Maaskant named Randy Gregg Award winner, Flodell named All-Canadian

HALIFAX (U SPORTS) – Saskatchewan netminder Taran Kozun was honored with the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy as U SPORTS men's hockey Player of the Year Wednesday night, as the national award winners were celebrated at the annual All-Canadian gala. Also included in the major awards was Axeman Liam Maaskant who was named the Dr Randy Gregg (Community Service) Award winner. Axemen goaltender Logan Flodell was named as a second-team all-Canadian goaltender as well.

Past Award Winners

Kozun also took home the Goaltender of the Year honour, while McGill blueliner Nikolas Brouillard was named Defencemen of the Year.  In addition, Saint Mary's forward Mitchell Balmas captured the Clare Drake Award as Rookie of the Year, Saskatchewan forward Levi Cable was named the winner of the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award as most sportsmanlike player and Acadia defenceman Liam Maaskant earned the Dr. Randy Gregg Award for Student-Athlete Community Service.

Finally, Toronto bench boss Ryan Medel is the winner of Father George Kehoe Memorial Award as Fox 40 Coach of the Year.

As the Exclusive Provider of championship rings and recognition jewelry of U SPORTS, Baron will provide customized rings to the First Team All-Canadians in football, basketball and hockey, as well as other major award winners.

The puck drops on 2020 U SPORTS Cavendish Farms University Cup – hosted jointly by the Acadia Axemen and Sports & Entertainment Atlantic (S|E|A) – on Thursday and concludes Sunday with the gold medal game at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT. All games will be played at the Scotiabank Centre, home of the Canadian Hockey League's (CHL) Halifax Mooseheads.

Livestreaming in English is available for free worldwide on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices, with French digital coverage carried on USPORTS.LIVE.

SENATOR JOSEPH A. SULLIVAN TROPHY (Player of the Year) & Goaltender of the Year: Taran Kozun Saskatchewan

It was another dominant season for Saskatchewan Huskie Taran Kozun, who is a dual award winner, claiming the nation's Player and Goalie of the Year awards.

Kozun is the first player in U SPORTS history to claim both awards in the same season, since the goaltending honour was introduced in 2009-10. This marks his second straight Goaltender of the Year award, and the fourth time in five seasons it has been won by a Saskatchewan netminder, after Jordon Cooke captured back-to-back honours in the crease in 2016 and 2017. He is also just the second Huskie to win Player of the Year, and the first since Jon Barkman in 2002.

The former Seattle Thunderbird led the conference in every major goaltending category, posting a 1.87 goals-against average, .931 save percentage, five shutouts, and 17 wins. Along with those sparkling numbers, the third-year arts and sciences major from Nipawin, Sask., also became just the second goalie in CW history to score when he found the net in January against the Calgary Dinos.

Thanks in large part to Kozun's stellar season, the Huskies finished second in the conference standings, as the program's all-time leader in shutouts (11) posted a third consecutive season with a save percentage north of .920.

"For as long as I've been here – including as an athlete – we've always had good goaltending and Taran provides the level of play that our program expects," said Saskatchewan head coach Dave Adolph. "He's earned the respect of the league over the last two years with the way he's played. He's consistently been a high achiever and obviously people respect him for his consistency at the top level. 

Player of the Year & Goaltender of the Year Nominees

CW: Taran Kozun, Saskatchewan (Winner)

OUA: Logan Flodell, Acadia

AUS: David Thomson, Toronto (Player of the Year); Louis-Philip Guindon, McGill (Goaltender of the Year)

CLARE DRAKE AWARD (Rookie of the Year): Mitchell Balmas, Saint Mary's

In just his first year with the Huskies program, Balmas scored the second most points in the conference and third most in the nation – amassing 17 goals and 26 assists for 43 points on the season. A commerce student from Sydney, N.S., he was also named a U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian and earned a place on the U SPORTS all-rookie team.

Before joining the Huskies, Balmas played most recently for the QMJHL's Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Prior to that, his QMJHL career included seasons with the Acadie-Bathurst Titans, the Gatineau Olympiques, and the Charlottetown Islanders.

This season, he led the Huskies to a 17-12-1 regular season record and a third-place finish in the conference standings.Saint Mary's went on to sweep the UPEI Panthers in their best-of-three quarterfinal series, with Balmas contributing a goal and an assist in Game 2.

He is the third consecutive AUS player to win the award and the first from the Saint Mary's program.

Nominees

CW: Jared Dmytriw, Saskatchewan

OUA: Chris Paquette, RMC

AUS: Mitchell Balmas, Saint Mary's (Winner 

DEFENCEMAN OF THE YEAR: Nikolas Brouillard, McGill

A native St. Hilaire, Que., Brouillard earns a spot as First Team All-Canadian in his fourth year thanks to his potent play on the blue line. Brouillard posted 23 points to rank fifth among OUA rearguards and 10^th nationally, while his seven goals put him in the top three among conference defencemen and tied for sixth at the U SPORTS level.

