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Though he’s likely a little too busy with the Elora Mohawks at the moment to truly care, Six Nations Rebel Jason Johns (pictured at left) has been named the 2009 Western Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Not a whole lot of surprises in the 2009 award winners, but plenty of deserving players and coaches. For a look at who joins Johns as a 2009 Ontario Jr. B lacrosse award winner,

Rookies of the Year

EAST: Dylan Webster, Halton Hills Bulldogs
It would be one thing for a rookie to walk onto a hard luck low-scoring team and take his spot at the forefront of the offense. Still impressive, of course; players don’t get to dictate the situation they’re stepping into. But it’s an entirely different thing for a rookie to join the second place team in the Eastern conference — yes, the one currently leading the Clarington Green Gaels in the conference final — and end up first in team scoring and fourth in league scoring with 87 points. I guess that’s how come Dylan Webster is the rookie of the year.

WEST: Robbie Hellyer, Owen Sound NorthStars
The powerhouse Jr. A Orangeville Northmen snapped this guy up second overall in last year’s draft and after the year he put up — especially down the stretch — they have to be pleased with their picking. Hellyeah racked up 67 points in the regular season, picking up some major momentum as playoffs approached and churning out assists five at a time on an under-the-radar Owen Sound team. In the playoffs he contributed a third-in-the-league 42 points in nine games, upsetting the top-seeded Windsor AKO Fratmen and pushing the Elora Mohawks to a full five.

Most Valuable Players

EAST: Zach Palmer, Clarington Green Gaels
Well, no one ever said these awards had to be suspenseful. 90 points through 17 games on a Clarington team that’s so loaded they could’ve been in danger from suffering from too much talent (for reference, please see the Toronto Nationals), Palmer is the movement that keeps the clockwork offense ticking, dishing 59 assists in the regular season. Palmer’s touch has become invaluable as the suddenly-struggling Green Gaels are down two games to one against Halton Hills and are needing every goal they can muster, especially the five shorthandeds Palmer has already put in.

WEST: Kevin Floris, Welland Warlords
For a while there it looked like the Warlords just couldn’t catch a break. After failing to win a single game in both ‘06 and ‘07, ‘08 saw the Warlords break even with a final record of 10-10, earning them an appearance in the playoffs. And then they lost no less than 11 players, including leading scorer Steve McIlwrath to the Jr. A Athletics. With the word fluke banished from their vocabulary and a newly-crowned captain in Kevin Floris, the Warlords ripped through ‘09 en route to their most successful season yet, 13-6-1 and a down to the wire series loss to Six Nations in the Western semi-finals. As was expected, Floris’s new leadership role translated to a successful season on both ends of the floor and helped field one of the most cohesive teams in the B loop. The only bad thing that can be said about Floris is that he’s left a pretty imposing pair of shoes to fill for next year’s captain.

Most Valuable Defensive Player

EAST: John Lafontaine, Clarington Green Gaels
Much has been (rightfully) made of Clarington’s offense and goaltending, but if the saying that defense wins championships is true and the Clarington Green Gaels prevail, maybe the cup should be handed off to John Lafontaine first. A four-sport athlete, leading Clarington’s back-end is what Lafontaine is up to when he isn’t asserting himself as a dominant force on the York University basketball team, combining smarts with a ridiculous athleticism that’s been exhausting opponents all year. Oh yeah, and the defensive player of the year? Eighth in Clarington scoring.

WEST: Jason Johns, Six Nations Rebels
It takes a big man to be able to flatten offensive opponents at every opportunity. It takes an ever bigger man to know he’s capable of it and still not do it. As a five-year veteran of one of the most successful Jr. B teams of all time, Jason Johns knows what it takes to win and as a result has been hit with just 82 penalty minutes in 73 career games, all the while maintaining his reputation as one of the most imposing figures and consistent drawmen in Ontario Jr. B.

Most Sportsmanlike Players

EAST: Curtis Knight, Clarington Green Gaels
Apparently it’s easy to be a nice guy when you’re winning, since both the East and West winners are from two of the top teams. When he wasn’t busy scoring 35 and assisting on 42, Curtis Knight kept it clean, totalling just two penalty minutes in twenty games. (He got dinged with a hold, if you were wondering.)

WEST: Jeremy Johns, Six Nations Rebels
Twin brother of disciplined defender of the year Jason Johns, Jeremy scored 45 points this season and sat in the sin bin for four minutes — one slash and one trip.

Leading Scorers

EAST: Ryan Serville, Clarington Green Gaels
41 goals, 56 assists, 97 points, 4 power play goals, 13 power play assists, 3 short-handed goals, 1 short-handed assist, and 2 game-winners.

WEST: Brett Hickey, Windsor AKO Fratmen
31 goals, 41 assists, 72 points, 4 power play goals, 17 power play assists, 1 short-handed goal, 2 game-winners

Top Goaltending Duos

EAST: Zack Higgins and Matt Chamois, Clarington Green Gaels
Though this award is decided solely on numbers, once in a great while numbers don’t lie and the Clarington GAAs could pass a polygraph with flying colours. In his ten wins and one loss, Higgins came up with a GAA of 3.14 while Chamois’s six wins came with a 3.85.

WEST: Cody VanEvery and Warren Hill, Six Nations Rebels
On eight wins, two losses, and one tie VanEvery kept his GAA to 5.08 while rookie Hill had five wins and one loss with a 6.14

Coaching Staffs of the Year

EAST: Gloucester Griffins
Since it means more than anything I could ever type, what we have here is a quote pulled from a player’s poll on coaches: “I honestly believe that the coaching staff in Gloucester did a great job this year turning a perennial sub .500 team into a division winner and one who gave a tough Mimico team a very difficult first round.”

WEST: Windsor AKO Fratmen
With a strong regular season, the Windsor coaching staff clinched the conference and brought some legitimacy to a division that’s written off more often than not. The Fratmen finished with a record of 15-4-1.

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