Broncos hand out year-end hardware
The Swift Current Broncos recognized some of their top performers when the team announced its annual awards winners on Thursday.
Veteran goaltender Isaac Poulter was the big winner once again as he captured three awards this season, including his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award. Poulter, who has one season of Western Hockey League eligibility remaining, was also a repeat winner as the Team’s Most Popular Player and Humanitarian of the Year.
The former 2016 sixthround pick completed his third season with the Broncos with a 3-12-1-0 record. The Winnipeg native has now appeared in 88 games with the Broncos as he heads into his overage season.
Overage forward Michael Farren was the other multi-award winner this season. The waiver wire claim led the Broncos with nine goals and 23 points while appearing in all 24 games. He was recognized with the Leadership and Maturity
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Award and earned the Top Scorer Award with three points in his final game.
Farren finished his WHL career with 107 points in 249 regular season games with the Saskatoon Blades, Kelowna Rockets, and Swift Current Broncos.
Defenseman Sam Mcginley was the other repeat winner when he won the Most Improved Player award for the second straight season. Mcginley was a trade acquisition from the Regina Pats in 2019-20 and posted 12 points in 39 games last season with the Broncos. He played in all situations this season and finished with six points in 22 games in the East Division Hub in Regina.
A pair of overagers were co-recipients of the Top Defenseman award as Kaleb Bulych and Owen Williams were both recognized. Bulych finished with five points and 41 penalty minutes in 24 games during his second season with the Broncos. Williams was another waiver claim from Seattle and responded with
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15 points in 24 games on the Bronco blueline.
Mathew Ward was rewarded for an incredible debut with the Broncos with the Rookie of the
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Year award. The 2019 first-round pick finished second amongst WHL rookies with 16 assists and finished second on the Broncos with 22 points in 23 games, an offensive output for a Bronco 16-year-old that has not been produced in decades.
The complete list of 2020-21 awards winners was as follows:
Most Improved – Sam
Mcginley*
Chairman of Boards – Eric Houk
Desire and Sportsmanship – Cole Nagy
Fan’s Most Popular – Chase Lacombe
Team’s Most Popular Player – Isaac Poulter*
Top Defenseman – Kaleb Bulych & Owen Williams
Most Sportsmanlike – Carter Stebbings
Scholastic Achievement
the
– Braeden Lewis
Coaches Award – Caleb Wyrostok
Humanitarian of the Year – Isaac Poulter*
Top Scorer – Michael Farren
Rookie of the Year – Mathew Ward
Leadership and Maturity – Michael Farren
Most Valuable Player – Isaac Poulter*.
* denotes repeat winner