Logan Neaton is the best goaltender from the preliminary round of the 2019 National Junior ‘A’ Championship.
The American import had a hot start and finish from the tournament group stage for the Prince George Spruce Kings, leading all other netminders in almost every statistic.
His dominant performance was recognized by the Nationals’ governing committee and bestowed the Top Goaltender Award to Neaton this morning (May 17) in Brooks, Alberta.
TOP GOALTENDER:@neaton_logan (@SpruceKings)#NJAC @cjhlhockey @GoBCHL pic.twitter.com/Ofcj49zZfE
— National Junior A Championship (@HC_NJAC) May 17, 2019
Over four games, the 20-year-old collectively stopped 64 of 67 shots from some of the nation’s best junior hockey teams, including 13 saves in his team’s 4-0 shutout over the Ottawa Jr. Senators on Monday (May 13).
He also recorded a 0.90 goals-against-average (GAA) and a 0.955 save-percentage (SV%), the best records of all goaltenders only allowing three pucks into his cage during his 199 minutes of round-robin play.
Neaton had three wins in four games, albeit a two-period break in Game Three against the Portage Terriers when he stopped all three shots in the opening frame and earning some rest for the rest of the contest.
Keenan Rancier got to go between the pipes as per Spruce Kings Head Coach Adam Maglio’s decision to give his back-up some ice time.
.@SpruceKings goaltender Logan Neaton has been named the Top Goaltender at the 2019 @HC_NJAC 🥅 The 20yo stopped 64 of 67 shots in 4 tournament games, recording 1 shutout, a 0.90 GAA & a 0.955 SV% | #CityOfPG @GoBCHL @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/284oYHilXI
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) May 17, 2019
Neaton was unfortunately passed over for the B.C. Hockey League (BCHL) top regular-season goaltender award and nation-wide nomination despite having the most wins (32), most shutouts (five), and best GAA (1.92).
Prince George is now preparing for the playoff round of the National Championship and finishing second with a record of 3-1.
They’ll face number-three seed Ottawa on Saturday in Brooks at 6 p.m. Pacific time.
Semifinal Saturday is set!@OttawaJrSens 🆚 @BrooksBandits (2 p.m. MT)@OakvilleBlades 🆚 @SpruceKings (7 p.m. MT)#NJAC pic.twitter.com/s6DYWsT5vH
— National Junior A Championship (@HC_NJAC) May 17, 2019
