Rudolph named MVP during Raiders awards night

Alogn with posting an impressive progression from 29 points in his rookie year to 59 in his sophomore season, Riley Boychuk managed to elevate his play while still maintaining a phenominal grade average. This season Boychek managed to keep a 96% grade average across Physical Science 20, Pre-Calculus 30, and Social Studies 30 through the first semester of the year.

Best Conditioned Raider

Winner: Matyas Man

With 53 games played this year and five fights this year, the 6’6 Ostrava, Czechia native has played with a hard edge all season long and the potential for injury has been there. Still, Man’s dedication in the gym kept himself in shape enough to play a ton of big minutes for both the Raiders and the silver medal winning Team Czechia at the World Juniors to earn the recognition from Raiders Strength and Conditioning Coach Terry Lange.

Lionel Diehl Memorial Hardest Working Player presented by Michael Lipchuk with Re/Max

Winner: Aiden Oiring

With his third full season and fourth season overall as a member of the Raiders in the books, Aiden Oiring has played in 237 straight games for the Raiders. For the last two seasons, Oiring has typically been the leader of the line that takes the shifts against the opponent’s top units, and his relentless forechecking ability is usually the driver to creating offence for his team.

Best Defensive Forward

Winner: Aiden Oiring and Max Heise

For Aiden Oiring, this is his second straight year winning the Best Defensive Forward Award. He posted a +26 +/- rating this season, and was trusted to take 1223 faceoffs for the Raiders this year, winning 714 of them for a 58% winning percentage.

Heise was the next most trusted centreman with 431 faceoff wins on 804 faceoffs, or 54% on the year. Heise posted a +26 rating on the season in his first year in the WHL.

Ches Leach Most Improved Player presented by Great Western Brewing

Winner: Linden Burrett

In his second year as a Raider, Linden Burrett improved his game immensely this season. Despite this being Burrett’s second season in the WHL, he was the second eldest Raider defenceman on the Raiders, and his puck moving ability this year helped him lead the team in +/- rating at +57,good for sixth in the league.

Jim Neilson Most Valuable Defenceman presented by North Star Signs

Winner: Justice Christensen and Daxon Rudolph

The impact of Justice Chrstensen and Daxon Rudolph is undeniable. The pairing has seen the biggest minutes for the Raiders for the last two seasons with Rudolph leading one powerplay, Christensen leading the other, and often the two of them come over the boards for ththe first shift of the penalty kill in a game. With 126 points between the two of them, Christensen and Rudolph are the third highest scoring defensive pair in the league.

Three Stars Award Presented by Redhead Equipment

Winners: Jonah Sivertson, Daxon Rudolph, Aiden Oiring

The three stars award is presented to the players who finish with the most nominations for the three stars throughout the entire season. Oiring was named the first star of the season, Rudolph was named the second, and Sivertson the third.

Players Choice Award presented by Source For Sports

Winner: Justice Christensen

For a player, there may be no award more special than the Player’s Choice Award. For the second straight year, the award went to the captain Christensen who has been credited with being the reason this team has been so close all season long while also leading by example on the ice.

George Cowie Rookie of the Year presented by Broda Group

Winner: Michal Orsulak and Brock Cripps

With the larger than life personality, World Junior silver, and the constand saves made in big games this season, it can be easy to forget that Michal Orsulak is a 18-year-old rookie in the WHL. His 2.22 golas against average is the best in the league, 0.907 save percentage fifth, 28 wins also fifth, and four shutouts this season is tied for the second most in the league.

As for Brock Cripps, the 16-year-old second overall draft pick lived up to the hype he had coming into the season. Time and time again Cripps has dazzled audiences around the WHL with his ability to get out of a sticky situation. Comparing him to last year’s rookie of the year Daxon Rudolph who put up 41 points in his rookie year playing first pairing minutes, Cripps posted 37 points playing third pairing minutes this year in his rookie season.

Along with this year’s MVP award, this may have been the most highly contested award.

Travis Laycock Humanitarian of the Year presented by Parkland Ambulance

Winners: Justice Christensen and Max Heise

With over 300 hours of community service this year from the Raiders, Justice Christensen and Max Heise were the leaders of the efforts this year. Some of those efforts included school visits, Special Olympics floor hockey, visits to the Children’s Ward at the Victoria Hospital, and more.

Dave Balon Leading Scorer Award presented by Northern Lights Casino

Winner: Daxon Rudolph

With 28 goals on the season, Daxon Rudolph will share the record for most goals by a Raider defenceman in a single season. His 78 points on the season will have him finish third in the WHL scoring amongst defencemen, and 18th in league scoring overall.

Fan’s Choice Award presented by Living Skies Window Tint

Winner: Connor Howe

It’s no surprise the local boy is this year’s fan favourite player of the year. After Howe made the team as a 16-year-old coming out of a competitive camp, the young Prince Albert local showed exactly what it means to represent his hometown with his hard nosed, unafraid style of play.

Orland Kurtenbach Most Valuable Player presented by Lake Country Co-op

Winner: Daxon Rudolph

While last year’s MVP Max Hildebrand was the obvious choice, this year’s decision was a much tougher one. Ultimately it came back to the sophomore Rudolph, who continued to put up spectacular moment after moment to help his team put up 52 wins this season.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Rudolph named MVP during Raiders awards night

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