HALIFAX –
Nikolas Brouillard of McGill University was named defencemen of the year at the U SPORTS men's annual All-Canadian awards gala, Wednesday.
A 24-year-old native of St. Hilaire, Que., Brouillard earned first-team all-Canadian honours as well. He posted a 7-16-23 record with 28 penalty minutes in 28 regular season games, ranking sixth among U SPORTS rearguards in goals and 10th in points. He becomes the fourth recipient from McGill to merit the nation's top blue-liner honours, joining a list that includes
Ryan McKiernan (2014) and
Marc-André Dorion, who won it twice (2012, 2010).
"Nik is an instrumental part of our hockey club, he plays in all situations for us and quarterbacks our power-play," says McGill head coach
Liam Heelis of the wiry 5-foot-11, 168-pound economics junior, who possesses a shot as hard as any blue-liner in the country and forces opposing teams to defend differently when he is on the ice. "He sees the ice extremely well and also has the ability to finish whenever he gets a scoring chance. I consider him a big game player and someone that can shift the momentum on any given night. He's a dynamic skater and a dynamic shooter."
Since joining the university ranks after stints in the ECHL and AHL, the two-time OUA all-star has tallied 22 goals and 49 points in 57 regular season games. He also has a 3-12-15 record in 17 career post-season contests.
Brouillard is the 22nd all-Canadian in McGill hockey history (see list below). He also played for the U SPORTS all-stars against Canadian junior prospects in each of the last two years and has registered five points in those five games. He also played for a university all-star squad from the Quebec-based teams in the OUA East against the Montreal Canadiens rookie team (Oct. 2019) and was previously invited to NHL training camps with Winnipeg (2013), San Jose (2014) and Toronto (2015, 2016).
Other major awards went to Saskatchewan netminder
Taran Kozun, who was was presented with the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy as player of the year and also took home the goaltender of the year honour. Saint Mary's forward
Mitchell Balmas captured the Clare Drake Award as rookie of the year, while Saskatchewan forward
Levi Cable was named the winner of the R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award as most sportsmanlike player and Acadia defenceman
Liam Maaskant earned the Dr. Randy Gregg Award for student-athlete community service. Finally, Toronto bench boss
Ryan Medel received the Father George Kehoe Memorial Award as Fox 40 coach of the year.
As the exclusive provider of championship rings and recognition jewelry of U SPORTS,
Baron will provide customized rings to the first team All-Canadians in football, basketball and hockey, as well as other major award winners.
The puck drops on 2020 U SPORTS Cavendish Farms University Cup Final Eight tournament – hosted jointly by the Acadia Axemen and Sports & Entertainment Atlantic – on Thursday and concludes Sunday with the gold medal game at 6 p.m. EDT. All games will be played at the Scotiabank Centre, home of the Canadian Hockey League's Halifax Mooseheads.
Live streaming in English is available for free worldwide on
CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem, the CBC Sports App for
iOS and
Android devices, with French digital coverage carried on
USPORTS.LIVE.
Past Award Winners
2019-20 U SPORTS MAJOR AWARDS ALL-CANADIANS & ALL-ROOKIE TEAMS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Taran Kozun, Saskatchewan
DEFENCEMAN OF THE YEAR:
Nikolas Brouillard, McGill
GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR:
Taran Kozun, Saskatchewan
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
Mitchell Balmas, Saint Mary's
MOST SPORTSMANLIKE PLAYER:
Levi Cable,
Saskatchewan
LEADERSHIP & COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD:
Liam Maaskant,
Acadia
COACH OF THE YEAR:
Ryan Medel,
Toronto
| First Team All-Canadians |
| Pos. |
First Name |
Last Name |
School |
Elig. |
Hometown |
Program |
| F |
Tyler |
Boland |
UNB |
3 |
St. John's, N.L. |
Recreation & Sports Studies |
| F |
David |
Thomson |
Toronto |
2 |
Vaughan, Ont. |
Psychology / Criminology |
| F |
Grayson |
Pawlenchuk |
Alberta |
2 |
Edmonton, Alta. |
Business |
| D |
Nikolas |
Brouillard |
McGill |
4 |
St. Hilaire, Que. |
Economics |
| D |
Nick |
Welsh |
Saint Mary's |
2 |
Halifax, N.S. |
Commerce |
| G |
Taran |
Kozun |
Saskatchewan |
3 |
Nipawin, Sask. |
Arts & Sciences |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Team All-Canadians |
| F |
Mitchell |
Balmas |
Saint Mary's |
1 |
Sydney, N.S. |
Commerce |
| F |
Matt |
Alfaro |
Calgary |
3 |
Calgary, Alta. |
Science |
| F |
Chris |
Paquette |
RMC |
1 |
Kingston, Ont. |
Military Arts & Science |
| D |
Adam |
Henry |
Manitoba |
5 |
Winnipeg, Man. |
Management |
| D |
Owen |
Headrick |
UPEI |
4 |
Garden River, Ont. |
Arts |
| G |
Logan |
Flodell |
Acadia |
2 |
Regina, Sask. |
Business Admin. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| All-Rookie Team |
| F |
Mitchell |
Balmas |
Saint Mary's |
1 |
Sydney, N.S. |
Commerce |
| F |
Chris |
Paquette |
RMC |
1 |
Kingston, Ont. |
Military Arts & Science |
| F |
Jared |
Dmytriw |
Saskatchewan |
1 |
Craven, Sask. |
Business |
| D |
Dawson |
Davidson |
Alberta |
1 |
Moosomin, Sask. |
Arts |
| D |
Jordan |
Sambrook |
Brock |
1 |
Markham, Ont. |
Social Sciences |
| G |
Samuel |
Harvey |
UNB |
1 |
Alma, Que. |
Business Admin. |
McGILL MEN'S HOCKEY ALL-CANADIANS
| SEASON |
NAME |
POS |
TEAM |
| 1982-83 |
George Burnett |
F |
1st |
| 1986-87 |
Mark Reade |
F |
1st |
| 1987-88 |
Tim Iannone |
F |
1st |
| 1988-89 |
Tim Iannone |
F |
1st |
| 1989-90 |
Bryan Larkin |
F |
1st |
| 1991-92 |
Martin Raymond |
F |
1st |
| 1995-96 |
Pierre Gendron |
F |
1st |
| 1996-97 |
Pierre Gendron |
F |
1st |
| 1999-00 |
David Bahl |
D |
1st |
| 1999-00 |
Mathieu Darche |
F |
1st |
| 2002-03 |
David Burgess |
F |
1st |
| 2005-06 |
Mathieu Poitras |
F |
1st |
| 2006-07 |
David Urquhart |
D |
2nd |
| 2009-10 |
Francis Verreault-Paul |
F |
1st |
| 2009-10 |
Marc-Andre Dorion |
D |
1st |
| 2010-11 |
Alexandre Picard-Hooper |
F |
1st |
| 2010-11 |
Marc-Andre Dorion |
D |
1st |
| 2011-12 |
Marc-Andre Dorion |
D |
1st |
| 2013-14 |
Ryan McKiernan |
D |
1st |
| 2014-15 |
Cedric McNicoll |
F |
2nd |
| 2015-16 |
Samuel Labrecque |
D |
1st |
| 2019-20 |
Nikolas Brouillard |
D |
1st |
|
|
|
|
