NCJHL award Jr. Lions’ Connor Manderson

Phillip Blancher, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
MORRISBURG – The National Capital Junior Hockey League announced its annual regular season awards for the 2022-23 season last week with Morrisburg Jr. Lions forward Connor Manderson winning for Best Defensive Forward.

Manderson, who hails from Kemptville, signed with the Lions this season from the former Westport Jr. B Rideaus. In 30 games with the team, Manderson had 20 goals and 33 assists for 53 points, averaging 1.77 points per game. He had the third highest goals scored for the Lions, was second highest in assists, and was in a three-way tie for second most number of power play goals (six).

For a majority of the season, Manderson sat in the top-10 for points in the league before an injury sidelined him for the final six games of the schedule. Manderson finished 11th overall in points in the league.

Around the area, the neighbouring South Grenville Rangers and North Dundas Rockets each picked up a handful of trophies.

The Rangers were crowned regular season champions for the 2022-23 season. South Grenville’s 26 wins, two ties and one overtime loss saw the team finish with 55 points, four points clear of the second place Clarence Castors.

The team was also named the Top Defensive Team for the season allowing only 101 goals against.

For the second year in a row, Rangers captain Nate Medaglia was named the league’s best defenceman. Medaglia led the league for defencemen scoring nine goals, 45 assists, and averaged 1.59 points per game. Four of his nine goals were power play goals.

Rangers forward Noah Penney won the Most Improved Player award.

The North Dundas Rockets picked up three awards this season.

Anton Moshchensky was named Best Goalie with a record of 15 wins, eight losses, and one tie across 25 games. With a 2.99 goals against average, Moshchensky had one shut out for the season.

Rockets club president Kevin Byers was named Executive of the Year and head coach Steve Cameron won the Coach of the Year award.

Gatineau Hull-Volant Captain Étienne Champagne earned the league’s regular season MVP and Top Scorer awards. In 34 games with the Hull-Volant, Champagne led the league with 54 goals and was tied for second in the league for assists with 49. In all, Champagne had 103 points and led the league in power play goals with eight. He averaged 3.03 points per game.

Clarence Castors’ Jacob Servant was named the NCJHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player, and Castors’ rookie Tristan Bolduc won the Rookie of the Year award.

The Bedard Family Award for volunteerism in the league went to Mackenzie Hinton with the Vankleek Hill Cougars organization.

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