Evans named MVP for the playoffs

LAKERS LIFE

Shawn Evans won the Johnny (Shooter) Davis Trophy as the MSL playoffs most valuable player.

Evans led all scorers in the playoffs with 12 goals and 43 assists for 55 points in 11 games. It comes on the heels of him winning the regular season scoring title with 103 points.

He won the Mike Kelly Award as Mann Cup MVP before but this is his first time winning the MSL award.

“When you win things like that it shows the success of your teammates,” Evans said. “Kudos to my defence, offence and goaltenders. We all stepped up to win.”

Evans is excited about the opportunity to play for a Mann Cup again.

“Every year they get harder,” Evans said. “It was a battle but with this group of guys we got a little bit younger and guys like Zach Currier got two this game and four in the series. Jake Withers controlled the faceoffs and controlled the game and got a couple of big goals for us at times when we needed it. It wasn’t easy.”

Coaching staff of the year

The Lakers coaching staff of head coach Mike Hasen, GM Paul Day, defensive coach Bobby Keast and offensive coach Tracey Kelusky were named the MSL Coaching Staff of the Year on Thursday.

The foursome led the Lakers to a first-place regular season record. The Lakers have won three of the five awards announced by the league so far including Shawn Evans as scoring champion and goalies Evan Kirk and Matt Vinc the lowest goals-againstaverage trophy. Brooklin’s Reilly O’Connor was named MSL regular season MVP and Graeme Hossack was named the top defender.

Roster notes

The Lakers made their first lineup change of the series inserting Joel Matthews in place of Josh Currier. Lakers GM Paul Day said they felt Matthews size would match up well against the Chiefs. The Chiefs added Brier Jonathan back into the lineup and took out Leo Stouros. Austin Staats played his second game of the series.