Sugar Kings goaltender Reinhart wins Mid-Western Jr. B MVP award
KITCHENER — Elmira Sugar Kings netminder Jonathan Reinhart reigned over the local Jr. B hockey realm this season.
The 20-year-old Cambridge native was named the Mid-Western Conference’s most valuable player at its annual awards banquet on Monday night.
“(Reinhart) has had a fantastic season. I don’t know where we’d be without him,” said Jeff Snyder, Elmira’s director of hockey operations.
In his final junior campaign, Reinhart is the Kings’ franchise leader in multiple goaltending categories. He posted imperial numbers this season, too, including a 30-7-1 record, a stingy goals against average of 2.38, and a sparkling save percentage of .931.
Reinhart has been a prince among men for Elmira since the 2013-14 season, until he left briefly last season for a swing through the British Columbia Hockey League and the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
He returned to Elmira at last season’s roster deadline and has been feasting on a king’s banquet ever since.
“(Reinhart) really bailed us out a lot of nights. Our fans just love him. I’m so happy for him,” said Snyder.
The acrobatic puckstopper will have to be on top of his game as his second-place Kings launch their playoff drive this week. Elmira entertains the Guelph Hurricanes on Wednesday at the Dan Snyder Arena. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
Elmira’s defensive corps is banged up with regulars Tyler McBay (lower body) and conference all-star Josh Slegers (illness) expected to miss the series opener, at least.
Meanwhile, the first-place
Listowel Cyclones put the finishing touches to their franchiserecord regular season. Their 40 wins are a good way to bid farewell to the rustic Listowel Memorial Arena, said Cyclones head coach Jason Brooks. But there’s more work to be done before the Cyclones pack their bags.
“We want to give our fans something to cheer about,” said Brooks, whose club is set to move into a new facility in Listowel in September.
“It would be really neat to have
the opportunity to win in our old barn.”
Other league awards announced on Monday included: first-place team, Listowel; rookie of the year Brock Baier (Listowel); conference scoring champ Ethan Skinner (Elmira); coach of the year Dan Fitzgerald (Cambridge); top defenceman Jordan Oshowy (Cambridge); sportsmanship and ability Ethan Skinner (Elmira).
The best team goaltending Brock Baier and Justin Hergott (Listowel); best defensive forwards Caleb Warren (Listowel) and Austin Gaboury (Kitchener); outstanding contribution to team Adam Kawalec (Kitchener); Santarossa scholarship winners Zac Coulter (Elmira), Rob Kohli (Elmira) and Matthew Woods (Brantford). First-team all-stars: goalie Jonathan Reinhart (Elmira); defencemen Jordan Oshowy (Cambridge) and Logan Schmidt (Kitchener); forwards Ethan Skinner (Elmira), Connor Cole (Kitchener) and Holden Lansink (Listowel). Second-team allstars: goalie Brock Baier (Listowel); defencemen Josh Slegers (Elmira) and Keaton Willis (Listowel); forwards Adam Kawalec (Kitchener), Ryan Shaw (Cambridge) and Mitch Hoelscher (Elmira).