Keefe, DeAngelo earn CHL honours (update)

QUEBEC – The honours continue for the Soo Greyhounds.

The Canadian Hockey League award winners were announced in a banquet on Saturday night ahead of the 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup final on Sunday.

A pair of members of the Greyhounds were honoured at the banquet as Coach Sheldon Keefe and defenceman Anthony DeAngelo picked up awards.

Keefe was named the MasterCard Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year while DeAngelo was named the Liftmaster Defenceman of the Year.

“It’s an incredible honour,” said Keefe. “There’s a long list of coaches in the OHL alone, never mind the entire country across three leagues. There’s a lot of excellent coaches that had great seasons this year and deserving of such an honour. To be the one that receives the recognition, I recognize the honour and I’m grateful for that.”

Keefe led the Greyhounds to a record-setting season as the club went 54-12-0-2, which was good for 110 points, which was a new organizational record.

The team finished the season first in the Ontario Hockey League standings and won the West Division title for the second consecutive season.

“There are a lot of good memories of what we accomplished and what we went through,” said Keefe.

DeAngelo finished the season as the OHL’s top scoring defenceman with 25 goals and 89 points in 55 games split between the Greyhounds and Sarnia Sting.

DeAngelo joined the Greyhounds prior to the trade deadline and scored 15 goals and 51 points in 26 games before adding 16 assists in 13 playoff games.

“In coming to us, the talent we had around him and the system we had in place really allowed him to take his game to another level and the results speak for themselves,” Keefe said. “He was dominant as a player for us. It’s nice to see him get recognized.”

Keefe was named the OHL’s coach of the year to earn the OHL nomination while DeAngelo was named the OHL’s top defenceman to be nominated for the CHL award.

To the surprise of few, Erie Otters forward Connor McDavid was named the Sportsnet Player of the Year at the banquet.

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OTHER AWARDS

Jack Link’s Top Prospect of the Year: Connor McDavid (Erie Otters)
Sherwin-Williams Top Scorer: (Tie) Conor Garland (Moncton Wildcats) and Dylan Strome (Erie Otters)
CCM Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year: Rourke Chartier (Kelowna Rockets)
TVA Sports Humanitarian of the Year: Danick Martel (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)
Subway Scholastic Player of the Year: Connor McDavid (Erie Otters)
BMO Rookie of the Year: Alex DeBrincat (Erie Otters)
Vaughan Goaltender of the Year: Philippe Desrosiers (Rimouski Oceanic)

(Photo: Soo Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe. Terry Wilson/CHLImages)

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MEMORIAL CUP RECAPS

May 22: Quebec vs. Kelowna

May 23: Oshawa vs. Rimouski

May 24: Oshawa vs. Quebec

May 25: Kelowna vs. Rimouski

May 26: Kelowna vs. Oshawa

May 27: Rimouski vs. Quebec

May 28: Rimouski vs. Quebec

May 29: Kelowna vs. Quebec