SIJHL Defensive Forward of the Year – Owen Cotter

Thunder Bay, ON – Owen Cotter of the Sioux Lookout Bombers has been voted the SIJHL Defensive Forward of the Year. The ‘05 forward from Welland, ON had a successful rookie campaign coming from the FEIA Falcons U18 team. Cotter was a big reason the Bombers were the best defensive team in the league, as he helped them to have the fewest goals allowed at 113. A big part of solid defense is being able to stay out of the box and Cotter did that well with just 18 penalty minutes despite a lot of playing time. In fact Cotter went through the months of September, October, and January without ever taking a penalty. Cotter also logged ice time on the league’s 2nd best penalty kill which was successful at an 84.5% clip. An all around great 1st campaign with an emphasis on the defensive zone helped Cotter get the nod as the SIJHL’s best defensive forward for this season. 

Honorable mention goes to the other finalists for the SIJHL’s best defensive forward award, Ryland Maier of Dryden, and Matthew MacPherson of Red Lake.