Dylan Holloway is making sure he’ll bow out of his junior career with a bang, ending the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) regular season with a series of individual awards and accolades. The 17-year-old Bragg Creek native, who skates for the Okotoks Oilers, was named the Junior A league’s MVP for 2018-19. “It’s a huge honour,” Holloway told Great West Newspapers’ Okotoks Western Wheel. “I’m pretty excited to accept that award, but I couldn’t have done it without the guys on the team and the coaching staff to put me in the position to succeed the way they did.” Despite being an AJHL sophomore, Holloway is nearing the end of his time as a Junior A player as he is committed to join the University of Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA next season. But even with just two AJHL seasons under his belt, Holloway – who is NHL draft-eligible in 2020 – has ensured his time with the Oilers will be remembered for years to come. With 88 points (40 goals, 48 assists) in 53 games, Holloway didn’t just end the 2018-19 regular season as the second-top scorer of the AJHL, but also set a single-season franchise scoring record for the Oilers. “Each season, I want to do well,” he said. “I don’t have specific goals. Never so much to win an award, that just comes with team success.” Along with the league’s MVP award, Holloway was named the co-winner of the AJHL's Viterra Cup, as both he and the Fort McMurray Oil Barons’ Reed Baron won Star of the Game honours 13 times throughout the season. “He had a remarkable year, and at a pretty young age,” said Oilers head coach Tyler Deis. “Game in and game out, he was consistently producing and being dominant and dynamic, every time he was out on the ice. “He’s an all-around player, but he’s very dynamic. His skating is strong, powerful and fast.” Along with his performance for the Oilers, Holloway’s stellar sophomore campaign included appearances at the World Junior A Hockey Challenge in December 2018, and the Canadian Junior Hockey League Prospects Game, held Jan. 22 in Okotoks. The latter game featured the top Junior A players from across Canada, and Holloway was one of just five representatives from the AJHL. While the 2018-19 regular season is done and dusted, Holloway and his Oilers teammates are still in action, as the second-seed team aims to make another deep run through the AJHL post-season. The Oilers – which finished second in the AJHL last year – enjoyed immediate success in its first-round, best-of-five series with the Calgary Canucks. Okotoks ousted the seventh-seed Calgarians from the playoffs in three straight games. -With files from Remy Greer
