KIJHL: Dynamiters honour best & brightest at annual awards banquet

Eric Buckley was a big winner at the 2016 Kimberley Dynamiters Awards Banquet as the local KIJHL club honoured its best and brightest stars Feb. 21 at the Kimberley Conference & Athlete Training Centre.

Buckley, a 20-year-old native of Penticton, received three awards, including being recognized as the team's leading scorer, after putting forth 24 goals and 70 points in his final year of junior hockey.

Goaltender Tyson Brouwer was named the team's Most Valuable Player after going 31-6-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and eight shutouts.

Buckley, the 5-foot-9, 165-pound forward who is bound for the University of Jamestown this coming fall, was voted Most Popular Player, as chosen by Kimberley Dynamiters fans.

Finally, the Century Award was bestowed on Buckley, alongside teammates Keenan Haase, Jordan Busch, Jason Richter and Jared Marchi.

The Century Award was previously presented to players reaching the 100-point plateau in a season, but with the KIJHL playing a 52-game schedule, the days of 100-point campaigns are long gone. As a result, the Century Award was repurposed for those collecting 100 points over the course of their Dynamiter careers.

Over 184 career regular season games, Buckley collected 181 points. Haase (106 points in 95 games), Busch (127 points in 146 games), Richter (201 points in 179 games) and Marchi (214 points in 228 games) were also recognized for surpassing 100 career points.