COVID-19 didn’t cancel the boys hockey season, but it did force the cancelation of the Brainerd Warriors end-of-season banquet.
Had the event gone off as planned Warriors head coach Dave Aus would have handed the Most Valuable Player award to senior forward Christian Kadolph.
“The 2019-20 Warrior hockey season had a lot of ups and downs for our team,” Aus said. “The team had a very difficult schedule, which made wins a bit more scarce than usual. The Warriors faced many tough teams, including the Class 2A runners-up, Eden Prairie and the Class 1A runners-up, Hermantown.
“The boys worked very hard from the start of the season to the very end. We always got the best effort from the group, in both practice and games, which made this one of the most enjoyable seasons one could have. We had a number of guys who volunteered time with Special Hockey Minnesota, Brainerd Amateur Hockey Association, the annual Adopt a Family Christmas event and in other community areas of need.
We say goodbye to a wonderful group of seniors who will be missed greatly. This group of seniors was not only leaders on the ice, but also in the classroom and in the community. This was the best group of captains that I have had the pleasure of coaching in my time at Brainerd. They did an absolutely tremendous job leading this group of young men.
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Brainerd’s captains this season were Michael Laber, Josh McLain, Kadolph and Ian Aadland.
Kadlolph also landed the Warrior Award and the Warrior Coaches Award. Aadland was named Best Defensive Player and the Hobey Baker Character Award winner.
Jacob Drietz was named the most improved. Haden Kruse was named the Best Offensive Player. Rookie of the Year honors went to Jed Klang and Mason Argir was named the Unsung Hero Award.
For Brainerd’s junior varsity, Damian Holbrooks was named Most Improved. The Hardest Worker Award went to Hayden MacLaughlin. Cayden Kleffman was the junior varsity’s Best Defensive Player and the Best Offensive Player was Alex Jones.
The Warrior Strong Award for the offseason workout leaders went to MacLauglin and Steven Pribula. The Voice of the Warriors was Bill Satre.
All-Central Lakes Conference and honorable mention selections were Kruse, Eric Pohlkamp, Kadolph, Aadland, Laber, McLain and Westin Andres.
Scholar all-conference went to Aadland, Kadolph, Drietz, McLain, Kaleb Sundquist and Seth Vagts.
