2016 YARA Awards Night Results
Before the puck dropped on their final regular season game of 2015-2016, the Moose Jaw Warriors held their annual YARA Awards Ceremony in front of the Mosaic Place crowd.
20-year-old Dryden Hunt walked away with four awards. Hunt ended a 21-year drought for Warrior 50 goal scorers, and was the first Warrior in ten years to go over 100 points in a season, with that he captured the RBC Top Scorer Award.
Over the past couple of games fans cast their votes for the YARA Fans Choice, and in the end they chose Hunt, which shows the impact that he had on the team’s fan base in his only season in Moose Jaw. He also captured the team’s 3-Star Award, which was a total accumulation of three-star nods he received throughout the season.
Hunt shared Player of the Year honours with Captain Brayden Point. The two were a dynamic and formidable duo in their only season playing together. Their chemistry was instant and they will be remembered as one of the best combos in Warriors history. They finished 1-2 in scoring, Hunt with 58 goals and 116 points, while Point had 88 points in 48 games (he missed 24 games due to an injury and his time at the World Junior Championships).
Point career in Moose Jaw was honoured an acknowledged by the organization with a special milestone award. Point, who signed last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, leaves the Warriors third all-time in assists (190), he’s second all-time in goals (134), and he’ll graduate as the team’s third all-time scorer with 324 points.
Tanner Jeannot and Noah Gregor also captured multiple awards.
Jeannot was named the team’s Most Improved Player and won the Mark MacKay Hustle Award. Jeannot’s tremendous work ethic on and off the ice led to a leadership role with the team as well as increased ice time and productivity. He finished the season with career highs in goals (17), assists (16), and points (33), all of which were big jumps from his one goal and five point rookie season.
Gregor played in all 72 games this season and was named the Most Sportsmanlike and was the team’s Rookie of the Year. Gregor suffered a collarbone last season and only played ten games, in his first full season with the Warriors he was among the WHL Rookie Scoring leaders with 28 goals and 73 points.
Rookie defenseman Colin Paradis won the Scholastic Award, in the first semester he finished with an average of 86.66%. Paradis is currently doing double classes to complete his courses prior to leaving at the end of the season.
20-year-old Marc McNulty was named the team’s Top Defenseman. Originally from Moose Jaw, McNulty joined the Warriors in October after a trade with Kamloops and immediately gave the team a consistent calming presence along the blueline. In his final WHL season, McNulty posted career highs in assists (42) and points (51).
19-year-old defenseman Josh Thrower was the recipient of the newly named Cody Smuk Unsung Hero Award, which was announced by former Captain and “Unsung Hero” award winner Kendall McFaull and was presented by Cody’s parents Marty and Darla. Thrower arrived in Moose Jaw in January after trade with Vancouver and had an immediate impact. His hard-nosed “throwback” style was a boost to the back end and he gave the team stability throughout the second half when they were playing shorthanded due to injuries.
17-year-old Brett Howden was named the Humanitarian of the Year. Throughout this season Howden has dealt with the pressures of the looming NHL Entry Draft, and worked hard to develop his skills which saw him receive an invitation to the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Gam. Even with all of this going on Howden was an active volunteer at Moose Jaw Diversified Services, and developed a relationship with Moose Jaw Special Olympics.
