHER GEORGE KEHOE MEMORIAL AWARD (TIMEX coach of the year): Brad Peddle, StFX
Peddle, in his 11th season as X-Men head coach, becomes the first StFX bench boss to win the Father Kehoe Award, which has been presented annually since 1971. The native of St. John's was only the third X-Men coach to be honoured by his peers at the AUS level, and the first since 1977.
Peddle guided the X-Men to second place in the always competitive AUS conference this year with an 18-6-4 record this year. This marked the team's best regular season performance and first-round playoff bye since 2003-04. His team was ranked nationally in 17 of 19 Top 10 polls this season, peaking at No. 3 following their upset sweep of UNB in the best-of-three Atlantic final.
Peddle has led the blue and white to 11 consecutive AUS playoff appearances and four CIS championship berths (2016, 2015, 2011, 2007). In 369 regular season, playoff and University Cup championship games, he has a career record of 187-181-1. A former X-Men captain, he played defence with the team from 1995 to 1999, meriting all-Canadian status once and receiving the prestigious Dr. Randy Gregg Award, both in 1998-99. After playing professionally for five years, he made his coaching debut with the Halifax Jr. Mooseheads and Antigonish Jr. A Bulldogs prior to rejoining the StFX program.
"Brad's growth and development as a hockey coach over the past decade has been phenomenal," said director of athletics and recreation Leo MacPherson. "He will be the first to give credit to others, but it has been his leadership and resourcefulness that has the X-Men hockey program thriving. His success is built on a platform of caring for his players, and a desire to support them on their quest to become leaders and champions."
The other nominees were Chris Dennis of York and Bert Gilling of Mount Royal.
DR. RANDY GREGG AWARD (hockey, academics & community service): Nathan Chiarlitti, StFX
Chiarlitti, a former member of the Sarnia Sting and Owen Sound Attack in the OHL, became only the second StFX player to earn the Dr. Randy Gregg Award since it was first presented in 1991. He joins his current head coach Brad Peddle, who claimed the honour in 1999.
In his third-year of eligibility, the assistant captain from Maple, Ont., is a tremendous leader on and off the ice for the X-Men. An AUS second-team all-star for the second consecutive season, Chiarlitti played in all 28 games during the regular season, averaging over 30 minutes per contest, leading the team's defencemen in scoring with three goals and 12 assists, and finishing with a plus/minus rating of +14.
Academically, the fourth-year Dean's List student achieved CIS academic all-Canadian status in each of the past two years, finishing amongst the top five students in his honors humans kinetics program. He recently completed the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and hopes to attend medical school in the future.
Chiarlitti is heavily involved in the community, volunteering his time with an array of organizations and causes. He was awarded the Leader of Distinction award by the StFX Leadership Academy, which he has been involved with for the past three years. He is a volunteer coach for the Antigonish Minor Hockey Mentorship Program, and founded and maintains the Hockey Program of X-Cellence, a peer tutoring program for both the X-Men and X-Women varsity teams. He is also president of the Coady Society, volunteers with the StFX human kinetics community service learning program Fit 4 Life and Fit 4 Tots, participates in StFX's Best Buddies program, has lent his time to L'Arche Horizons, and has also done extensive volunteer work in medical research including thyroid oncology research at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, work with Caisis, the online cancer data management system, as well as data collection for CAPL (Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy).
"Nathan has been our captain all season and is a tremendous leader in our group," said head coach Brad Peddle. "He is highly respected in our dressing room, while being able to maintain strong personal relationships with his teammates. He is our most reliable player on the ice in every situation. When it comes to the values associated with this award and the complete person it exemplifies, I can sincerely say Nathan fits the description more than anyone I have ever had in our program. His willingness to go above and beyond to help others is quite remarkable."
The other nominees were defenceman Mike Moffat of Waterloo and goaltender Dylan Tait of Lethbridge.
ALL-CANADIAN TEAMS
The all-Canadian teams were also announced on Wednesday.
Joining major award winners Guillaume Asselin of UQTR, Jordan Murray of UNB and Jordon Cooke of Saskatchewan on the first squad were defenceman Samuel Labrecque of McGill (16-28-44 in 28 GP) and forwards Eric Locke of StFX (14-21-35 in 28 GP) and Tyler Fiddler of Mount Royal (12-23-35 in 26 GP).
Murray was the only returnee from last year's first-team selection.
The second CIS dream team is comprised of goaltender Kevin Bailie of Queen's, rearguards Jordan Rowley of Alberta and Matthew Pufahl of Acadia, as well as forwards Colin Behenna of Waterloo, Jordan DePape of Manitoba and Alex Saulnier of Moncton.
Rowley was a member of the first CIS unit in 2014, when Bailie was selected as the national rookie of the year.
Joining CIS top freshman Brett Welychka of Carleton on the 2015-16 all-rookie squad were netminder Sébastien Auger of UQTR, defencemen Dominic Talbot-Tassi of McGill and Adam Henry of Manitoba, along with forwards Kohl Bauml of Saskatchewan and Phil Gadoury of Dalhousie.
2015-2016 CIS MEN'S HOCKEY AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS
*Atlantic conference recipients in bold
Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy (player of the year): Guillaume Asselin, UQTR
Defenceman of the year: Jordan Murray, UNB
Goaltender of the year: Jordon Cooke, Saskatchewan
Clare Drake Award (rookie of the year): Brett Welychka, Carleton
R.W. Pugh Award (most sportsmanlike player): Elgin Pearce, Calgary
Father George Kehoe Memorial Award (TIMEX coach of the year): Brad Peddle, StFX
Dr. Randy Gregg Award (hockey, academics & community service): Nathan Chiarlitti, StFX
Pos. Athlete University Year Hometown Academic Program
First Team
G Jordon Cooke Saskatchewan 2 Leduc, Alta. Arts & Science
D Samuel Labrecque McGill 5 Granby, Que. Arts
D Jordan Murray UNB 3 Riverview, N.B. Kinesiology
F Guillaume Asselin UQTR 3 Quebec City, Que. Business Admin.
F Eric Locke StFX 2 Toronto, Ont. Human Kinetics
F Tyler Fiddler Mount Royal 5 Prince Albert, Sask. Business Admin.
Second Team
G Kevin Bailie Queen's 3 Belleville, Ont. Arts & Science
D Jordan Rowley Alberta 5 Edmonton, Alta. Business
D Matthew Pufahl Acadia 2 Saskatoon, Sask. Community Develop.
F Colin Behenna Waterloo 4 Waterloo, Ont. Math & Business
F Jordan DePape Manitoba 3 Winnipeg, Man. Arts
F Alex Saulnier Moncton 3 Cap-Pelé, N.B. MBA
All-Rookie Team
G Sébastien Auger UQTR 1 St-Augustin-de-Demaures, Que. Pers. Certificat
D Dominic Talbot-Tassi McGill 1 Mascouche, Que. Engineering
D Adam Henry Manitoba 1 Winnipeg, Man. University 1
F Brett Welychka Carleton 1 London, Ont. Arts
F Kohl Bauml Saskatchewan 1 Saskatoon, Sask. Business
F Phil Gadoury Dalhousie 1 Montreal, Que. Commerce
For the complete CIS awards release, please click here.
For more information on the 2016 CIS University Cup, please click here.
Source: CIS Communications