By Tanner Schafer
Thunder Bay, ON – Blake Hiltermann is the SIJHL Defenceman of the Year. It was a great campaign for the ‘03 from Calgary as he was a mainstay on the blue line for the Red Lake Miners. Hiltermann was a lock down player in all phases of the game and even added in great offensive production. Blake fell just shy of being a point per game player with 42 points in 45 games played. Hiltermann was a big part of the man advantage as 5 of his 14 goals came on the power play. The Red Lake blue liner finished the season strong, securing Defenceman of the Month in February leading into his winning of the yearly award.
Honorable mention for the award goes to Brydon Bell of the Kam River Fighting Walleye and Sam Skillestad of the Thunder Bay North Stars.