Spruce Grove Saints Captain Dexter McLeod was the recipient of a league-wide $1,500 scholarship. (Courtesy of the Spruce Grove Saints)

Spruce Grove Captain Earns Scholarship
Spruce Grove Saints captain Dexter McLeod will be getting a little bit of help with his postsecondary education.

The 21-year-old defenceman is this year’s winner of the AJHL’s Gas Drive Scholarship. He will receive $1,500 to be used towards his college or university expenses.

All 16 squads in the AJHL put forward one nominee for the scholarship.

Each applicant was required to submit a nomination letter from a member of his coaching staff. And those who applied for the award had to send in an essay, detailing what they have learned from playing hockey and how those lessons can be applied in their lives after their sporting days are complete.

In his essay, McLeod wrote that he discovered the best way to lead was not by talking constantly but by conducting himself appropriately and being an example for his teammates to follow.

McLeod, an Edmonton native, joined the Saints early in the 2015-16 season via a trade with the British Columbia Hockey League’s Trail Smoke Eaters.

He went on to earn a dozen points, including two goals, in 41 regular season matches last year.

While donning the ‘C’ this season, McLeod collected 14 points in 54 regular season contests. He has also been a key point producer for Spruce Grove so far through the first round of the playoffs.

McLeod will be attending the University of Alberta this coming academic year.

Co-Winners Named for AJHL Star of the Game
A pair of AJHL veterans who switched teams mid-season ending up as co-winners of a league-wide award.

Bryson Traptow, a Camrose Kodiaks forward, and Okotoks Oiler’ forward Jordan Xavier were named co-winners of the Viterra Cup.

This award is presented to the player(s) with the most player of the game selections over the course of the regular season.

Traptow and Xavier were named as their club’s top player 13 times each.

Traptow joined the Kodiaks this past November via a trade with the Whitecourt Wolverines, the franchise through which he broke into the AJHL back in 2014.

Xavier arrived in Okotoks this past December in a deal with the Calgary Mustangs.

Both Traptow and Xavier will head to NCAA squads next season. The former will head to the Rochester Institute of Technology while Xavier is joining the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Oil Barons Extend Keca’s Contract
This year’s AJHL Coach of the Year recipient has been rewarded with a contract extension.

Fort McMurray Oil Barons bench boss Tom Keca signed a three-year deal to continue coaching until the end of the 2019-20 campaign.

Keca, who doubles as Fort McMurray’s general manager, was appointed the team’s head coach in June of 2015.