Prince Albert, SK – Ilya Usau has been crowned the Frank Dunn Toyota Highlight of the Year Champion!
Earning 60.8% of the vote between Instagram and Twitter, Usau’s dangle through the Rebels’ defence in Red Deer defeated Ozzy Wiesblatt’s power-play goal against the Kelowna Rockets in the final.
Usau’s route to the title started with a win over Aliaksei Protas and Ozzy Wiesblatt’s game-tying goal in Everett against the Silvertips earning 58.4% of the vote. In the second round, he beat Aliaksei Protas’s kick pass to Brayden Watts with 52.1% of the vote to advance to the semifinal. In his penultimate matchup, Usau beat Spencer Moe’s give-and-go goal against the Regina Pats by taking 62.4% of the votes cast.
Here’s a breakdown of the matchups from the tournament:
Opening Round
- Carter Serhyenko (51.3%) defeats Spencer Moe vs. Swift Current (48.7%)
- Max Paddock vs. Swift Current (50.8%) defeats Brayden Watts (49.2%)
- Spencer Moe vs. Regina (78.6%) defeats Reece Vitelli (21.4%)
- Ilya Usau (58.4%) defeats Ozzy Wiesblatt and Aliaksei Protas tying the game in Everett (41.6%)
- Max Paddock vs. Edmonton (61.2%) defeats Aliaksei Protas (38.8%)
- Ozzy Wiesblatt vs. Kelowna (68.8%) defeats Landon Kosior (31.2%)
- Aliaksei Protas’ kick pass to Brayden Watts ak.a. “The Kick Pass” (51.5% ) defeats Zack Hayes (48.5%)
- Ozzy Wiesblatt vs. Calgary (51.9%) defeats Kaiden Guhle (48.1%)
Quarter-Finals
- Spencer Moe vs. Regina (51.4%) defeats Carter Serhyenko (48.6%)
- Max Paddock vs. Edmonton (51.0%) defeats Max Paddock vs. Swift Current (49.0%)
- Ilya Usau (52.1%) defeats “The Kick Pass” (47.9%)
- Ozzy Wiesblatt vs. Kelowna (64.3%) defeats Ozzy Wiesblatt vs. Calgary (35.7%)
Semifinals
- Ilya Usau (62.4%) defeats Spencer Moe vs. Regina (37.6%)
- Ozzy Wiesblatt vs. Kelowna (60.1%) defeats Max Paddock vs. Edmonton (39.9%)
Final
- Ilya Usau (60.8%) defeats Ozzy Wiesblatt vs. Kelowna (39.2%)