Wednesday 15 April 2020

Raiders’ Protas picks up WHL Eastern Conference sportsmanship award

Aliaksei Protas won a WHL Eastern Conference award.
    Aliaksei Protas has continued to rise during his two seasons in the WHL, and it has resulted in a conference award nod.
    On Wednesday, the Belarusian import centre with the Prince Albert Raiders was named the most sportsmanlike player from the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Western Conference’s most sportsmanlike player honour went to Seth Jarvis, who is a centre for the Portland Winterhawks.
    Protas had a stellar sophomore season with the Raiders leading in the team in scoring with 31 goals and 59 assists for 80 points in 58 regular season games. Out of his 31 goals, seven were game winners.
    He posted a plus-37 rating in the plus-minus department and just eight minutes in penalties.
    A signed NHL Entry Draft selection of the Washington Capitals, Protas is eligible to return to the WHL for a 19-year-old campaign next season.
    Protas joined to the Raiders after being selected in the first round and 26th overall in the 2018 CHL Import Draft.
    Standing 6-foot-6 and weigh 210 pounds, Protas came to the Raiders with impressive physical tools and soft hands in the offensive zone.
Aliaksei Protas (#21) picked up 59 assists this season.
    As he got used to a new culture in Canada, Protas had a sound rookie regular season in 2018-19 posting 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-24 rating in 61 regular season games. The Raiders finished first overall in the regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2.
    The product of Vitebsk, Belarus, became a fan favourite as rookie campaign went on, and he picked up the nickname “The Viper of Vitebsk.”
    The 2018-19 regular season was just a small precursor of what was in store for Protas in the post-season.
    In the 2019 WHL playoffs, Protas turned a lot of heads with a number of big performances playing left wing on a line centred by overager Sean Montgomery and Brett Leason staring on right wing.
    Protas appeared in all 23 of the games the Raiders played in the WHL playoffs piling up 12 goals, 10 assists and a plus-12 rating.
Aliaksei Protas topped the Raiders in scoring with 80 points.
    He played a sizable role in helping the Raiders win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for the second time in team history and appearing in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup.
    In the NHL Entry Draft in June of 2019, the Capitals selected Protas in the third round and 91st overall. The Capitals has selected Leason in the second round and 56th overall in that same draft.
    Leason was signed by the Capitals and played this past season with their AHL affiliate the Hersey Bears.
    After all those experiences as a rookie, Protas came back to the Raiders with added jump and confidence.
    Having helped the Raiders finish first in the East Division with a 36-18-6-4 record, Protas was named a WHL Eastern Conference first team all-star last week. His season allowed him to have his name inscribed on the Raiders’ Dave Balon Leading Scorer Award, which was officially presented online on Tuesday.
    Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Raiders weren’t able to finish their regular season schedule and the CHL cancelled all its post-season action for all three of its member leagues including the WHL, OHL and QMJHL.
Aliaksei Protas (#21) celebrated lots of goals with his Raiders teammates.
    The Raiders have handed out three more of their team awards so far this week. Sophomore centre Ozzy Wiesblatt took home the Three Stars Award on Tuesday.
    On Wednesday, the Raiders named rookie defencemen Nolan Allan and Landon Kosior as the co-winners of the Belle Merrell and Calla Grasley Award as the team’s scholastic player of the year.
    Also on Wednesday, overage defenceman Jeremy Masella captured the Travis Laycock Award as the team’s humanitarian of the year.
    For Protas, he cemented himself as one of the WHL’s top players in 2019-20. He has the potential to have even better days in the sport of hockey in the years to come.

