By: Travis Longman of TL_Media
The Churchbridge Imperials capped off a successful return season to senior hockey by holding an awards night this past Saturday. The team gave out awards for Rookie of the Year, Top Defenseman, Most Dedicated, Top Scorer, Coaches Choice and MVP.
Brock Kirkland had 6 goals and 4 assists in 10 games this season; he was chosen as the clubs Rookie of the Year. “He was living in Langenburg, looking for a place to play and ended up coming our way,” Coach BJ Wowchuk mentioned. “He scored goals for us in clutch situations and could play in any position or any line.”
The team awarded Ryland Nernberg Top Defenseman honours. Nernberg joined the Imperials a few games into the season and helped solidify the team’s blue line. “He’s very fast, smart, incredibly intense player who fit right in with the guys right away, right from the first practice,” Wowchuck said. “He’s a young, talented player and we hope he comes back to us for years to come. Ryland finished the regular season with 9 points in 10 games.”
The award for Most Dedicated Imperial went to Cole Cusitar. Cusitar was instrumental in getting senior hockey back to Churchbridge. He finished the year with 14 points in 14 games. “Cole is a major part of getting this team going and his work and dedication continued throughout the season,” Wowchuck said. “Cole never missed practice or a game and played hard night after night. His team meant the world to Cole. He would call to check in how things were going, or to talk about the team, or even call guys who were injured or have family things going on just to make sure they’re okay or to offer help.” He was a driving force in the team’s success both off and on the ice.
Two players shared the Coaches Choice award, both goalies, Colby Entz and Ryan Bezan shared the honours. The Imperials were involved in a lot of close games and Wowchuck attributes that to the solid play of the netminders. “These fellas faced a lot of rubber in some of those games but never gave up,” Wowchuck said. “Both are incredibly dedicated, making pretty much every practice which brought our team huge confidence.”
Chris Korchinski is going to need to add a new shelf to his trophy case. The 38 year old former Yorkton Terrier took home the team’s Most Valuable Player, Fan Choice and Top Scorer awards to go along with the Sask East Hockey League MVP award that he won earlier this off season. “His leadership and work ethic is incredible.” Coach Wowchuk added, “Chris led our team by example. He played hard. He played injured and was a positive figure amongst his teammates. The guys looked up to him, and when he spoke they listened. Chris knew when the team needed a push. He would go all out, score a goal or lay a big hit to get the boys on the bench going.”
Korchinski admits he was nervous heading into the first game but will never forget the crowd that night. “The hype for the first senior hockey game in town, after not having a team for so many years, left me nervous but so excited,” Korchinski said. “The line up to get into the rink that night was something most people had never seen in town, but this was going to be a big night for so many of us. We didn’t win the game, but we won in so many other ways that night. The rink was packed with happy and excited people. I scored our team’s first goal and the crowd was going wild at every hit, goal and big save. Every home game after that I would look forward to walking out and seeing the kids I coach waiting to give fist pumps and wish us luck”.
The Imperials may have finished with just three wins this year, but with the leadership group and tremendous fans the club is in a great position to succeed long term in Churchbridge. The first year is in the books and senior hockey is alive and well in Churchbridge.