FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanook hockey team celebrated the 2014-15 season with its annual awards banquet, hosted by the Face Off Club, Friday night at the Westmark Hotel. The evening was highlighted by junior center Tyler Morley being named the Steve Moria Most Valuable Player.
T. Morley, who was also honored as the Keith Street Top Scorer, turned in an impressive season as he led the Nanooks and finished the regular season third in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 37 points. The alternate captain also led the team in goals and assists, with 15 and 22, respectively and was also named First Team All-WCHA as voted on by the league's coaches.
Despite missing the first two games of the season as he recovered from offseason knee surgery, the Burnaby, British Columbia native scored a joint-team high five power play goals and his 13 power play assists was second in the league. He had 13 multi-point weekends and 12 multi-point games and was a WCHA Offensive Player of the Week on two occasions.
Colton Parayko, who signed with the St. Louis Blues earlier this season and is currently playing for the team's AHL team, earned four awards at the banquet as the defensemen was tabbed the Shawn Chambers Top Defenseman and Rick Pitta Most Dedicated Player and was also awarded Pump House Team Player Award and the Fans' Choice Award.
Parayko, who was voted the team's captain this season, was named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and earned First Team All-WCHA honors, both for the second consecutive year. Hailing from St. Albert, Alberta, Parayko was third on the team with 23 points and second on the team with 17 assists, which was also good enough to put him sixth in the conference. He was also second amongst league defensemen in points overall. Five of his six goals this year came on the power play, a tally that was joint most among the Nanooks.
The defenseman led the team with 67 blocked shots and in ice time per game, had seven multi-point weekends and was a WCHA Scholar-Athlete and All-Academic for two straight seasons.
Seniors Garrick Perry, Nolan Kaiser and Sean Cahill all were honored with team awards as well, as Perry was named the Don Jamieson Unsung Hero while Kaiser and Cahill were named Dean Fedorchuk Most Improved Most Improved and Dirk Anderson Scholar Athlete, respectively.
Perry finished the fourth on the team with 20 points, tied for third on the team with seven goals as well as third on the team with 13 assists. With three game winning goals, including the winning goal in Alaska's 3-1 win over No. 1 Minnesota State on senior night, Perry tied for the team lead in that category.
Kaiser enjoyed his best season as a Nanook, as he scored four goals and had seven assists for 11 points. The defensemen's performance on the power play attributed for 75% of his goals, as he blasted in three from the point with the man advantage.
Despite missing a chunk of the season due to injury, Cahill led the team with an 1.98 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. Cahill pitched two shutouts as well, including a 1-0 win over Alaska Anchorage in the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup, where he also stopped all three shots he faced in the shutout, clinching the Cup. Cahill was also named to the All-WCHA Academic team.
Rookie center Tayler Munson was named the Doug Desorcie Top Freshman after an impressive opening season with the Nanooks. Munson finished the year with 11 points on seven goals and four assists, including three game winning goals, most recently in Alaska's 1-0 win over UAA.
Brandon Morley was the final Nanook player honored, as he was awarded the Ryan Reinheller Humantiarian of the Year Award.
In addition to player awards, long time Nanook fan, Eric Jozwiak, received the Pat and Gerry Shields Longevity Award and former Nanook, Keith Bartusch, won the Tavis MacMillan Alumni Award.
2014-15 Alaska Hockey Awards Banquet Winners
Steve Moria Most Valuable Player – Tyler Morley
Shawn Chambers Top Defenseman – Colton Parayko
Dean Fedorchuk Most Improved Most Improved – Nolan Kaiser
Don Jamieson Unsung Hero – Garrick Perry
Doug Desorcie Top Freshmen – Tayler Munson
Dirk Anderson Scholar Athlete – Sean Cahill
Fans Choice – Colton Parayko
Pump House Team Player Award – Colton Parayko
Rick Pitta Most Dedicated Player Award – Colton Parayko
Pat and Gerry Shields Award (Booster of the Year) – Eric Jozwiak
Tavis MacMillan Alumni of the Year – Keith Bartusch
Keith Street Top Scorer – Tyler Morley
Ryan Reinheller Humanitarian of the Year – Brandon Morley
