Jordan Larson is the Superior International Junior Hockey League's rookie of the year.
League officials on Monday announced the first-year-forward had been chosen, in the midst of a fantastic freshman campaign that has sene the former Thunder Bay Major Midget King put up 34 goals and 34 assists in 53 games with the second-place Fort Frances Lakers, good for fifth overall in the league scoring race.
The 16-year-old Fort Frances native made his SIJHL debut a memorable one, scoring twice against the Thunder Bay North Stars, and recorded goals in each of his first four games. He had a season-high five points on Sept. 25 against Duluth and has recorded three hat tricks along the way, most recently against Iron Range on Feb. 10.
Seventeen times Larson managed multiple-point games, in helping the Lakers to the second-best record in the SIJHL and a spot in the 1-2 playoff series.
Larson, the third-youngest player in the league, earned six of seven first-place votes in balloting done by the seven member clubs.
Also in the running were Wisconsin’s Jeremy Johnson and Duluth’s Hunter Scott.
Larson is the fourth Fort Frances player to win the award in the SIJHL’s 11-year history, joining Kevin Webb (2002), Mitch Cain (2008) and Jameson Shortreed (2010).
Thunder Bay’s Austin Adduono won the award last season playing for Wisconsin.
On Saturday the league named Wisconsin blue-liner Anthony Calabrese as its defenceman of the year, while Duluth's Matt Morsette earned the nod as the most improved player.
