The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League is pleased to announce its award winners for on-ice excellence this week: Most Valuable Player, Top Scorer, Top Defenceman, Top Goaltender, Rookie of the Year, Most Sportsmanlike Player, Coach of the Year and the newly added General Manager of the Year.
Today the league is pleased to announce Kael Svenson of the Sicamous Eagles as the Top Goaltender.
“If you look at our record when he was in the crease and when he wasn’t (Svenson had 15 of their 22 wins), that would probably be the first place that I would look,” says former Eagles head coach Shawn Webb, on why Svenson deserved the Top Goaltender Award. “He took a good team and allowed us to achieve excellence.”
Svenson joined the Eagles from the Alberta Junior Hockey League and kicked off his KIJHL career with six straight wins. Not only did he display tremendous athletic ability, but he made crucial saves when his team needed them. He finished the season with a 15-4-2 record to go with a 2.40 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. That .941 SP by the rookie led the league as he allowed 49 goals and made 786 saves. Svenson was selected as the Top Goalie on Nov. 30, as well as earning a Young Guns selection.
Webb added that he never saw the Calgary native get rattled. Svenson had a tremendous ability to bounce back from what he thought was a bad goal. The 5-11, 165-pound goalie reminded Webb of Kimberley Dynamiters netminder Josh Hager, who was named Top Goalie in the Bill Ohlhausen Division last season when he played for the North Okanagan Knights.
“He carries far more presence in the dressing room than a lot of goalies I’ve coached,” said Webb of Svenson. “He’s very active in lifting guys up, holding his players accountable. I would say he is a true leader – he was a great tool for me because he has a very high hockey IQ. He’s very hockey savvy. That’s what makes him special as a goalie. He’s not just stopping pucks, he’s an assistant coach to the defensive systems we were trying to implement.”
