Brandon Coe continues to receive accolades as the Troops star forward has been named the OHL's Overage Player of the Year and the recipient of the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy.
The San Jose Sharks prospect joined Wojtek Wolski and Justin Brazeau as the third player in Battalion franchise history to reach the century mark offensively, leading the team with 101 points including 34 goals, 67 assists and a plus/minus rating of plus-33.
Coe becomes the second member of the Battalion to earn the award, following Brazeau who first did so with a 113-point season in 2018-19.
"It's an honour to receive this award," said Coe. "It's been a good year for myself and for our team, so it's pretty cool to be recognized for that. None of this is possible without my teammates, so I want to thank them. I've just tried hard to be consistent and bring the same game every night."
A 20-year-old native of Ajax, Ont., Coe was originally selected by the Battalion with the third overall pick of the 2017 OHL Priority Selection and has recorded a North Bay Battalion record 132 career assists, contributing to 218 points (86-132--218) over 250 regular season games. The 6-foot-5, 203Ib. right-winger produced 33 multi-point performances for the Central Division champions, including five different games with three assists. He was recognized as one of the game's three stars 20 times throughout the season, receiving first star honours 11 times. He was voted the Eastern Conference's third-best skater and playmaker in the 2021-22 OHL Coaches Poll. Coe, who appeared in 17 AHL contests with the San Jose Barracuda last season, signed an entry-level NHL contract with the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 6, 2021. He was San Jose's fourth round (98th overall) pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
"First and foremost, we are all so happy for Brandon," said Battalion general manager Adam Dennis.
"He truly deserves this award and has had to deal with quite a bit of adversity to get here. He has been a leader on and off the ice for our team and has shown significant growth since coming back from his stint in the AHL last season. We congratulate Brandon for his achievement and look forward to having him help us for one final playoff push as a Battalion before he sets off on a successful professional career."
The Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the Top Overage Player of the Year as selected by OHL General Managers. Teams were asked to submit a nominee for the award and were not permitted to vote for players from their own hockey club.
Coe emerged as the top candidate in the Eastern Conference, receiving more votes than Western Conference representative Tye Kartye of the Soo Greyhounds in the final round of voting to be crowned the winner.
First presented in 1984, the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy was donated by the trainers of the Ontario Hockey League, in memory of the late Leo Lalonde, former Chief Scout of OHL Central Scouting. Leo Lalonde was also formerly the Chief Scout for the Belleville Bulls as well as a scout for the Peterborough Petes.
While Coe is the second Battalion player to win the award, it had been won three times by former North Bay Centennials including Len Soccio (1988), John Spoltore (1992), and B.J MacPherson (1994). Ottawa 67's forward Austen Keating won the award in 2019-20.
2021-22 OHL Awards announcements continue next week when the League recognizes its Matt Leyden Trophy recipient as Coach of the Year.
