It was in many ways a splendid run.
Four years of hometown junior hockey as a second generation member of the Okotoks Jr. B Bisons now capped off with a spot on the team’s esteemed Wall of Fame.
As president Mike Parsons put it to close out the Bisons awards banquet ‘welcome to the Mark McLeod night.’
“It’s a great, great honour from the organization,” said McLeod, the graduating captain of the Bisons. “I grew up watching the team, got to play for them, got to be part of the dynasty run. That will be really hard to replicate ever again in this league.
“I made a lot of great friends playing for this team. It was just a blast playing the last four years.”
McLeod, whose father Scott was the leading scorer for the inaugural season of the club then known as the Okotoks 85ers, graduates as the last remaining player from the Bisons’ most recent championship.
In his rookie-season of 2013-14 the Okotokian helped Okotoks pull off its fourth consecutive Heritage Junior Hockey League banner.
Since then, three different teams have hoisted the trophy.
Tied for 42nd all time with 145 career points, ironically enough with fellow graduating forward Connor Tudor, McLeod joins a number of former teammates on the wall including Darren Bordt, Tyson Arnholtz and members of the revered 2014 graduating class Michael Savage, Phil Dillon and Matt Howatt.
“I always felt a lot of support from every member of the Bisons organization. I knew they had my back my fours years there. To get that honour from them is great,” McLeod said. “To be up there with some of my friends like Darren, Tyson and even guys from my first year like Michael, Phil and Matt is awesome.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words.”
There were plenty of words spoken about the stalwart member of the club at the April 21 banquet at the Foothills Centennial Centre.
McLeod was running out of room to stack his plaques after cleaning up on award night. He took home the Leadership Award, Most Sportsmanlike Player, the Academic Achievement Award as well as closing out the evening as the winner of the President’s Award.
“My mind was made up about halfway through the year and solidified when I asked the board who they thought,” Parsons said. “Every year in the past there has usually been two or three or four names thrown at me. This year is the first I can remember one name and one name only mentioned.”
Leading scorer Josh McCulloch took home the team MVP award after putting up nearly two points per game, 31 goals 70 points in 36 games, in his debut season with the squad.
“It was difficult to find one guy that really stood out,” said Bisons head coach Mike Hannigan. “We managed to choose a guy that won a lot of games for us this year.”
Tudor, who led the squad with seven goals and 11 points in seven post-season games, was named the team’s playoff MVP.
Okotokian Jaret Bordt earned Top Defenceman honours after finishing his second season with the herd with a total of nine goals and 35 points. Bordt also won the Plus/Minus crown finishing the campaign at +45.
“This was pretty much a no-brainer this year,” said Bisons coach Blake Wildeman on the defenceman. “He played every game, was never hurt. If he was hurt, he played hurt. Played in every situation, played a ton of minutes.”
Forward Kyle Harrison marked a freshman season to remember, leading all first year skaters with 11 goals and 24 points, as the team’s Rookie of the Year. Talented provocateur Michael Stach saw his role increase throughout the season and was named the team’s Most Improved Player.
Kyle Becker, arguably the toughest pound for pound skater in the league along with being the team’s second leading scorer, won the Hardest Working Player award as voted on by his teammates.
Graduating forward Spencer Bender was voted Top Defensive Player. Tyler Whiteside was credited for staying committed to the club after severing part of his finger as the Perseverance No Guts/No Glory honouree.
Goaltender Matt McDonald, who led the league with a .928 save percentage, was voted Most Dedicated. McDonald, fellow goaltender Draven Rees and defenceman Bradley Whitehead joined McLeod as co-winners of the Academic Achievement Award.
Director of Volunteers Rene Nielsen, whose been involved with the club on different levels for 12 seasons, was named the Volunteer of the Year.
For more information on the Bisons go to okotoksbisons.com