Hurricanes get two conference front office awards, other notes

Hurricanes GM Peter Anholt, left, was named a top executive.
    As the WHL has continued to roll out its major conference awards online, the Lethbridge Hurricanes took a couple of big honours as far as front office work goes.
    On Tuesday, Hurricanes general manager and alternate governor Peter Anholt was named the executive of the year for the Eastern Conference. Anholt has been with the Hurricanes since the start of the 2014-15 campaign and played a major role in turning the Hurricanes around from being one of the WHL worst franchises into a club that now enjoys elite status.
    This season, the Hurricanes posted a 37-19-2-5 record to finish third in the WHL’s Central Division and eighth overall in the entire league standings. The Hurricanes had locked up a playoff berth for a fifth straight year before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the final part of the regular season and the entire post-season for all CHL leagues.
    Anholt selected Slovakian left-winger Oliver Okuliar in the first round and 49th overall in the 2019 CHL Import Draft. The 19-year-old finished second in Hurricanes team scoring with 33 goals and 35 assists for 68 points in 55 regular season games to go with a plus-25 rating in the plus-minus department.
    Anholt acquired overage centre Brett Davis in a trade with the Red Deer Rebels to help boost the Hurricanes scoring. In 57 regular season games played between the Rebels and Hurricanes, Davis had 25 goals and 24 assists.
    Anholt brought in depth right-winger Dino Kambeitz to further solidify the Hurricanes offence. The veteran GM added local Lethbridge products in left-winger Zack Stringer and netminder Erick Roest via separate WHL Bantam Drafts.
Zack Stringer was a big local WHL Bantam Draft pick by the Hurricanes.
    Stringer had a solid campaign as a 16-year-old rookie netting 11 goals, 23 assists and a plus-13 rating in 48 regular season games. Roest will attempt to crack the team’s roster next season as a 16-year-old rookie in goal.
    On Friday, the Hurricanes claimed the Eastern Conference business award. The Hurricanes have tried out new things like having intermission segments with skaters dressed in dinosaur costumes and providing more features on their website.
    They strive to give back to the community contributing over $163,000 to communities and organizations in Lethbridge and surrounding area.
    Matt Bardsley, who is the vice-president and general manager of the Kamloops Blazers, was named the Western Conference executive of the year on Friday. Bardsley helped build the Blazers roster and revamp the coaching staff by bringing in Shaun Clouston as head coach to allow the Kamloops club to top the B.C. Division with a 41-18-3-1 mark.
    The Seattle Thunderbirds claimed the Western Conference business award on Friday.
    On Monday, Edmonton Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer was named the coach of the year for the Eastern Conference. Lauer guided the Oil Kings to the best record in the Eastern Conference and third best overall mark in the league at 42-12-6-4.
    Everett Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams was named the Western Conference’s coach of the year on Monday. Williams guided the Silvertips to the second best record in the WHL at 46-13-3-1.

  • On Monday, the XFL filed for bankruptcy citing in a release the harsh economic impacts and uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The XFL suspended operations on March 12 and laid off most of its employees on Friday. The 2020 campaign was the first of a rebooted XFL and drew a high amount of positive reviews. A rowdy version of the league ran for one season in 2001. The XFL was owned by WWE chairman/president Vince McMahon and Alpha Entertainment. On Wednesday, the WWE laid off a significant number of its performers.
  • The 2020 Saskatoon Fringe Festival became a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, when it was cancelled. The Fringe Festival was slated to run July 30 to August 8.
  • Canada Basketball announced on Tuesday its under-15 and under-17 men’s and women’s national championships set for Aug. 2-9 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kingston, Ont., was slated to host the men’s under-15 and under-17 tournaments. Charlottetown, P.E.I., was set to host the women’s under-15 and under-17 tournaments.
  • The Canadian Elite Basketball League announced on Wednesday its original regular season start in May had been pushed back to June due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. A league release cited government regulations currently limiting the size of public gatherings and causing the closures of team practice facilities as the reasons for the schedule change. The regular season was originally slated to start on May 7 with the Niagara River Lions hosting the Ottawa Blackjacks. The Saskatchewan Rattlers won last year’s inaugural CEBL championship.
  • The Thursday edition of the weekly Quad Town Forum is online, and the Vibank, Sask., publication is well worth the read. Brad Brown, who is the publisher and owner of the Forum, has a great tribute piece on late Edmonton Oilers system forward Colby Cave. As a staffer for the Prairie Post in Swift Current, Brown covered Cave during part of the two-way player’s time with the WHL’s Broncos from 2012 to 2014. Brown typed out a good piece on Prince Albert Raiders 17-year-old rookie defenceman Landon Kosior. I contributed a piece on Saskatchewan Roughriders star left guard Brendon LaBatte. The online version of the Quad Town Forum can be found by clicking right here.
  • The feel good tweet of the week so far comes from University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team head coach Lisa Thomaidis. She shared a short video put together by team video coach Connor Jay of the squad’s U Sports national title win on March 8. The Huskies downed the Brock University Badgers 82-64 in the national final held in Ottawa, Ont.

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