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OHL North Bay Battalion

Wolski joins special OHL group that includes Wayne Gretzky

April 10, 2006 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


BRAMPTON, Ont. - Wojtek Wolski of the Brampton Battalion has won the William Hanley Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League's most sportsmanlike player, it was announced Monday.

The first player in the Battalion's eight-year history to win a major end-of-season trophy, centre Wolski set club records with 47 goals, 81 assists and 128 points in 56 games while drawing just 46 minutes in penalties.

"I looked at the guys who've won it in previous years and I got pretty excited," said Wolski, a Mississauga resident who turned 20 on Feb. 24. "It's gratifying any time you get an award."

Wolski started the season with the Colorado Avalanche, which chose him in the first round of the National Hockey League's 2004 Entry Draft, before rejoining the Battalion on Oct. 26. He went on to become the Troops' all-time leading scorer, with club career records of 130 goals, 198 assists and 328 points in 253 games.

"I'm happy for Wojtek," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "He's given us four solid seasons here and he's been a great captain this season. It's nice to see him get recognized.

"The guys who win this award are talented players who are capable of turning the other cheek and not retaliating. They're always putting their team first, and that's an important characteristic."

Said Wolski: "It's easy to go around hacking guys and taking stupid penalties, but I choose not to do that. I'd rather be on the power play and scoring goals than putting the team down. It all comes down to discipline."

Wolski is to be presented with the trophy, the winner of which is determined in voting by OHL general managers, at the league's annual awards ceremony at the Hockey Hall of Fame at Toronto on June 7.

Other finalists in the voting, all centres, were Cory Emmerton of the Kingston Frontenacs, Evan McGrath of the Kitchener Rangers, Cal O'Reilly of the Windsor Spitfires, Tom Pyatt of the Saginaw Spirit and Julian Talbot of the Ottawa 67's.

Each general manager first voted for players within his own conference from a list of candidates nominated by their respective teams, with the top three from each conference named as finalists. All voters then chose from among the six finalists, with players receiving points on a 5-3-1 basis. At no time was a GM allowed to vote for a player from his own team.

Centre Jeff Carter of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds won the trophy last year. He now is with the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers.

Other previous winners include Doug Jarvis of the Peterborough Petes in 1974-75, Wayne Gretzky of Sault Ste. Marie in 1977-78, Kirk Muller of the Guelph Platers in 1982-83, Andrew Cassels of Ottawa in 1987-88, Peterborough's Mike Ricci in 1989-90 and Brad Boyes of the Erie Otters in both 2000-01 and 2001-02.

The trophy is named in honour of a late Hockey Hall of Famer who served as secretary-manager of the Ontario Hockey Association for more than 25 years before retiring in 1974.

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