In addition to his defensive ability in his own end, Brouillard also forces the opposition to defend differently with the puck on his stick. As one of the most fearsome power play weapons across the league, wielding a shot as hard as any U SPORTS blueliner, Brouillard made himself at home at the point to claim this year's honour.

He is the fourth McGill defenceman to win the award, after former blueliner Ryan McKiernan in 2014 and Marc-André Dorion (2010, 2012)

"Nik is an instrumental part of our hockey club, he plays in all situations for us and quarterbacks our power-play," said McGill head coach Liam Heelis of the wiry 5-foot-11, 168-pound economics junior, who possesses a shot as hard as any blue-liner in the country and forces opposing teams to defend differently when he is on the ice. "He sees the ice extremely well and also has the ability to finish whenever he gets a scoring chance. I consider him a big game player and someone that can shift the momentum on any given night. He's a dynamic skater and a dynamic shooter."

Since joining the university ranks after  stints in the ECHL and AHL, the two-time OUA all-star has tallied 22 goals and 49 points in 57 regular season games. He also has a 3-12-15 record in 17 career post-season contests.

Brouillard played for U SPORTS all-stars against Canadian junior prospects in each of the last two years and has registered five points in those five games. He also played for a university all-star squad from the Quebec-based teams in the OUA East against the Montreal Canadiens rookie team (Oct. 2019) and was previously invited to NHL training camps with Winnipeg (2013), San Jose (2014) and Toronto (2015, 2016).

Nominees

CW: Adam Henry, Manitoba

OUA: Nikolas Brouillard, McGill (Winner)

AUS: Nick Welsh, Saint Mary's

R.W. PUGH FAIR PLAY AWARD (Most Sportsmanlike Player): Levi Cable, Saskatchewan

Cable posted the third 20-point season of his career in 2019-20, registering 10 goals and 14 assists. He also registered a second consecutive penalty free season, as he concluded his five-year U SPORTS career with just 18 penalty minutes.

"Levi has been the best two-way forward in the league since about mid-way through December in his first year," said Adolph. He brings it, is a reliable player at both ends of the rink, and scores game-winning goals week-after-week. He's first on the puck, aggressive, and physical."

Cable is the sixth Huskie to win the award, joining Brian Purdy (1996), Sheldon Moser (2000), John Barkman (2002), Dean Beuker (2006) and Kyle Ross (2012).

Nominees

CW: Levi Cable, Saskatchewan (Winner)

OUA: Austin Eastman, Ontario Tech

AUS: Vincent Deslauriers, Moncton

DR. RANDY GREGG AWARD (Student-Athlete Community Service): Liam Maaskant, Acadia

A fifth-year engineering student from Clinton, Ont., Maaskant has served as team captain for two consecutive seasons.

He played in 28 games this season, anchoring the Acadia defence and scoring 15 points (four goals, 11 assists).

In the classroom, Maaskant is a three-time academic all-Canadian. Despite the heavy demands of being a student and a varsity athlete, he also contributes in the university and wider Wolfville communities, volunteering in a number of capacities.

He serves as the co-president of the Acadia Players' Association and is actively involved with the S.M.I.L.E. program (Sensory Motor Instructional Learning Experience) as a leader and program buddy. Maaskant has volunteered his time to a number of fundraising and minor hockey events, including Acadia's Hearts on Ice which raises money for the Valley Cardiac Rehab Society and the Hannah Miller Memorial Tournament, which gives back to the local hockey community.

Maaskant is the first member of the Axemen to win the award.

Nominees

CW: Adam Henry, Manitoba

OUA: Brendan Jacome, Ottawa

AUS: Liam Maaskant, Acadia (Winner)

FATHER GEORGE KEHOE MEMORIAL AWARD (Fox 40 Coach of the Year):

Ryan Medel, Toronto

With now three years under his belt behind the bench, Medel guided the Blues to a program-best tying 21 wins this season. The native of Ruthven, Ont., helped U of T rise the ranks, going from an eighth-place result a year to a first-place finish in 2019-20.

Under his guidance, the Blues churned out a top-ranked power play (30.8 per cent), scored the most goals in the OUA and fourth-most nationally (125), and allowed the third fewest in the conference (71).

Medel is the second Varsity Blues coach to win the award and the first since former NHL coach Tom Watt, who took home the inaugural award in 1971.

Nominees

CW: Todd Johnson, Regina

OUA: Ryan Medel, Toronto (Winner)

AUS: Darren Burns, Acadia

ALL-CANADIAN & ALL-ROOKIE TEAMS