The Prairie Hockey Academy's first season in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League was an incredible success.

On Saturday, the Caronport-based program honoured its top performers from the past year with the annual awards banquet.

"Having the two teams this season and 36 student-athletes, it was a full year and we had a lot of fun," said PHA president Justin Simpkins.

PHA started in 2017 with just one team, an Elite 15 squad, but with a move into the CSSHL for the 2018-19 season, the local program added a Midget Varsity team this season.

Both teams saw plenty of success on the ice, making it to the CSSHL Championships with the Midget Varsity Cougars coming away with a second place finish.

"On ice has been great, we saw two teams that were highly competitive this season," said Simpkins. "The returning players for next year are already talking about that with new recruits, [that a championship] is the goal.

"The growth has also happened in our coaching staff, this spring we were training 200 kids from the Moose Jaw and surrounding community and that's been fun to see and rewarding."

PHA president Justin Simpkins speaks at the 2019 awards banquet on Saturday in Caronport. (Photo: Marc Smith)

The growth was on display during the awards portion of the evening with Colton Aikens taking home the big award for the Midget Varsity team, winning Kevin Smyth Most Valuable Player and Adam Lawson Top Defenceman awards.

Aikens finished with two goals and 17 points in 15 games with PHA. He added two goals and five points in four games during the team's run at the CSSHL Championship.

"It feels good, there could have been many other players that won the award," said Aikens.

"We went on a 13-game winning streak at the end of the season and every single game felt absolutely amazing. We overcame and beat the Pilot Mound Buffaloes after losing to them six times in a row."

Aikens added that the opportunity to be fully immersed in hockey at PHA helped improve his game, "Just going on the ice every single day really helps make those bonds with teammates and coaches," he said.

Forward Atley Calvert, a Moose Jaw Warriors prospect, and Goalie Chase Coward shared the Most Valuable Player honour for the Elite 15 team. 

Calvert also shared the Ryan Smyth Top Forward award with teammate Kirk Mullen, who is also a Warriors prospect. Calvert finished with a team-high 24 goals and was second with 41 points in 35 games.

"It's awesome, I couldn't have done it without my teammates and Chase is an unbelievable guy, so I'm honoured to share with Chase," said Calvert.

"We opened a lot of eyes and it's just come down to everyone was willing to put in work and gelled together nicely."

This was Calvert's second season with the Elite 15 team. He said the program has helped him take his game to the next level as he gets set to suit up with the AAA Warriors next season.

"In the first year, it was amazing and then the second year, it's just been ramped up even more, it's unreal what these guys are teaching," said Calvert.

"I've changed a lot, mainly with the off-ice stuff, keeping my cool a lot easier and just focusing on the bigger picture and not getting caught up in the little things."

Coward, a Swift Current product, posted a 13-4-0 record with a 2.71 goals against average and a 0.911 save percentage. He also won the Randy Brownlee award as Top Goaltender.

"A lot of guys deserved it on the team and to be picked with Atley is a great honour," said Coward. "Everyone was so close in compete, work ethic, everything like that, so it's hard to say what the coaches saw because I saw it in everybody."

Coward has been listed by the Red Deer Rebels are his strong showing with the PHA over the past season.

"I've grown a lot, character-wise and skill-wise," he said. "I used to be playing house before I came here and now I'm with a WHL team. You can see the difference if you put in the work and the effort."

Josh Warkentin won the Midget Varsity's Top Goaltender award.

Evan Callaghan won the John Barkman Leadership award for the Elite 15 team, while Ryley Gross picked up the honour for the Midget Varsity squad.

Max Wanner, another Warriors prospect, was the Elite 15's winner of the Adam Lawson Top Defenceman award.

Hunter Weber took home the J.J. Hunter Most Improved Player award for the Elite 15 team. Josh Prebushewski picked up the honour for the Midget Varsity team.

Mikkel Hrechka (Midget Varsity) and Owen Neubeker (Elite 15) won the Stephen Clements Hardest Worker award.

Noah Wills went home with two awards on the night as he won the Chad Gustafson Top Student Athlete and Top Forward awards for the Midget Varsity team.

Ethan Peters was the Top Student Athlete for the Elite 15 team.