Cambridge Redhawks goaltender Mike Leach tracks the puck during a game against the Brantford Bandits. Leach shared the Goaltender of the Month award for December with teammate Reagan Gies. (Photo by Censational Photography)

Kawalec, McMahon, Gies and Leach take home honours 

The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League handed out its Players of the Month awards for December, and three local squads boast winners in the Midwestern Conference. The Offensive POM is Kitchener’s Sean Kawalec, the Defensive winner is Elmira’s Mason McMahon, and Cambridge’s Reagan Gies and Mike Leach share the award for Goaltenders of the Month. 

Kawalec, the captain of the Dutchmen, leads the Midwest with 71 points in 38 games this season. In December, the Kitchener native was held off the scoresheet just once, tallying 12 points in just six games for the second-place Dutchies. 

McMahon, who turns 20 years old tomorrow, scored 10 points in eight games in December for the Sugar Kings, helping them pull away from Kitchener to lead the Midwest. McMahon is a North Bay native, and was drafted in the fourth round of the 2017 OHL U-18 draft by the Oshawa Generals. 

Gies and Leach, who make up one of the top goaltending tandems in the GOJHL, split the honour after leading the Redhawks to a 5-1 record in December. Leach went 3-0, beating Stratford, Listowel, and shutting out Brampton, stopping 66 of 72 shots he faced in the month. Gies dropped his first decision of the month, a 4-3 loss versus Kitchener, but then stopped 69 of the next 70 shots on route to wins over Waterloo and Brampton, with scores of 4-1 and 5-0, respectively. 

The pair has helped Cambridge solidify its spot in third place in the Midwest, trailing only McMahon’s Elmira and Kawalec’s Kitchener in the standings.