The 2019-2020 BCHL season has come to a close and as the playoffs are set to begin, the league announced its award winners on Wednesday. Along with the league’s various award winners, the BCHL also announced its First Team All-Stars for the season as well. The team featured some big names that all had fantastic seasons, including top 2021 prospect Kent Johnson. Alongside Johnson, goaltender Clay Stevenson, defensemen Akito Hirose and Dimitri Mikrogiannakis and forwards Jay O’Brien and Christophe Tellier were named to the team.
Clay Stevenson
In his third season in the BCHL, Clay Stevenson finally found his game. After two sub-par seasons with the Coquitlam Express, the 6’4 goaltender failed to record a .900 save percentage or higher during the regular season. This season, however, Stevenson looked like a completely new goaltender. No goaltender in the entire league had a better SV% and GAA then Stevenson’s 1.77 GAA and .926 SV%.
His astonishing statistics earned him more than just first All-Star team honours. He was named as the 2020 BCHL Goaltender Of The Year. The Chilliwack native is one of the major reasons why the Express finished the regular season as the league’s top team.
Stevenson finished his last regular season in the BCHL off in a spectacular manner and will look to continue to backstop his team in the playoffs as the Express look to take home the Fred Page Cup. Next season, Stevenson is headed to Dartmouth College where he will take his skill to the NCAA. Stevenson was named as a top-three finalist for the MVP award this season and he was clearly deserving of the nomination to say the least.
Akito Hirose
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks featured the best defender in the league during the 2019-2020 season. It was the second time in the past six seasons that a Silverbacks defender was named as the league’s best. Akito Hirose took home the honours after a fantastic showing which lasted all season.
In his fourth and final season in the league, Hirose exploded offensively with 51 points in 57 games. He led all BCHL defensemen in points and finished 19th overall in league scoring. The 20-year-old blue-liner is headed to the NCAA next season where he will play for Minnesota State University (Mankato) where he will continue his development. His 42 assists also tied for the third most in the entire league, trailing only Kent Johnson and Chrisophe Tellier.
Dimitri Mikrogiannakis
His Sophomore season in the BCHL turned could not have been any better for Dimitri Mikrogiannakis. The Cowichan Valley Capitals blue-liner was arguably his team’s top player all season, finishing second in points with 46, all while maintaining a strong level of play in his own zone was a crucial part of the Capitals success this season.
Mikrogiannakis was a big part of a Capitals roster that finished in second place in the Island Division and finished fourth place in the overall league standings. The Aurora, Ontario native came to the BCHL after playing for two seasons at the Junior A level in Ontario (OJHL). The 2019-2020 season was by far the best statistical season of Mikrogiannakis’ young career.
He set a new career high in points over the course of his entire career, even before he played Junior A. Mikrogiannakis was one of the three finalists for the Defensive Award which is handed out annually to the league’s top defender. Although he ultimately lost to fellow All-Star team member Akito Hirose, Mikrogiannakis deserves to be recognized for an All-Star stature season.
While he may have lost to Hirose in the top defender races, he did beat him out in the MVP race in which he was named as one of three finalists for the Vern Dye Memorial Trophy. Next season, he will look to build off of his successful 2019-2020 season when he joins RIT (Rochester Inst. of Tech.) of the NCAA.
Kent Johnson
If there is one player on this list who was a lock, it was Kent Johnson. After being named to the BCHL All-Rookie team last season, Johnson came into the 2019-2020 season at a level above everyone else. His dominant play this season has put himself in the top-10 pick conversation at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Being named to the first-all star team was just the beginning for Kent Johnson. Johnson was in a class all by himself this regular season. He finished the season with the highest PPG% in the BCHL (not including players with up to two games played) with 1.94.
His 102 points in his D-1 season was one of the best we have ever seen from a D-1 player over the past 20 seasons. Johnson finished the season with the most points in which he finished 30 points ahead of the next highest scorer despite playing six less games. His 41 goals were the highest total in the league along with his 60 assists which was also the league’s highest total.
The winner of the Brett Hull Trophy, which is awarded to the league’s top scorer every season, was also named as the league’s most sportsmanlike player which was largely based on impressively low 14 penalty minutes accumulated this season. After getting an overview of his accomplishments this season, it should not come as a surprise to learn that Johnson was named as the league’s MVP. Next season, Johnson is taking his game to the next level as he is set to start play in the NCAA next year in his draft season. Johnson will look to become the next star out of Michigan State University and solidify his position as a top prospect for the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Jay O’Brien
If you think you have heard the name Jay O’Brien before, it is probably because you have. O’Brien is the only player named to the BCHL first All-Star team that was drafted to the NHL (Kent Johnson is not draft-eligible until 2021). O’Brien was once considered to be one of the Philadelphia’s top prospects after they drafted him 19th overall at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
The 20-year-old forward was a rookie to the league this season. He came to the BCHL after a tough year in the NCAA last season for Providence College. O’Brien decided that the best option for his development was to head to the Junior A level before going back to the NCAA.
So far, his plan seems to be going well. He had a fantastic season in which he has appeared to have taken plenty of steps in his development. He joined the Penticton Vee’s this season where he was also given the “A”.
He led his team in scoring with 66 points in 46 games and finished tied for fourth place in league scoring. O’Brien seems ready to take another shot at the NCAA and next season, he will. The former first-round draft pick is heading back to the NCAA, except this time, he will be joining a different team at Boston College. Joining the legendary Boston University development program, he will look to follow in the footsteps of NHL stars such as Jack Eichel and Brady Tkachuk.
Christophe Tellier
The closest player to Kent Johnson in league scoring was fellow All-Star Christophe Tellier. The Surrey Eagles star broke out this season in a big way. Never in his entire career has Tellier played as well as he did over the course of the 2019-2020 regular season.
In fact, being named to the BCHL First All-Star Team was the first big award/title that he has won during his young career to date. This was Tellier’s second season playing in the BCHL after a solid rookie season last year with the Wenatchee Wild. Next season, like everyone else on the team, Tellier is taking his name to the NCAA where he will join Quinnipiac University.
The 19-year-old Quebec native led his team in points, finishing the regular season 10 points above the Surrey Eagles second highest scorer. Tellier’s All-Star season has caught many eyes around the hockey community. Being only 19-years-old, an NHL team could elect to select Tellier as an overager in one of the later rounds at the upcoming 2020 NHL Entry Draft.