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By Sam Laskaris
Windspeaker.com Contributor
LEDUC, Alta.
Trevor Posch has been rewarded for his efforts on and off the ice during his final season of eligibility in the junior hockey ranks. Posch, a 20-year-old Cree from Leduc, took his talents out of province to play junior hockey.
He spent the past three seasons with the Humboldt Broncos, members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The SJHL is one of the 10 Junior A leagues across the country that make up the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Earlier this month Posch, a member of Manitoba’s Norway House Cree Nation, found out he is this year’s recipient of the Hockey Ministries International Roger Neilson Award. This annual award is presented to the SJHL player who best displays fair play and dedication to hockey, both on and off the ice.
The 12 head coaches in the SJHL all nominate one player from their club for the award. After those nominees have been selected, the coaches then vote for a player they would like to see win the award (they are not allowed to choose the player from their own club).
Broncos’ head coach Darcy Haugan believes Posch is a worthy recipient of the award.
“We’ve got a great group of guys here,” said Haugan, who doubles as Humboldt’s general manager. “But since Trevor is 20 years old and being a fan favourite it made it an easy choice for me.”
Posch, who spent the past three seasons playing in Humboldt, has actually been with the Broncos’ organization longer than Haugan, who completed his second year with the franchise.
Posch went to Humboldt after completing his minor hockey career by playing three seasons of Midget hockey in Alberta. He spent one year with the Leduc Oil Kings and two seasons with the Edmonton Canadians.
Posch began his extensive charitable efforts in the Humboldt community during his rookie season. And then the following year when Haugan came to town he saw for himself Posch’s various contributions.
“As I got to know Trevor more I got to see how important he is here to the community of Humboldt,” he said. “He’s done it consistently since being here in Humboldt."
Posch was unaware that Haugan had put forth his name as the Broncos’ nominee for the award. But he was pleased to capture some league-wide recognition.
“It made me feel good about myself, and obviously there’s a lot of great guys on the team,” he said. “I’m just lucky to even be nominated.”
The award is named in honour of the late Roger Neilson, a former National Hockey League coach who died in 2003. Neilson coached eight different NHL squads. They were Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators.
Off the ice Posch was visible in the Humboldt community during his junior career. He would often dedicate his Monday nights to play floor hockey with members of the local Special Olympics organization.
“He’s got a really big heart,” Haugan said, adding it is a joy to see the rapport Posch had with the Special Olympians and the smiles he would bring to their faces.
Also, when the Broncos were looking for team members to volunteer at other community events, Posch was often the first to sign up.
He took part in various school visits and also helped out at the Humboldt Soup Kitchen. Haugan said Posch was not volunteering his time in order to get any praise or recognition.
“A lot of people do good deeds because they want to be seen or advance their resumes,” he said. “But with Trevor he has no ulterior motives. He has done a lot of things quietly that you will never find out about. He doesn’t post good things he does on social media just so other people will see it. He goes about things quietly.”
On the ice Posch netted a career high 23 goals this season. He added 21 assists in 48 regular season games to finish second in team scoring.
Posch had also placed second in Broncos’ scoring a year ago with 44 points (20 goals and 24 assists), the same amount he had this season. He appeared in 56 games though last season.
Posch, however, would have preferred to see the Broncos enjoy some more playoff success in his final year of junior eligibility.
Humboldt posted a 31-25-1-1 regular season record, good for fifth place in the overall SJHL standings.
After receiving an opening-round bye, the Broncos were then swept 4-0 by the Nipawin Hawks in their best-of-seven quarter-final series.