Warriors honour regular season's best

Photo: Contributed - John Hebert

Warriors recognized graduating players (l to r) Daniel Gayle, Tyler Briggs, Brett Zarazun, Josh Monk, Brett McKinnon (coach Brent Gough), Shawn Hochhausen and Max French.

The West Kelowna Warriors had a chance to sit back and relax after a hectic end to the regular season.

The Warriors, who open up the post season Friday night at Royal LePage Place against the Merritt Centennials wrapped up the season with a thrilling three game sweep of their island road trip.

The sweep allowed them to finish second in the Interior Division of the BC Hockey League, three points better than the third place Centennials.

Monday, the club gathered with fans and sponsors for their annual awards banquet.

Captain Max French and 17-year-old forward Brennan Clark each walked away with three trophies Monday.

French, playing in his final season with the Warriors was named winner of the Heart & Soul award, Fan Favourite and shared Best Forward with Seb Lloyd.

Clark was named Most Improved Player, Humanitarian of the Year and also shared the Academic Award with rookie Adam Plant.

In just his second year with the Warriors, Clark tied for fourth on the club with 17 goals after managing only four during his rookie campaign.

Other award winners Monday include:

• Chaplaincy Award - Josh Monk
•  Best Defenceman - Josh Monk
• Rookie of the Year - Adam Plant and Matt Anholt
• Three Star Award - Seb Lloyd
• Leading Scorer - Marcus Basara
• Best All Round Player - Shawn Hochhausen
• Community Minded Player - Dustin Cave
• Most Valuable Player - Tyler Briggs

The opening two games of the opening round series between the Warriors and Centennials will be played Friday and Saturday at Royal LePage Place.

The series will shift to Merritt for games three and four next Monday and Tuesday.