June 1, 2024
For one hockey program, the accomplishments on the ice including the most championships and most podium finishes in CCAA hockey history led to accolades off the ice including the most individual honours in CCAA hockey history. Over the years, 28 NAIT coaches and players accumulated 39 awards from the CCAA. Most of the recipients played a part in the Ooks winning six national titles. Thirteen CCAA award recipients who were national champions entered the ACAC Hall of Fame with the 1983-84 to 1986-87 Ooks on May 10th in Red Deer.
In eight appearances at the CCAA National Hockey Championships, three goaltenders, five defensemen and eleven forwards received a total of 21 tournament awards including 16 CCAA Tournament All Star selections. Among the five hnnoured as CCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player, two netminders -- Cleo Rowein and Rob McKinley -- were chosen as a CCAA Tournament All Star the year prior.
A dozen players were selected as either a CCAA All Canadian or a CCAA Academic All Canadian. Of the 12, only goaltender Cleo Rowein and defenseman Blaine Peerless received honours on multiple occasions. Rowein was a three-time CCAA All Canadian while Peerless was a two-time CCAA All Canadian. Both were ACAC First Team All Conference honourees in each of the three seasons they played.
Two coaches garnered awards for achievements leading up to nationals which also earned them ACAC Coach of the Year honours. Perry Pearn and Terry Ballard received the CCAA Coaching Award of Excellence in 1984 and 1997 respectively.
Surprisingly, former NHL assistant coach Perry Pearn is the lone member of the Ooks hockey program to be enshrined in the CCAA Hall of Fame. Among the six NAIT players to have received multiple CCAA awards, a past attendee of the Calgary Flames and Pittsburgh Penguins training camps, Cleo Rowein, has the most with five and the inside track of receiving a call from the hall.
In addition to the CCAA honours, three NAIT coaches are in halls of fame within the province. Former head coaches Dale Henwood, Perry Pearn and John Utendale are in the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame. Henwood was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. Pearn entered the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame with the 1984-85 Ooks hockey team in 2017 (and was inducted into the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame in 1995). Utendale was postumously inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame on May 24th.
As for teams, the 1984-85 Ooks are in both the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and entered the ACAC Hall of Fame on May 10 along with the 1983-84, 1985-86 and 1986-87 Ooks.
When a team category is added to the CCAA Hall of Fame, the 1984-85 and 1985-86 Ooks merit serious consideration They recorded the longest winning streak, the highest winning percentage and widest average goal margin per game of the five CCAA hockey teams to win consecutive championships. They were the nation's only hockey teams to post back-to-back first place regular season finishes en route to becoming back-to-back conference and back-to-back national champions. They were the nation's only back-to-back CCAA hockey champions to never trail in a conference playoff series. In fact, they were perfect in the post season winning every game at the provincial and national levels. They were also the nation's only hockey teams to down the eventual CIAU champions in exhibition play en route to raising the CCAA Championship Bowl.