(above) DU recruit Joe Colborne after winning the Alberta Junior Playoff Championship last monthFrom: Standard Freeholder.com
Consider it a break from tradition. This year, organizers didn't wait until the end of the tournament before announcing who Canada's junior A player of the year is.
When it's a special player, one who's actually competing in the tournament, hey, you want to get the word out.
"It's just a huge honour for me to win this,'' said DU recruit Joe Colborne, the towering 6'4'' forward with the Camrose, Alberta, Kodiaks, who's the 2008 RBC CJAHL top player award winner. "I was pretty surprised when I found out (last week in Penticton).''
(The official top-player announcement is usually made at the end-of-the-week Royal Bank Cup banquet.)
The Hockey Canada national selection committee made Colborne, of Calgary, a unanimous choice, and it's fairly easy to see why. Colborne, who just turned 18, is a two-year junior A veteran who had 90 points (33 goals, 57 assists) this season with the Kodiaks.
In the playoffs, he added another 16 points (eight goals, eight assists), and he was named Alberta Junior Hockey League playoff most valuable player.
Colborne has plenty of junior A eligibility remaining, but when the RBC event ends in a week, so will have Colborne's junior career.
He's already committed to play on scholarship next season at the University of Denver.
"It's been a great two years (in Camrose), Colborne said, "but we talked about it, I talked with (head coach Boris Rybalka), we agreed I had learned a lot here and it was time to move on.''
Colborne is considered a special player - NHL Central Scouting has him ranked 28th among North American skaters heading into this year's draft.
But Colborne isn't thinking about the NHL just yet. He's got the cup in Cornwall on his mind.
"We don't know much about the other teams, but we're pretty happy with the way we've played,'' Colborne said. "We played well enough to get here, and now we have one more week to go.''
Colborne and the Kodiaks won the Alberta title, and then it was time to cross the Rockies and meet the British Columbia-champion Penticton Vees. And check out the scheduling for that best-of-seven: due to the great distances in the west - it's a 13-hour bus ride between the towns - Camrose played twice at home, and then faced the prospect of five straight games in Penticton.
A good thing for the Kodiaks is, they took care of business at home, going ahead 2-0 in front of close to 3,000 fans each night at their new home facility.
"Our fans were great, and they helped us get off to a (good series start),'' said Colborne, whose club then headed further west and wound up winning the series in five games.
Added Colborne: "We've had a few days off. We're feeling good, we're ready to go.''
When it's a special player, one who's actually competing in the tournament, hey, you want to get the word out.
"It's just a huge honour for me to win this,'' said DU recruit Joe Colborne, the towering 6'4'' forward with the Camrose, Alberta, Kodiaks, who's the 2008 RBC CJAHL top player award winner. "I was pretty surprised when I found out (last week in Penticton).''
(The official top-player announcement is usually made at the end-of-the-week Royal Bank Cup banquet.)
The Hockey Canada national selection committee made Colborne, of Calgary, a unanimous choice, and it's fairly easy to see why. Colborne, who just turned 18, is a two-year junior A veteran who had 90 points (33 goals, 57 assists) this season with the Kodiaks.
In the playoffs, he added another 16 points (eight goals, eight assists), and he was named Alberta Junior Hockey League playoff most valuable player.
Colborne has plenty of junior A eligibility remaining, but when the RBC event ends in a week, so will have Colborne's junior career.
He's already committed to play on scholarship next season at the University of Denver.
"It's been a great two years (in Camrose), Colborne said, "but we talked about it, I talked with (head coach Boris Rybalka), we agreed I had learned a lot here and it was time to move on.''
Colborne is considered a special player - NHL Central Scouting has him ranked 28th among North American skaters heading into this year's draft.
But Colborne isn't thinking about the NHL just yet. He's got the cup in Cornwall on his mind.
"We don't know much about the other teams, but we're pretty happy with the way we've played,'' Colborne said. "We played well enough to get here, and now we have one more week to go.''
Colborne and the Kodiaks won the Alberta title, and then it was time to cross the Rockies and meet the British Columbia-champion Penticton Vees. And check out the scheduling for that best-of-seven: due to the great distances in the west - it's a 13-hour bus ride between the towns - Camrose played twice at home, and then faced the prospect of five straight games in Penticton.
A good thing for the Kodiaks is, they took care of business at home, going ahead 2-0 in front of close to 3,000 fans each night at their new home facility.
"Our fans were great, and they helped us get off to a (good series start),'' said Colborne, whose club then headed further west and wound up winning the series in five games.
Added Colborne: "We've had a few days off. We're feeling good, we're ready to go.''
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