Weekly star. Player of the game. Scholarship won.
Quite the week for North Okanagan Knights goalie Austin Seibel.
The 17-year-old player from Coldstream played in the first B.C. Hockey Conference Prospects Game in Chilliwack Tuesday, Nov. 22, which featured the KIJHL’s top prospects taking on the best from the Pacific Junior Hockey League.
Seibel started the game – won 4-3 by the KIJHL – and played the first 30 minutes, making 20 of 21 saves and helping his team to a 3-1 lead. An unreal save made on a penalty kill helped Seibel earn the KIJHL’s Player of the Game honour, picking up a $250 scholarship.
He and Knights defenceman Adam Bourgeois were two-thirds of the Instat KIJHL’s 3 Stars of the Week for Nov. 20.
Bourgeois was named Top Defenceman and Seibel Top Goalie. They were joined by Top Forward Keenan Ingram of the Columbia Valley Rockies.
From Fort St. John, Bourgeois had a goal and two assists in three games, helping the Knights win all three of their games. He scored the winning goal in a 5-2 final against the Osoyoos Coyotes and he assisted on the tying goal as the Knights defeated the Kamloops Storm 3-2 in a shootout.
For the season, Bourgeois has three goals and 10 points in 13 games.
Seibel earned three victories against Osoyoos, Kamloops and 100 Mile House. Against the Coyotes, Seibel stopped 22 of 24 shots, then 25 of 27 shots against Kamloops and had a 25-save shutout against 100 Mile House. He finished with a combined .947 save percentage and a 1.30 goals against average.
Ingram, from Calgary, had five goals and two assists in two games, helping the Rockies defeat the Castlegar Rebels and the Grand Forks Border Bruins.
Ingram had one of the four KIJHL goals in the Prospects Game. Ryan Larsen of the Kamloops Storm led the offence with 1+2 while single markers went to Jonathan Ward of the Princeton Posse and Chad Bates of the Grand Forks Border Bruins.
Sicamous Eagles goalie Damon Cunningham played the second half of the contest in goal for the KIJHL, making 14 saves on 16 shots.
The Knights will look to extend their KIJHL winning streak to six games Saturday, Nov. 26, when they visit the Bill Ohlhausen Division-leading Posse in Princeton.
READ MORE: Coldstream goalie named to Prospects Game rosters
READ MORE: North Okanagan Knights edge Summerland Steam in OT
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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